It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Love Horror receives yet another found footage film – A Night in the Woods – and the responsibility falls to me, as the other reviewers are knee deep in zombies, demonic possession and poltergeists.
It’s bad timing for me, and also for A Night in the Woods as I’m still not over the last double bill of bad found footage films.
But this one was British, so the sense of duty to queen and country gave me that last ounce of enthusiasm that I needed to get the job done.
A Night in the Woods follows Brody and Kerry as they embark on a camping trip in Dartmoor. Brody likes to film things a lot. Conversations, trees, walking along the road, people getting in cars, and so the viewer is well prepared for the first person perspective that will dominate throughout.
And then the dreaded words appear on screen ‘This is real footage’ and A Night in the Woods quickly slips down in my estimations.
Meeting Kerry’s cousin Leo on the way, the group stop off en route to meet some locals who predictably don’t like people from the city in their fancy cars and fancy boots. These locals are still happy to be filmed though, and they eagerly speak of the local legend – a hunter who hunts down sinners and hangs them.
After a few warnings from the villagers about how they might not survive the night if they camp out, Brody, Kerry and Leo continue on, setting up camp by some woods and getting high by the fire.
As ever though, complicated issues lie under the surface. Each of them has a dark secret and after just a few hours, the atmosphere turns hostile, particularly between the two men.
As the skies darken, it seems likely that they’re not alone in the woods and as the group are separated, things quickly unravel. Will any of them survive?