2.2
A micro-budget movie crew treks into the wilderness to shoot horror scenes for their unsellable indie-drama. They soon find themselves in the midst of their own real horror movie, as they are hunted by a large group of creatures.
Glenn Plummer
Jayson
Lee Perkins
Guy
Linda Bella
Ashley
Edward Hendershott
Burt
Claudia Perea
Ariel
Gladys Otero
Bianca
Paul Misko
Kris
Ashton Blanchard
Script Girl
Curt Mega
Thomas
Hilliary Barbour
Mom
Richard Raad
Turkeyneck
Paul McCarthy-Boyington
Dad
Jacqui Holland
Suzy
Vincent Cusimano
Monster
Blaine Cade
Bravo
J. Horton
Camera Man
Ernest Dancy
Eric
Darnell Campbell
Production Assistant
Myles McNair
Kid
Michael Gregory Morrison
Assistant Editor
Rachel Rodriguez
Camera Girl
Director, Writer
J. Horton
Writer
R.J. Smith
July 8, 2018
3
Micro-budget, half-baked monster twaddle
RELEASED IN 2012 and written/directed by Jason Horton, "Monsters in the Woods" is a micro-budget flick (costing a mere $30,000) about – you guessed it – monsters in the woods of Southern California that an indie film crew experience while shooting a B-horror flick.
I like the diverse ethnic cast, which is refreshing, but the shaky, sometimes unfocused, cam gets tedious after a while. There are a few good-looking women. I also like the monsters, which are half-spider/half-human and impressively diabolic all things considered (it’s eventually explained WHY they’re so diabolic-looking). The first act is quite amusing as it parodies the trials & tribulations of a B-horror shoot in the sticks.
Near the end of the first act, however, one of the main protagonists abruptly buys the farm and the reaction of the cast & crew is unconvincing but, then, I guess it’s supposed to be a joke anyway. The second act introduces two curious characters with head-scratching dialogue but, thankfully, the cool monsters are also introduced. Unfortunately, the proceedings and characters are dull and confusing as written and executed. Things finally perk up in the last act with revelations about what's really going on, but it can't save the flick from being what it is: half-baked.
There's enough good here for a quality monster-in-the-woods horror movie, but Jason Horton needed to take the time to work the kinks out in the story/script, specifically in the second and final acts. George Romero did this with his original "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) and it remains a selling masterpiece to this day. The lesson? Don't rush off into the woods to shoot a horror flick with cast & crew, low-budget or not, UNTIL you have a well-written, comprehensible story with interesting characters. Otherwise you're just wasting your time and the time of anyone who might view your work.
THE MOVIE RUNS 84 minutes and was shot in Fawnskin, San Bernardino National Forest (exteriors) and Malibu, California.
GRADE: C-/D+