Review of The Barrens (2012) by Christophe C — 16 Mar 2013

The Barrens is one of the creepiest and the darkest Horror film ever made and it is one of 2012's most effective Horror films next to The Woman In Black. This movie is about the Vineyard family who goes camping in the woods with a couple of campers.

But when the family starts camping they soon discovered about the legendary Jersey Devil still lurking in the woods were rumors have spotted it several times in certain locations and the family must survive before The Jersey devil kills them all.

To be honest this is a great movie and I love it and the whole movie is intriguing and fascinating about the legendary Jersey Devil that hides and kills people in the woods. I love the ideas of this movie thanks to Darren Lynn Bousman's stylish and strong directing and Bousman managed to create something a little bit more different than what he did in his three Saw films.

I admit that this is Darren Lynn Bousman's best work since Saw III and I may not have watched most of his other films like 11-11-11 or Mother's Day but I totally like this movie than his work on the terrible and lame Saw II and IV.

This movie really didn't bore me and the folklore tale of The Jersey Devil in this film is just plain great and I love how Bousman managed to create something visceral and super scary about the legendary Jersey Devil and overall I like the concept of this movie.

What's great about this film is that the whole movie has a lot of dark content and the execution of this film is very dark and the whole movie also has a lot of creepy and scary elements which makes it interesting and I like how Bousman nailed the whole thing a lot and it is a smart idea for him to make this kind of movie to make him the master of Horror and unlike his work in the Saw films Bousman's idea with this film along with the rest of his films like 11-11-11and Mother's Day Bousman's idea is to focus on suspense and tension rather than gore and brutality like his work on Saw II-IV and he really understands the style of Horror now a days.

What's also great about The Barrens is that the whole film has a really interesting setting and the woods in the movie looks great and it really fits well in the movie and it also gives the whole film that creepy sense of isolation and it also makes you feel that you're not alone in the cinema and all the settings are wonderful and it fits well for the movie.

The other things I like about this film is that the whole movie has lots of suspenceful, scary and atmospheric scenes. There are lots of creepy and scary moments in the whole movie. The folklore tale in the film is creepy and eerie at the exact same time.

Scenes where the Jersey Devil appears is one of the freakiest parts of the film and the night time shots in the film is really full of atmosphere and it totally fits well for the movie and the dark, brooding and gothic soundtrack makes it even better and enjoy those ideas in the film a lot.

What I also like about this film is that the Jersey Devil looks so damn scary and shots were the CGI is used on the Jersey Devil's face is just wonderful and spectacular and at times most of the shots with the CGI is quite outdated but that's ok and at least I enjoy some of the scenes where the CGI is used really well.

Ok I also admit that there's not much kills in the whole movie because Bousman wanted to do something different but at least I enjoyed Bousman's new ideas a lot so I don't have any problems with Bousman's work on this film and I unerstan what Bousman is trying to do now at least so I have no problems with this film.

Now the acting is great the performances of the casts like Stephen Moyer and Shawn Ashmore is just plain great and I love their performances in the whole film so far and overall the performances of the casts in this movie is just plain great so far.

Director and Writer Darren Lynn Bousman did a goo and wonderful job with his work on this movie and this is his best film since Saw III and I'm also interested to watch his previous works which is Mother's Day and 11-11-11 and I can't wait to watch his next films since I adore Bousman's work on this film and Saw III and I hope he will still make good Horror movies in the future so far.

Overall The Barrens is a strong and powerful Horror film that has lots of strong and brilliant ideas from the great Darren Lynn Bousman and this movie gets a 10/10. Good work My. Bousman keep up the good work sir.