A group of kids head out into the woods to spend a weekend partying. April (Brittany Allen) and Kyle (Freddie Stroma) are a solid couple who bring along Aprils best friend Mel (Melanie Papalia, The Den) and the obligatory loud friend Seth (Jesse Moss) and his newest arm candy Lex (Anja Savcic.) Before long they get on bad terms with Sheriff Murray (Gil Bellows) and wander onto a gigantic pot farm being grown by an old acquaintance of April, the conspiracy theorist Travis (played by the always great Michael Ironside).
The Vicious Brothers spend a large portion of the early movie giving background into characters that we either ultimately end up not giving a damn about or end up getting little to no resolution with their pre-established conflict. Kyle ends up proposing to April and she says no, the Sheriffs wife uncharacteristically left him years earlier, blah blah blah…
Unfortunately none of the emotional punches that they try to pull really hit home.
Once the real meat of the story emerges though, things get interesting. After we have time to sufficiently hate the loud mouthed Seth, the friends see something crash down into the woods in the distance. They travel out to take a look and discover a vessel and footprints leading back to the cabin. Not long after returning, April ends up killing one of the aliens. Which really pisses them off. Now the friends are in a battle for their lives and with the aid of crazy Travis and the no-nonsense town sheriff they have to fight to survive.
The approach is interesting. Its a modest budget but the aliens end up looking really cool, long distorted versions of the classic grey alien image, and much of the tension from the movie is built around the awesome sound and light design. Large bright red lights and daunting heavy bass bumps end up being more effective than some half down CGI that a movie with a smaller budget cant afford. It adds the build, the slow and steady throttle towards the climax.
For a while they alternate between traditional high quality camera and the found footage effect of a Go Pro but the latter technique is quickly discarded but in a linear fashion, finally and realistically noting that at a certain point someone would just quit filming.
The scares dont really exist but that doesnt mean that movie isnt well made. While there is certainly nothing in the film to keep you up at night, there’s much to be admired. As noted before, the use of simple filming tricks to create the disillusion of a larger scale budget, the tight camera work and the unique turn of the well known cabin in the woods scenario.
That being said, a number of missteps are made as well. The characters are completely one note and any attempt to add depth to them comes off as ingenuine and forced. Our main couple in Allen and Stroma are never believable and Allen has a few moments of standing out but is relegated back to mediocre because of a few ridiculous monologues she had to choke out. Melanie Papalia is easily the most likeable character in the bunch and definitely manages to play her role without making you wince, almost making you like even her cookie cutout character.
The movie hits its real downturn in the final 20 minutes. It forces nods to Aliens and brings about one of the most ridiculous death scenes in horror history. It sounds like a joke even saying it but, yes…
SPOILER
…a character is killed by an anal probe. Did you just laugh out loud? Or roll your eyes? Thats an expected outcome. The ending is predictable and unnecessary, it would have been better off ending a full 20 minutes earlier with April crying in a field believing that Kyle is gone forever.
Its easy to see that their heart was in the right place. It has a lot going for it. Its clear to see that the Vicious Brothers are talented filmmakers and make clean and slick films. It misses the mark but just barely and leaves you excited for whats to come from them and also challenges aspiring filmmakers on presenting unique takes on the specific genre.
