The Woods (Widescreen Edition)
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Movie Reviews of The Woods (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: Abra CaBoring
Summary: 2 Stars
This movie had a great premise, a boarding school filled with creepy architecture, teachers, and history, and it had a great cast including Bruce Campbell, and Patricia Clarkson. So going into it I had some expectations. We have a girl, who sets fires, and her parents dropping her off, where they don't even notice that all along the hallways and rooms there are vines growing out of control. I understand being one with nature, but it was a little too Grimm fairytale for my liking. There are of course, mean girls there, and timid shy girls, there is a mystery surrounding how the school was founded and what happens to girls that go there. Witches, Woods and aptitude tests don't make a good plotline. Especially when none of it is fleshed out enough in the back story, or in the present characters and situation. I didn't really get how it was supposed to be creepy, or cutting edge, or even an old fashioned girl's school ghost story. Curses and leaves was basically all I got. It seemed at times part Oliver Twist, part Madeline, and part "every witch movie" you have ever seen. I couldn't place my finger on why it just didn't feel finished, or polished in the end. Its not an awful movie, it just isn't horror. Movie Review: Good acting...but disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars
The writer's lost something in the story when this was written. It is acted good, but comes across as dull and lacking information as to why things are as they are at the boarding school. The "ceremony" at the end has no real explanation for it occuring, other than to have some special effects tossed in.
This is one if you can see it for free, watch it, but don't plunk your bucks down.
Movie Review: 3.5 stars for a good effort
Summary: 3 Stars
Good horror movies are rarer than gold, and to me almost as precious. Crap like the endless sequels of Friday the 13th, Final Destination, etc., may make a quick buck but they do nothing to enhance the genre.
The producers of this film took a different direction than those who churn out such blood and guts schlock. They built a suspenseful atmosphere with shadows and unusual camera angles, bizarre characters and modest special effects.
Within this framework they placed a troubled girl who finds herself trapped in a girl's school with a dark past and deadly secrets. At stake is not so much her life as her soul.
The main problem with the film is that they apparently forgot that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. The subtly menacing feel they create stays unbroken through the story, to the point where it becomes monotonous.
The movie would have been much better if the sense of menace had been broken up with a few happy, perhaps even humorous, scenes. Not only would this have given it some interesting variety, it would have made the inevitable return to the creepy moments much more chilling.
Nevertheless, it is a good effort overall, and fans of better horror and suspense films like Session 9 and 1963's The Haunting should find it worth their time. I certainly did.
Movie Review: GREAT MOVIE
Summary: 5 Stars
THE WOODS
I have to admit that the only reason I bought this movie was because the great Bruce Campbell was in the film. But to my surprise this film had another good thing going for it, director Lucky McKee. For those who do not know who he is, he is the writer/director of another wonderful film "MAY". So I knew before even viewing this film that it would be a great film, little did I know that it would turn out to be a classic.
The story follows Heather Fasulo [Agnes Bruckner] has she is dropped off at an all girl's boarding school by her parents [Bruce & Emma Campbell]. It seems Heather is a problem child and is in need of some good education. Upon arriving at the school she takes a test that determines how gifted she is., it turns out that she is one of the brightest at the school and requires special classes. But after arriving she befriends one girl and is constantly fighting with another, but it doesn't take long for her to notice something is wrong. Not only is head mistress Ms. Traverse [Patricia Clarkson] and her staff out of this world creepy, but Heather's class mates keep disappearing into the woods. And only after a trip in the woods herself does she hear the story of what happened long ago at the school. Apparently it seems long ago three girls came from out of the woods looking for a place to stay. The school let them stay and put the girls in classes, but after some of the students found the girls practicing witchcraft the girls were tormented. Unable to take it any more the girls called to the woods for help, and offered the woods all of the student's souls for revenge. After all was said and done the students were under the witches control and they murdered the head mistress. Heather has learned of a horrible secret and wants to find out what is happening to the students before the woods take her as well.
Director Lucky McKee did an excellent job with this film; he definitely is a filmmaker to look out for in the future. Also writer David Ross has created an excellent story for all to enjoy, which apparently based on the ending is based on true events [the ending at least]. DP John R. Leonetti did an amazing job as well on this film; the cinematography in this film was great. As far as on screen talent went star Agnes Brucker was outstanding as Heater, plus it doesn't hurt that the girl is beautiful. She portrayed her character with an eloquent grace that is sorely missed in Hollywood these days; this girl should become a huge star soon. And on the opposite end we have the creepy head mistress played excellently by Patricia Clarkson. Bruce Campbell is great as always, as is Emma Campbell, in fact the entire cast did an excellent job.
I recommend this film highly to any & everybody out there, I also recommend that you buy this film and skip renting it, yea it is that good.
Movie Review: The story comes up short, but it's still a solid, psychological creepfest
Summary: 4 Stars
There's just something about horror and boarding schools for girls. With the exception of Eastland (that's a Facts of Life reference), I can't think of any school for girls that isn't terrorized by a murderer or haunted by ghosts or witches. This boarding school is no exception, as there are all kinds of weird things going on behind its doors - not to mention out in the surrounding woods. Set in 1965, The Woods has a nice, distinctive feel to it, and the creepy potential the film shows early on lasts all the way to the somewhat ridiculous climactic scenes near the end. The only real weakness here is the story, as the atmosphere remains dark and creepy throughout, and an excellent cast rises to every occasion, no matter how many horror movie clich?s dot the landscape.
Heather Fasulo (Agnes Bruckner) finds herself at this secluded school largely because she is an embarrassment to her uncaring mother. Yes, there was the small matter of a little arson, but it doesn't take a Freud to figure out that Heather was acting out for the kind of attention her mother refused to give her. Heather isn't exactly happy in her new situation. She befriends a demure girl by the name of Marcy (Lauren Birkell), but she is immediately targeted for abuse by Samantha (Rachel Nichols), the leader of the cool girl school clique, who gives her the much-used moniker of Fire-Crotch. Heather also has a bad habit of getting into trouble, which does not endear her to her teachers. Still, Miss Traverse (Patricia Clarkson), the headmistress, shows a special interest in her, even giving her a scholarship based on Heather's performance on a strange, IQ-like test. Being special isn't necessarily a good thing at this school, though; special girls have an odd habit of disappearing.
With the sinisterly sweet Ms. Traverse hovering over the school, stony-faced teachers ready to unload on you in a heartbeat, and one teacher with a completely unexplained facial tic wandering around, it's not hard to tell that this is a weird place. The fact that everyone on the staff is an alumnus of the school is also a telling fact. Everything starts falling into place once we hear the sinister legend of the school. Supposedly, three witches came out of the woods one day long ago and eventually took over the school (going Lizzie Borden all over the headmistress - nice); now, there's supposedly all these girls out in the woods who will do really nasty things to you if you wander into their territory. Heather, for her part, begins having all of these nightmarish visions that seem to confirm much of the story - as does her first attempt to run away through the dark and isolated woods. It looks like she might actually survive the whole the whole ordeal when her father (Bruce Campbell) comes to get her - but just when it looks like she is out, The Woods pull her back in!
I realize that all of this sounds pretty good, and it is. You've got your hot, red headed school girl, a bevy of creepy teachers, one bona fide catfight, the tangy smell of witchcraft in the air, a dark and mysterious forest, and Bruce frickin' Campbell all in the mix. Unfortunately, the big payoff is a disappointment. There's some nice axe-tion in there but the climax comes off as more than a little bit silly. I don't like to drive in the fog, but the spectre of a creeping fog really doesn't scare me, and that's only part of the problem.
Still, May director Lucky McKee merits a lot of praise where The Woods is concerned. The film certainly didn't deserve to sit on the shelf for month after month following its completion in 2003. McKee put everything in place for something special, but the story just comes up a little short in the end. I thought Patricia Clarkson was absolutely mesmerizing as Ms. Traverse, and Agnes Bruckner is a rising star of not-to-be-missed quality. Despite its story-related faults, The Woods is definitely worth watching and ranks far above most horror films coming out of Hollywood.