Sunday, December 6, 2020

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight

7/10

This is a Polish homage (originally titled W lesie dziś nie zaśnie nikt) to classic slasher films. In it, a group of teens at a technology/social media detoxification camp go on a camping trip where they encounter a dangerous killer. This was decent. 

Admittedly, This doesn't do a lot to differentiate itself from other slasher films, but it is a competently handled film. Like I said, this this is an homage. I read that the director Bartosz M. Kowalski created this movie because Poland never had a slasher film. Here, he's created a shrine to the basic tenets of the horror subgenre.

The movie has a sense of humor about itself, particularly the first half. There are a couple good bits. However, this isn't a full comedy. The second half gets dark. When things get violent, things get VIOLENT. Gore hounds will have a lot of fun with this; there are some very creative kills.  

The murderer design is delightfully grotesque. It's partially humorous, being a type that feels like it's parodying 80's horror. (Though this might possibly be due to a low budget than the director's intent.) But, the design is also unsettling as you see it in action as the killer does terrible things. (Sort of like if you saw a Garbage Pail Kid come to life and killing people.)  

Though I found this fun, the movie could've been stronger. The second half feels stretched out. The movie also gives all the teen protagonists backstories and personal struggles. Unfortunately, all of them feel like tropes that have been done before. This should've just stuck to the killing. No one is watching this type of movie for character-driven story. (This isn't Stephen King.)     

I recommend this. Though not great, it's interesting.

No comments:

Post a Comment