Backwoods Bloodbath (2007)
Review by The Fiend of Grue
Backwoods Bloodbath is about a group of five young adults that decide to go away on a vacation together to a cabin in the Black Forrest after one of their friends dies. From the people they come across in a local store, to the weirdo that rents them the cabin, you can easily tell that these locals are a strange breed.
That night while a local bar, tensions begin to rise between our travelers and the locals, but before they leave, one of them tells of a legend in these parts. A legend about a creature that has stalked the Black Forrest for centuries called the Black Hodag. This man warns them to be careful because the Hodag is out there on the hunt and many people have been coming up missing lately.
Once returning to the cabin, their partying continues deep into the night, but soon things begin to happen to them that make them think once again about the legend they were told earlier. Before long, they realize the Black Hodag is real and as it preys on them and any of the locals that it wants too. As their chances of survival becomes less and less with each passing hour, we wonder if anyone will survive this vicious, primal creature.
College kids that go off into the woods to fuck and party and then in turn get hunted and killed by a monster/creature is by far not a new concept. Actually, it’s been done to death, but even with that said, I must say I had a blast with Backwoods Bloodbath. This is fun, not-meant-to-be-taken-too-seriously creature feature that was shot with no budget and revels in good times. While this movie isn’t a straight homage to any particular movie or era, I did find myself longing for more of this type of horror to come out once again. You know the type of horror – like the movies from the 80’s that were fun, bloody as all get-out, overflowing with nudity and had some memorable comedic lines that got you laughing.
Backwoods Bloodbath has all of these good elements and to top it all off, the creature is well-done, too. If you don’t have a good creature in a movie like this, you don’t really have shit, but director Donn Kennedy gives us just enough of the creature, but not too much. You only really get to see the creature in full view on a couple of occasions, but mostly you only see his long, matted/braided hair, black face and wearing what appears to be a long and worn trench coat. It’s smart that the filmmakers kept the look fairly simple and didn’t try to do more with it than their budget allowed, which seems to be the downfall of a lot of no-budget horror flicks, but the Black Hodag was just enough and just right.
The acting in this film was high above what you’d usually see in a no-budget indie film. With the actors being brought in from local theaters and TV commercials, almost everyone had solid performances with only one or two of them coming off weak. Along with the above-average acting there was a great script that had strong interaction between the characters to where nothing felt forced or rushed, but rather natural and believable.
The praise continues on into the production aspects of the film. If you have great acting, script, story and creature design in an indie film, usually the production values are a little lacking due to budgetary constraints, but not in Backwoods Bloodbath. Using only a HVX-200 high definition camera, Donn Kennedy does a really good job with the handheld camera shots in this movie. They are never overbearing to the point of not knowing what was going on, but instead he really captures the moments of intense action well. Not only that, but the lighting is done adequately to where it all seems natural, the editing is above average and last but certainly not least is the great original score. With the exception of a song by Local H, the soundtrack is completely original and very effective. Quirky at times, funny at times and tense at all the right moments, the soundtrack adds to the overall atmosphere of the film.
This is a really good creature film that fans of movies like Feast and The Evil Dead will certainly enjoy. I had a great time with this film and will definitely be watching it again. In the mean time, I’m gonna keep my fingers crossed for a sequel.
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