Deliverance (1972)

What happens in the woods, stays in the woods

This is the grandfather of backwoods films. It's an adventure/thriller/drama but one that would be an inspiration for a number of horror films about country folks who now look all but merely simple. It has a basic plot but what makes it so iconic is a powerful and memorable delivery that has the capability to get stuck in one's head whenever thinking about the great outdoors, never mind trekking 'em. The film creates one of the most uncomfortable scenarios for any man to find himself in with villains that can't be shaken from one's mind with neither look nor their over-the-top lines. Not to mention anytime someone sees a banjo they might mention "Deliverance" out of habit, possibly without even seeing the film. The characters experience nature minus all of the distractions of technology from paddling in canoes to hunting and sitting around a fire and bonding, though it gets turned into a treacherous tale that even when seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, the recollection of the dark side that they went through to get there never truly goes away.

A group of anxious guys from Atlanta go out for a once-in-a-lifetime weekend to experience the Cahulawasse River before a dam is built across it. They get an awe struck peek at the landscapes and its strange inhabitants who look like they lived unspoiled from the outside world for generations--same DNA, reused supplies and all. The lead of the group is Lewis: a hobby outdoorsman who tests limits and pushes buttons. His confidence is the size of the river itself but he also has a philosophy he abides by to fine tune his survival sense in case the modern machine society's built up fails. Ed looks up to his buddy but falls short of his staggering shadow, while the two other friends, Bobby and Drew, are straight city slickers in a far removed world that take the brand new adventure in stride.

Ed and Bobby split up with their canoe and take a break to the side of the river when they meet two demanding locals who have more knowhow of the loaded shotgun they're pointing than how to operate a toothbrush or subscribe to soap. Instead of the usual "You're trespassing" they get a "Now let's see you just drop them pants" from one of the crusty toothed men with a deviant look in his eye that's usually given to a girl on lover's lane. They get violated and thrown around but then gain the upperhand and kill one of the captors in self-defense while the other runs away. A debate ensues about what to do with either reporting it to the local law, who are probably in relation with each other, or burying the body in what's to be the new dam area. They want to put the horrible and humiliating situation behind them but their real issues have just begun: from pretending to be in survival mode in the beginning turns into the real deal from not only the unfamiliar wild but the escaped hillbilly who got away and knows the lay of the land better than any visitor could hope.

The structure doesn't follow a strict platform like other pictures. It starts out on a high note with fun and adventure, jumps right into its climax midway through, then slows down to make room for the dramatic as you get to know more about these men's lives with some emotional scenes. One could say the filmmakers put all of their energy in the beginning but another way of looking at it is what we represent on the surface isn't always who we really are. Usually it takes a stressful situation to put someone outside of their comfort zone to see their real personality come out: hence giving the usual proper introductions might have been fake anyway. The film did that so well that it even surprised the characters at what they were capable of doing due to switching to a primal state in the stark wilderness from living cooped up in the city and suppressing who we really are as a species. This gives a share of interaction with the audience in that it presents a number of "What would you do questions?" Your answer might not be any better than their's but it still creates an engaging experience to get wrapped up in. One that's both dangerous and enlightening and shows who really has it in them when the going gets rough. What would you sacrifice for your friends? Would you go outside the law? Commit retaliation?

Burt Reynolds has a sense of command with his role as Lewis, in that he rarely lets his guard down or lets it be known what he's thinking or going to do next. Jon Voight plays the middleman of Ed who's in between places but is forced to make the transition to the next level. Ned Beaty, as Bobby, represents the average me or you character in the way it's so much to handle that it hasn't even fully hit him. The filmmakers are capable of putting the viewer in the then and now with some authentic scenery, genuinely odd inhabitants to regular Joes who found themselves in the midst. There's some beautiful moments, tense situations and some surprises about the experience. What stands out is how nature can remain immobile when there's human turmoil amongst it. It's not judgmental, yet we seem to do what we want with it, when we want.

Rating: 9.5/10

Director: John Boorman (Point Blank, Hell in the Pacific, Leo the Last)
Stars: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Bill McKinney, Herbert Coward
Link: IMDB

Pig Hunt (2008)

Pigs are far out, man

Combining aspects of "Deliverance" with backwoods folks and a sense of adventure, along with "Razorback" and a setting with a life of its own and a legendary creature hiding in the midst, "Pig Hunt" produces a mishmash of genres that's more fun than completely serious with a hippie cult that's both prone to Zen and violence thrown in for good measure.

A man with the fitting name of John Hickman heads out to his late uncle's ranch in the sticks with his girlfriend and three other friends from the city for a hunting weekend. Their first stop is the general store that leads them to the legend of the Ripper--a supposed 3000lb pig--as well as a confrontation with a muscled, sword-wielding guy who looks like an ancient warrior walked into the wrong movie or thought he was at a convention for "Xena: Warrior Princess." The area isn't known for its steady employment, so a share of the dwellings look run down and lived in by dirty, grumpy rednecks who use the local forest for perfecting their aim at the animals.


They tentatively team up with John's two old childhood friends who've since took the path of drugs, alcohol, cruelty, perversion and good ol' hunting in between to everyone else's discomfort. There's a share of posturing with each person thinking they're the best to the point of a who-can-puff-out-their-chest-the-biggest contest rather than who can actually shot the straightest. There's a building tension in the air that could burst at any moment that's both annoying with no one but John and possibly his girlfriend Brooks, who's proving she's got the stuff, to lean on with a backbone. But it still proves to be somewhat engaging as to who or what could set off the balance thinly held together by condescending remarks. Soon enough the boars are called, someone gets injured, human remains and marijuana crops are found, and then ulterior motives come into play. The characters go separate paths and it turns over to a human on human blood sport on someone else's turf. Though there's a third party lying in wait that makes the local degenerates in town look a few steps closer to normal.

The third act feels a little underrealized but still comes as a surprise and carries some mystery about how, where and why. Though it's most likely for the best because the more it's thought about the less it makes logical sense. Some of the transitions and editing have places of awkwardness but a share of events flow from one heated aspect to the next. There's some subtext attempted with John and a past in Iraq but then it's dropped to keep it more in light of exploitation. "Pig Hunt" is not a movie that causes the brain to kick in but hits enough surface sensations to keep the popcorn moving from bowl to mouth without pause unless it's a choke or a what-in-the-heck remark. The quicker pacing doesn't give time to scratch beneath the surface but a number of in-the-now events happen to keep one's attention locked and focused with surprises and a share of uncomfortableness about being so far from home and encountering unwelcoming people that seem like from another place and time. Like "Razorback," the wild boar is shown the least amount while the human characters are developed more till they meet up. Les Claypool, the frontman from the band Primus, layed down the music and played a smaller part as a "preacher" who lets his gun do all of his sermons. The soundtrack is a mixup of almost genreless music apart from itself with unconventional and discordant layers and an almost boondocks feel with an acoustic and gibberish twang.


This is more of an offbeat adventure-thriller than an outright horror, but that doesn't stop it from including point blank injuries and a share of gory wounds anywhere from knees busted in to eyes gouged out. "Pig Hunt" is no doubt an out there story that's about as unlikely to happen than being held hostage by a group of clowns robbing a donut shop with flamethrowers, but this is never short of something bizarrely humorous or to leave one ill at ease, not to mention some individual characters with their own personality to remember, while others can be forgotten but were most likely there to up the body count which us blood-thirsty viewers crave.

Rating: 7/10

Director: James Isaac (The Horror Show, Jason X, Skinwalkers)
Stars: Travis Aaron Wade, Tina Huang, Howard Johnson Jr., Rajiv Shah, Jason Foster, Nick Tagas, Bryonn Bain
Link: IMDB

The Presence (2010)

Negative vibes

A woman (Mira Sorvino) arrives at an isolated cabin in the woods that at first brings back a sense of nostalgia. Without the filmmakers beating around the bush, there's a grumpy ghost (Shane West) already there who she can't see with bags under his eyes and a I'm-two-steps-from-murdering-you posture. She's using the time to be in peace and left alone while she writes something that's never divulged. The two make a team of perfect loners as the presence stands and sits about doing repetitive routines but starts to get curious about this woman who is now invading his solitude. She finds a newspaper clipping laying about that states that someone had died in that area with a criminal background, but likewise that's not gone into as the story concentrates on them primarily in the now without muddling it up with flashbacks.


"The Presence" is divided with the two main characters, with the woman taking a share of the story for the beginning half, the ghost joining up after that for his story and then both threads being combined into one similar interest by the time it closes. The movie is incredibly basic, to the point of not always carrying an identifiable genre template that would stick out at you. Neither does it come with a definite style--it's unpretentious to a fault, in that it's not always capable of penetrating through or giving more than a minor tug to reel you in. Some of the mentioned might not always be an issue, but the problem is it feels like a story teller that doesn't care if people walk off or stay, in that it's going to tell it in its own unhurried, one-moment-at-a-time way. Even some of the camera setups are still shots with the characters doing the moving and without always pulling away or panning around--it's up to the audience for what they want to see and where one's eyes want to rove. The film has an incredible amount of breathing room. No one wants a picture to scream at them and be obvious or to force emotions out of you. But this doesn't always even try and be persuasive to what it's showing you. The problem is with the beginning half, neither the drama nor the ghost element seems exceptional--only being built up to make sense later. There's a small mystery element and there's some shots to project an isolated mood but there's not a whole lot to ponder on at this point unless it's coming from your behalf, which can make a first time viewer lost to its subtext at first.

Her boyfriend (Justin Kirk) makes an unannounced visit against his girlfriend's wishes and neither does the ghost like the extra attention and competition from the third wheel. She gives in momentarily, making this go from loving vacation time to melodramatic fights that show her true colors. She has random fits: from nice and reasonable to cold and spiteful. She needs her alone time and pushes away from men getting too close from a past event that her boyfriend makes every attempt to understand. Somewhere around the half way mark interest sparks when this moves away from every day activities and squabbles when a second apparition (Tony Curran) appears with an amoral outlook and a certain sly charm that makes him seem more a counterpart of the devil than a lost spirit looking for his way.


"The Presence" is a movie that deals with trusting others after someone else manipulated or used you in the past. There's a supernatural element used--only for the sake of moving the narrative along in a unique way rather than to fright--but this still has dual meaning in that it's also about letting bad choices into your life when you feel sorry for yourself or letting negative thoughts ferment and get the best of you. The movie isn't overly complicated if one manages to focus on the words and what's shown, or even overly ambitious and doesn't seem forced--the characters represent specific elements to the story with the most range coming from the woman. There's some potential here that some can relate to possibly on a spiritual level, just the film misses out on attempting to draw in its audience--as if by selling the story to someone else it would dumb it down to a salable product instead of an art form; I'm not sure the reasoning behind it but that's my guess--though I can guarantee it's going to cause a share of people to shut this off before giving it a chance.

I personally like the latter half, but it loses replay value working up to that point again. It feels like a two hour run time when it clocks in at only an hour and twenty minutes. Even the music seems to hang back at times by coming in with loud volume as if someone's playing with the mute button or has a form of narcolepsy the way it bursts into action and then is silent. I don't think this film's intention was to be overly scary or creepy, for one by shooting their ghost in excess, to the point of getting used to him being there. Not to mention this uses real people as ghosts instead of CGI, which I only counted for a single effect. On the other hand, the issue is he's shown too much and without much to do at first, causing him to become predictable to the point of poking fun every time you can count on him appearing with the same face and pose. "Hey, who killed the Abercrombie model and turned him into furniture," or the most obvious, "This guy'll beat out anyone in a staring contest...probably because he doesn't have to eat, sleep...." Only recommended for the patient of the patient.

Rating: 4.5/10

Director: Tom Provost
Stars: Mira Sorvino, Shane West, Justin Kirk, Tony Curran
Link: IMDB

Hidden (2009)

Deeply wound in mood and mystery

This is a mystery tale from Norway--even with the title, which could be any number of things--that also includes some elements of a horror/thriller that revolves around a man who returns back to an area that brings back flooding memories and a new set of circumstances while at it. Is it the house or the woods or just the out of reach town that keeps perpetuating more terrible events? A boy is off urinating in the outskirts of a wooded area while his ride is parked in the road. Another boy, who appears to have been buried just prior, runs into the road and a semi-truck dodges him but hits and kills the passengers in the parked car.

Nineteen years later and Kai Koss' mom has passed away who he ran from all those years ago with some resentment towards her abusive ways. He's inherited her utilitarian house that seems to re-open old wounds when he steps inside and has some flashing haunts of her presence as if she's still there in the flesh to torment him. He goes to burn the whole house, just as he requested of her body to get rid of the reminder once and for all, but is stopped by the local cop, Sara, who takes his gas canisters yet gives an ear to listen to him if need be. Though he wanders about with little words and encounters the small town's folk who act somewhat coy, as if they have something to hide or a secret that is best not said aloud. He's trying to figure out why he's returned himself when there's a mysterious disappearance of a young couple that were last seen in his inherited house. The manhunt is on in the local wooded area to catch who it was or find some evidence, though it keeps pointing back to who else but the newcomer Kai. Throughout the ordeal he gets flashes of that night that happened many years ago and where the other boy, Peter, ended up, who went missing after the crash and reportedly was last seen near a waterfall with only shoes to show for it. Though Kai thinks differently.


This is a somewhat simple film that mainly concentrates on producing a steady mood and elements of mystery with not much else to get in the way. I have to say, it's refreshing to see a film that does what it does well despite being basic in execution. There are no explosions, unnecessary sex scenes, love triangles, excessive violence, just what was mentioned before. You can count on it since it knows what it wants and sticks its guns to it. Some portions do get a little confusing and trail off in whether it's relevant or not--most likely to throw you off scent--though the film unfolds gradually and has a certain balance and consistency to its framework. "Hidden" has an almost dream like quality, in that nothing is what it seems and can't be trusted that it's reality or illusion. Or is it a memory or present time at points? The enclosed wooded area makes those sentiments come to life in that the outside world doesn't exist but just this place and those characters and that dilemma that must be solved right now.



Like a reclusive celebrity, the movie is highly elusive about what amount of information it lets out at a time. Even the trailer is highly puzzling and seems to be edited to lure you in with the abstract rather than the concrete. There are McGuffins thrown left and right, mysterious phone calls and old photographs that can make your mind wander closer to the truth or farther away, it's hard to say exactly. It's an experience that may or may not be figured out by the viewer but it still manages to tap into different, unexplored sensations in the meantime. It's an enigma within an enigma that works that way all the way down to the wire when the credits roll and you're left with a puzzle to solve and a side to choose. That gives the film replay value to want to see if you're able to catch different clues on the next time around.



Rating: 7.5/10

Director: Pal Oie (Dark Woods)
Stars: Kristoffer Joner, Cecilie A. Mosli
Link: IMDB