She Came from the Woods

Having grown up on 80s horror, I was excited to see what I thought would be a throwback to summer camp slasher movies. The fact that it was released in a local multiplex rather than direct to on demand upped my curiosity.

Unfortunately, the film is so tonally challenged that I couldn't enjoy it on any level. It's poorly written and not particularly scary or funny. On top of that, there are too many characters which make it impossible to care about any of them. Acting ranges from decent to awful. The villain is ill conceived and the supernatural element is uninteresting. Gore was ok at times, weak at others. As the movie progresses you just start caring less and less and wanting it all to end.

Plot

In 1987, a group of counselors accidentally unleash a decades-old evil on the last night of summer camp.

Cast

One of my top 5 actors, William Sadler stars beside the consistently terrible Erik Bloomquist and a bunch of interchangeable 20 somethings who you'll recognize from something but they were so forgettable you won't remember what. Sadly Bloomquist not only stars but also writes and directs.

Verdict

When I read the premise I expected something comparable with Knights of Badassdom (2013) which though didn't meet my expectations was a perfectly watchable comedy horror. This isn't a comedy despite being advertised as such, there is no attempt at humour here it's a horror simple as and a very mediocre one at that.

Bloomquist who is more known for the more recent effort Founders Day (2023) presents this and hits us with every tired trope and cliche imaginable. It's uninspired, it's a tad boring, it's full of obnoxious characters, the antagonist is really shockingly poorly handled and even Sadler can't turn it around.

It's not that She Came from the Woods is bad, it's just lazy. Copy and paste from half a dozen other films and call it something original!

Rants

Did anyone actually see Knights of Badassdom? It's one of those films that though not great was still a memorable watch with a solid cast and yet nobody I talk to has ever heard of it! Ryan "True Blood" Kwanten, Peter "Game of Thrones" Dinklage, Summer "Firefly" Glau and the always excellent Steve Zahn! Seriously, it won't change your world but it's worth your time!

The Good

William Sadler 80's theme Always time for a camp theme!

The Bad

Forgettable cast Erik Bloomquist Shamelessly generic.

A nice homage to the 80's Friday the 13th type of films. Unfortunately, if there are too many holes in your boat it will sink, as this film did.

I never heard of it until it played 1x only last night so I figured I'd give it a look. It started out fine with the stereotypical horny camp counselors, children (dorks, geeks, etc.) and 'adults in charge'. Then, of course, something awakens the evil spirit and folks get to dying. There is a twist in the beginning in how people start dying so I won't ruin it for you.

In act 2 there are no surprises but this is when you start noticing the holes. 'How did this person get over there?' or 'Why didn't you tell your fellow survivors what you just witnessed?'

In the final act it was almost like the scriptwriters just didn't care. They skipped over all logic, failed to explain how the rules/laws governed this spirit worked and just gave the audience an unsatisfactory ending.

The acting was good, practical effects were solid, there were some jokes, and watching it in the theater was genuinely creepy, especially with the children's laughter in surround sound. I would say I watch most horror movies that come out and this is better than 80% of what's out there.

This paragraph is just to make my review long enough for the new six hundred character requirement instituted because Amazon's $1Billion snow ranked and got bombed on this site. Hopefully they change it back because this is a waste of my and everyone else's time for quite literally seemingly absolutely no reason. Boom six hundred characters there you go.

6/10. Not a classic, but enjoyable and worth your time.

This showed up on Tubi as a "Tubi Original," so I wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this flick. It's certainly not a classic, but it is competent, suspenseful, and engaging, and I found myself glued to it in spite of myself. The special effects are well done, and with one exception, the acting is on point. This is supposedly a horror comedy, but thankfully it's mostly horror with some jokes here and there. Unlike others, I didn't find the tone uneven.

Soundtrack was also great.

In short, you could do worse--A LOT worse--thank SHE CAME FROM THE WOODS. I recommend it to fans of the genre.

1-3 Don't waste your time 4-6 Good 7-9 Great 10 Outstanding, must see.