She Came from the Woods, 2022.
Directed by Erik Bloomquist.
Starring Cara Buono, Clare Foley, Spencer List, William Sadler, Michael Park, Tyler Elliot Burke, Adam Weppler, Ehad Berisha, Giselle Torres, Dan Leahy, Sienna Hubert-Ross, Erik Bloomquist, Emily Keefe, Tess Santarsiero, Declan Foley, Coulter Ibanez, Cory Asinofsky, Cody Boccia, Madeleine Dauer, Juliana Davies, and Emily Rafala.
SYNOPSIS:
In 1987, a group of counselors accidentally unleash a decades’ old evil on the last night of summer camp.
There is an admirable amount of restraint in co-writer/director Erik Bloomquist’s (penning the script alongside Carson Bloomquist, based on their short film of the same name) She Came from the Woods, a derivative summer camp counselor slasher centered on a witchy urban legend. They are interested in establishing characters, the 1987 setting, and the myth surrounding Briarbrook camp to the point of letting a dramatic stageplay reenactment recounting the legend play out by the campers.
It also wouldn’t be 80s-inspired horror if counselors weren’t trying to bed one another, and we do indeed learn who wants who, who is immature and needs to grow up, who should seek another job, and whether or not the camp will continue to survive.
While this might sound frustrating for those looking for some gory mayhem, it gives the illusion that the Bloomquists care about the characters and story they are telling to a degree and allows the inciting incident of violence to smartly come at a jarring moment with deeper societal implications involving romantic rejection relevant to modern times. From there, She Came from the Woods veers into generic stupidity, with a central urban legend that becomes unnecessarily and excessively convoluted with every piece of exposition (this movie does not need to come anywhere near 105 minutes.)
The characters are either interchangeable white dudes or increasingly obnoxious white dudes, including Dylan (Adam Weppler), a 30-year-old homophobic counselor that makes sexual advances toward barely legal counselors, who is simultaneously the most entertaining and aggravating character here. It’s clear the brainless jerk needs to grow up and move on, but there’s also something amusing and refreshing in the idea that this incel can’t get laid no matter how hard he tries in a subgenre infamous for characters making out.
Unfortunately, the script pushes that dynamic way past the point of clever genre riff into unbridled annoyance, leaving one praying that he meets the grimmest, most violent death in slasher movie history. He does get a pretty gnarly one, which also turns out to be one of the film’s only memorably violent scenes, complete with some impressive makeup effects.
Then there are the major characters, such as slacker Peter (Spencer List) and his girlfriend Lauren (Clare Foley), with the former’s family owning the campsite. His responsible older brother Shawn ( Tyler Elliot Burke) is tasked with driving the kids back on the bus, whereas mom and grandpa (played by Cara Buono and William Sadler, respectively) know more about the campsite history than they read on. There are plenty more counselors (mainly fodder for unremarkable kills), and unsurprisingly, everyone gets into an ill-advised attempt at resurrecting the witch for dumb fun.
The only other decent idea in She Came from the Woods involves the children returning as possessed and feral killers, but aside from some dead cold stares, nothing is done to give them a threatening or intimidating feel. By the time the witch does arrive in the flesh, there are roughly 10 minutes left, while the film is utterly lost on whether he wants to take itself seriously or as an upbeat romp sending up the subgenre. Again, nothing about the witch’s motives makes sense, so that doesn’t help matters. There’s nothing worthwhile in these woods.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
