The Woods (2006)

Set in 1965 New England, a troubled girl encounters mysterious happenings in the woods surrounding an isolated girls school that she was sent to by her estranged parents.

Director:

Lucky McKee

Writer:

David Ross

Stars:

Lauren Birkell, Agnes Bruckner, Jane Gilchrist

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Agnes Bruckner	...	Heather Fasulo
Emma Campbell	...	Alice Fasulo
Bruce Campbell	...	Joe Fasulo
Patricia Clarkson	...	Ms. Traverse
Lauren Birkell	...	Marcy Turner
Jane Gilchrist	...	Ms. Cross
Catherine Colvey	...	Ms. Leland
Marcia Bennett	...	Ms. Mackinaw
Rachel Nichols	...	Samantha Wise
Kathleen Mackey	...	Ann Whales
Cary Lawrence	...	Ms. Charevoix
Colleen Williams	...	Ms. Arbor
Gordon Currie	...	The Sheriff
Jude Beny	...	School Nurse
Melissa Altro	...	Barb (as Missy Altro)

Storyline

In 1965, after provoking a fire in a forest, the rebel teenager Heather Fasulo is sent to the boarding school Falburn Academy in the middle of the woods by her estranged mother Alice Fasulo and her neglected father Joe Fasulo. The dean Ms. Traverse accepts Heather in spite of the bad financial condition of her father. The displaced Heather becomes close friend of he weird Marcy Turner, while they are maltreated by the abusive mate Samantha Wise. During the nights, Heather has nightmares and listens to voices from the woods, and along the days she believes that the school is a coven of witches. When some students, including Marcy, simply vanish, Heather believes she will be the next one.

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Plot Keywords:

woods | student | forest | girls' school | boarding school | 

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Taglines:

...Evil grows there!

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence and language, including sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

MGM/UA

Country:

USA UK Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

El bosque maldito

Filming Locations:

Cité du Cinéma, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG, Furst Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Patricia Clarkson and Angela Bettis's second film together. They played mother and daughter in the television adaption of Stephen King's Carrie.

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Goofs

Samantha trows a glass of milk at Marcy's face. After that, Heather punches Samantha and the girls quickly get in a brutal fist fight. In the next shot that shows Marcy, her face and chest are completely dry and clean, with no traces of milk whatsoever.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Alice Fasulo: [to Heather in the back seat] Feet off the seat.

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Connections

Referenced in Unikal'noe pozdravlenie (2014)

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Soundtracks

Marcy's Song (aka the 'You Don't Own Me' Overlay)
Composed by Jammes Luckett (as Jay Barnes Luckett)/Poperratic

User Reviews

It might have been a long time coming, but the wait was worth it!

In 2002, director Lucky McKee made a big impression with his first full feature film, the oddball horror 'May'. Since then, he went on to direct the best episode of the Masters of Horror series, and this film...which has unfortunately remained in limbo for far too long. It's not difficult to see why the film struggled to get a release, as McKee's film isn't exactly your average slice of horror. It's clear that the director has a thing for deviant young women, and that theme is carried through with this film; along with a whole load of influence, which ranges from Video Nasty classic 'The Evil Dead', to Dario Argento's masterpiece 'Suspiria'. The film takes place in 1965, and focuses on central character Heather Fasulo - a girl sent to a an all-girl boarding school by her parents after she decided to burn down their house. The school is surrounded by thick woodland, and the girls there tell stories about it which revolve round a coven of witches that decided to take the school by force many years earlier. Furthermore, this story seems to have some truth as Heather suffers nightmares which focus on the surrounding woods…

The film is really slow paced for the first hour, and despite some mysterious goings on at first; there isn't a lot of horror involved. But that's not to say that the film is boring! McKee utilises this time well and uses it to create mystery around his central theme and build the characters up to a point that we can easily care for them. The atmosphere is continually creepy, and this bodes well with the mystery theme and the dark and gloomy woodland. While The Woods doesn't feature much in the way of blood and gore, McKee skilfully manages to work some schlock sequences into the film, and the frenzied final third brilliantly offsets the slow build of the first two. The director has managed to put together a good line-up of acting talent for the film, which sees Agnes Bruckner doing well in the lead role, and receiving good feedback from experienced actors, including a devilish Patricia Clarkson, and cult icon Bruce Campbell; whom I'd like to have seen more of. It all boils down to a satisfying, yet open, climax and overall; despite its problems getting a release - this is a damn good horror film and will surely rank as one of the best of 2006! Here's to hoping McKee has an easier time getting a release for his next film.