I really appreciate that this movie is trying to stand out from other slasher films by telling most of the story from the perspective of the killer instead of following the storyline of the protagonists. This is something I had never seen before and it definitely adds a lingering sense of dread as you're watching everything play out. There were a few parts that I felt dragged on longer than necessary where the camera was just following the killer as he was walking slowly through the woods for several minutes at a time and nothing else was happening. I understand that the filmmakers were trying to maintain the tension they had built up, but I felt it actually negated the tension at times and some of the walking sequences could've been cut down. But overall, it was very creepy & entertaining.
Another great positive for this movie is the kills. If you're someone who enjoys seeing brutal, gory, over-the-top violent kills in slasher movies, then this movie definitely delivers. The kills don't start until like 30 mins in, but the movie definitely rewards the audience for their patience. One kill scene in particular with one of the girls is especially savage in how he dismembers her in the most insane way possible. The entire movie theater was busting out in screams & laughter while I was watching it, none of us could believe what we were seeing. If you've already seen the movie, you probably know which kill scene I'm talking about.
While there's a lot to like with this movie, it's definitely not a perfect horror movie. First of all, the acting is pretty terrible for the most part, especially the 'final girl' actress who was basically phoning it in for the last 20 mins of the film when all the scary stuff was happening to her character. Also, the killer's backstory & general storyline through this film feels very much like a ripoff of something we've already seen in the Jason Voorhees saga. The monster got killed by the town in some tragic accident, comes back supernaturally & starts massacring everyone, and the town needs to figure out how to defeat the monster & lay it to rest again. It's almost exactly the same as Jason's backstory with a few new details added in. I didn't hate it, but it's not anything original. Also, the ending of this movie was TERRIBLE. The filmmakers did a great job of instilling that lingering tension until the credits rolled, but I was hoping all that tension would have some kind of payoff, but there wasn't. The filmmakers included an easter egg suggesting that there could possibly be a sequel, but other than that, the ending was very unsatisfying.
And in usual horror movie fashion, all the characters are extremely stupid and have absolutely no will to live or sense of self-preservation whatsoever, which means they all make very stupid decisions & inevitably get picked off one by one. This horror movie trope is so played out & cliche at this point. Much like the Jason movies, these are just interchangeable idiots lined up for the slaughter and when it's their turn, they basically just stand there & take their deaths. I hate when characters are written like this because there's no point in caring about anyone when you know they're all just gonna get killed and they're not gonna even try to survive. After the movie was over, I couldn't tell you a single character's name, that's how uninteresting & dispensable everyone was. Even the 'final girl' was boring, to the point where I was actually hoping there would be no survivors, because the monster's scenes were way more entertaining than anything the other characters brought to the movie.
Overall, while this movie is far from perfect, I'd say its definitely worth a look. It's not anything groundbreaking but it does a few things that are very creative & creepy. Its definitely one of the better Shudder films I've seen.
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