THE WOODS

THE WOODS
by Ken Leicht

Lucky McKee’s second directorial outing (not counting Masters of Horror) is a fairly solid piece of work. Set in 1965, THE WOODS is the story of troubled teen Heather Fasulo who is sent to a female boarding school in the woods where she quickly realizes that something odd is going on.

With a lot of elements that I like such as dark forests, trees that move and witches, I was ready to enjoy this one. I got a bonus with Bruce Campbell’s performance. For perhaps the first time in memory, he was not playing some riff on Ash but was quite believable as a troubled and somewhat ineffective father who rises to the occasion when he comes up against the supernatural. Wish I could see more of this Bruce than the hambone shit we’ve been getting from him for years. I must say that this is not a knock against Bruce but against those who use him and just don’t direct him well. I sense that almost everyone who uses Bruce is in awe of Evil Dead and just lets him do the shtick. Not so here and the results are memorable.

All the performances her are on point. Special mentions to Samantha Wise as the school bitch and the not usually evil Patricia Clarkson who does quite well as wickedest of the coven’s witches.

This film has barely been seen as far as I can tell and it’s too bad because it’s pretty good. I don’t know why Lucky McKee’s star hasn’t risen higher faster but it could just be the sophomore slump. His next project (RED) sounds quite promising. No killer trees but I look forward to it anyway.