Review of Deep In The Woods

Introduction

Ever since Scream hit cinema screens back in the 90`s, slasher movies have grown more and more popular, although they all lack charisma and the flair that made Craven`s movie stand out from the pack.

However, describing Deep In The Woods (aka Promenous-Nous Les Bois in its native tongue) as Craven-esque is like describing Memento as an average thriller. Deep In The Woods is more Dario Argento than anything - a European horror flick with more style than recent Hollywood slice `em `n` dice `em outings.

The premise is simple as one would expect: a group of young actors are invited to perform their controversial re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood at the forbidden Gothic chateau of the mysterious Baron Axel de Ferson, an eccentric millionaire who abodes, as you can gather from the title, deep in the woods, with an autistic boy Nicolas, and a mysterious gamekeeper by the name of Stephane who hovers in the background. As the five characters draw close to the chateau, they begin to hear reports of a vicious stalker in the proximity of the woods - someone who is lurking there, waiting...

From the time the movie opens, a claustrophobic, atmospheric scene is set, due to its visceral cinematography thanks to Denis Rouden, and the tight, intelligent directing from Lionel Delplanque, who co-wrote Deep In The Woods. The first act flows well, and it will immerse you into the plot.

Video

It is presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, and the visuals are deep and well defined. There are no compression signs, and there is no dust nor grain evident. Throughout the movie the print is crisp and clear - what one would come to expect since this was only made back in 2000.

As mentioned above, the real star of the movie is the cinematography and directing - they compliment each other excellently, and turn what could have been a lesser movie into a feast for the eyes.

Audio

A DD 5.1 track is on offer, and it is presented in its native tongue, French. The main audio stream is crisp and clear, and during tense, action-themed scenes, the surrounds and subwoofer are given a good workout. Of course, for people not fluent in French, English subtitles are available, and in my opinion watching a foreign movie in subtitles is much better than watching it dubbed over.

The script and plot, are very basic unfortunately (or fortunately if you`re just looking for a simple slasher movie to watch late at night with a few beers and the lights off), so there is no groundbreaking twist or character development.

Features

This DVD is distributed by Tartan, so an extras-heavy disc isn`t expected, but it still packs the odd feature:

Theatrical Trailer - haven`t seen one of these before...

Tartan Terror Trailer Reel - a collection of various other Tartan horror titles in one compilation.

Alan Jones` Film Notes - a good insight into the movie.

Filmographies - the CV`s of the stars and the director.

The menus are presented well, with the usual selection available.

Deep In The Woods is presented in a black Amaray case with an insert containing the chapter listings.

Conclusion

This is one of the better European horror movies of the last few years, and the first act is very engaging. However, soon the energy begins to ebb away, and the momentum begins to slow. Although the acting and directing remain strong, the script is fairly weak, and it started out full of potential, but soon becomes your average guts `n` gore flick.

Disc wise, the presentation is excellent - the visuals and audio are up to scratch and give the movie the ambience it deserves, even if it can`t compete in all areas. The extras are sparse, but these type of discs aren`t made to pack an impressive amount of extra material, although it would be nice if once in a while they broke the trend.

Overall this is an enjoyable slasher that makes a change from the rush of recent Hollywood horror, which lives up to its 18 certificate thanks to a few explicit scenes that never become gratuitous although they won`t appeal to all tastes! However, a few aggravating factors prevent this from reaching Scream-like status, but it`s worth a rent anyway.