Highly Overrated But Still Good

Don't Believe the Hype

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is one of those films with a great idea, but less-than-ideal development.The problem is that the characters' motivations and interactions -- and the nature of the strange events -- are often unclear. These should unfold slowly, to build suspense, but they don't "unfold" at all. And too much attention is initially paid to one girl, rather than keeping the audience wondering. We only start to properly understand things near the end -- and the climax is a doozy.I couldn't help but think of Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt", which has a similar problem with development, but for the opposite reason. We know from the first scene exactly what's going on. There is absolutely no suspense. And the ending is hardly a surprise.Recommended, but be prepared to watch it a second time to see how the often confusing pieces fit together.

The Woods is one such a movie you might watch forgetting what's around you it takes you right where it all takes place, the boarding school from the moment it begins. It is a story of an impudent, "gifted" girl in a repressive boarding school with it's own dark secret. Having been a fan of Lucky McKee, the way he portrays his female leads, for example, May (2002), this was another addition to his frail yet fatal characters. surrounding his leads is a tragedy, a woeful attraction. This film is one that would leave you in awe rather than scare or horror. it's a slow paced mood is enjoyable as lingering memories as if we experience it firsthand and not watching it as audience. The film is set in 60s and it remains loyal to its set up. The subtlety of the film is what is scary if you must!

This is an obvious title for a film that would be scary, and I had heard of it, but I didn't know anything about the plot, so I didn't know what to expect or whether I would agree with the critics two stars out of five or not. Basically, set in 1965, Heather Fasulo (Murder by Numbers' Agnes Bruckner) is a pyromaniac, i.e. enjoys starting fires, and after setting a blaze in a forest the rebel girl is being sent by her parents, estranged mother Alice (Emma Campbell) and neglected father Joe (Bruce Campbell), to the all-girls boarding school Falburn Academy, in the middle of the woods. Ms. Traverse (Patricia Clarkson) is the dean, and despite low money from the father she is accepted into the school, but the only friend she can find is weird fellow student Marcy Turner (Lauren Birkell). During her time there, being a redhead and the new girl, Heather is constantly abused verbally by the nasty fellow student Samantha Wise (Rachel Nichols), especially torturing her with the nickname "fire-crotch", and she can do almost nothing but struggle through it. Besides being called into the dean's office often, she is also having the problem of dreaming scary nightmares and hearing strange voices from the woods outside near the school, and as the days pass she has suspicions about the staff and teachers. Heather comes to the conclusion that the dean and all the other staff members are a coven of witches, and that the woods are haunted, and this situation becomes much more bizarre when students Marcy and Ann Whales (Kathleen Mackey) vanish without trace. The police are searching for the girls, but no-one believes any theories that the lead girl has, and she is sure that she will be the next to be taken by the dark forces at work, so she tries anything to get out of the school, and investigates what is going on. The evil intentions do indeed present themselves when Heather's father ends up in hospital, and a big battle of humanity and devilish demons ensues, with Ms. Traverse obviously being the leader of the cult and becoming the monster, but in the end Heather saves the day. Also starring Marcia Bennett as Ms. Mackinaw and Jane Gilchrist as Ms. Cross. Bruckner is a good choice as the fire-starting and very mindful character who wants to escape or fight her corner, Clarkson is suitably stone-faced as the head of the school who rarely expresses human emotion and is definitely evil (in a near Nurse Ratched kind of way), and Birkell gets great moments as the horrible school bully. It is simple enough story, and even though it is set in the 1960s it still brings familiar teen scary movie elements, with all the characters and the build ups to scares using music and visual tricks, I will admit though it was more tension than actual frights, it was all in all an alright psychological horror. Okay!

Recalcitrant and rebellious problem teen Heather Falsulo (an excellent performance by Agnes Bruckner) gets sent to an exclusive all-girls boarding school that's run by the imposing Ms. Traverse (a superbly understated portrayal by Patricia Clarkson) and located deep in the forest. Heather finds her life in considerable jeopardy after she discovers that the place is harboring a horrifying secret. Director Lucky McKee, working from an absorbing script by David Ross, relates the compelling story at a deliberate pace, offers a flavorsome evocation of the 1960's period setting, makes inspired unnerving use of the isolated sylvan setting, and does a masterful job of creating and sustaining a beautifully chilling and brooding sinister atmosphere. Moreover, McKee warrants extra plaudits for eschewing cheap scares and excessive graphic gore in favor of a supremely creepy mood that becomes more increasingly scary and unsettling as the narrative unfolds towards a harrowing conclusion. The exceptional acting from the top-rate cast helps a great deal: Bruckner and Clarkson both do sterling work in their parts, with stand-out support from Rachel Nichols as snarky bitch bully Samantha Wise, Lauren Birkell as the mousy Marcy Turner, Kathleen Mackey as the fragile and frightened Ann Wales, and, in a nice atypical straight dramatic role, Bruce Campbell as Heather's father Joe. John R. Leonetti's sumptuous widescreen cinematography gives the picture an impressive polished look. John Frizzell's shivery score hits the spine-tingling spot. A real sleeper.