Backwoods (2008) (TV)

Director:

Marty Weiss

Writer:

Anthony Jaswinski (written by)

Release Date:

3 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Nature has a dark side.

Plot:

While camping in Jasper Park up North California, the couple Tom Alan Smithee and Gwen Marie Holden...

Plot Keywords:

Bound And Gagged | Paintball | Exploding Car | Rape Attempt | Caged Human

Cast

Ryan Merriman	...	Adam
Danny Nucci	...	Perry Walters
Haylie Duff	...	Lee
Mark Rolston	...	Ricks
Troy Winbush	...	Basso
Deborah Van Valkenburgh	...	Ruth
Craig Zimmerman	...	Dash
Mimi Michaels	...	Maggie
Jamison Yang	...	Mike Chen
Jonathan Slavin	...	Paul
Eric Larkin	...	Bartender
Willow Geer	...	Gwen
Robert Allen Mukes	...	Josiah (as Robert 'Bonecrusher Mukes)
John Hemphill	...	Ranger
Blake Lindsley	...	Agent Tommers

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence.

Runtime:

Japan:85 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:MA (DVD release) | Australia:MA (2008) | USA:R

Company:

Bobby Weisman Caterers

Trivia:

While shooting Backwoods, stunt man, Kai Nuuhiwa was held at gun point with two forest rangers. Nuuhiwa stepped back and raised both arms in the air, away from his blank shooting rifle.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The MISSING sign has a date of Feb. 30, 2008.

Movie Connections:

References "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962)

More of the Same Old Stuff

A team of FBI agents go on retreat in a California forest preserve, playing paintball as a training exercise. But the team is not alone, being surrounded by rednecks, inbreds and survivalists. What could have been harmless fun has now become a lesson in living.

The director of this film apparently grew up in the modern MTV world. He fills his shots with beautiful people and generic rock music. Not that I object to beautiful women or rock music generally, but this Michael Bay style of filming is style over substance, which gives the audience just that: a pretty shell with a hollow, rotten center. This film will be forgotten before it is even done being viewed.

And I know I've complained about his before, but... rednecks and hillbillies? Have we not done this to death? It's bad enough to make yet another movie about this... but then we have to make them all deformed looking? I think I've seen that film enough times. Sure, here we have California instead of the Appalachian Mountains, which is a change of venue... but it's the same old story. Oh, and now it's FBI agents. So, I guess, um, that's different.

No need to give this one a more full review. It's a cheesy knock-off, forgettable film. We get plenty of eye candy from Haylie Duff (but no nudity), but this doesn't really make a film worth owning and maybe not even worth watching. Not a horrible film, mind you, just nothing special.