Review of Don't Go in the Woods (2012) by Thedrauch — 27 Jun 2012
Don't Go in the Woods, the directorial debut of actor Vincent D'Onofrio (Law & Order: CI), is jumbled mess between the two genres of musical and horror, which would have played out better with more of a sense of fun and self awareness.
When five band members head out into the woods for the weekend to get away from women, drugs, technology, alcohol, etc. in order to focus on their music, they are followed by their groupies and band front man Nick's girlfriend, which leads to bickering amongst the group.
More trouble arises when it is revealed there is a killer in the woods, slaughtering people with a sledgehammer. The film plays out as a first act filled with band arguing, bad acting, no sense of fun, and some okay indie songs played by the band mates as they sit around a fire.
The much shorter, badly paced second act contains many scenes of brutality and unoriginal death sequences (save one involving a blow-in keyboard), plus some odd character behavior and a fairly unoriginal twist.
The band members are all very unlikable and aren't given any justice or depth by their screenwriters and actors. The only semi-likable character is Nick's girlfriend, but they are all cut-out characters.
The horseplay between the band is just so unauthentic and mean-spirited that within the first few minutes, you might not mind a few of them being picked off, and that is the trick with good horror - getting us to care.
The singing voices aren't too bad, though, and the title message sure is conveyed, if obviously.
This review of Don't Go in the Woods (2012) was written by Thedrauch on 27 Jun 2012.
Don't Go in the Woods has generally received negative reviews.
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