The Backwoods (2006)

An English couple's holiday in Spain is interrupted when they discover a girl imprisoned in a cabin.

Director:

Koldo Serra

Writers:

Jon Sagalá (screenplay), Koldo Serra (screenplay)

Stars:

Gary Oldman, Virginie Ledoyen, Paddy Considine

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Gary Oldman	...	Paul
Virginie Ledoyen	...	Lucy
Paddy Considine	...	Norman
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón	...	Isabel
Lluís Homar	...	Paco
Jon Ariño	...	Lechón
Álex Angulo	...	José Andrés
Kandido Uranga	...	Miguel (as Kándido Uranga)
Andrés Gertrúdix	...	Antonio
Patxi Bisquert	...	José Luis
Savitri Ceballos	...	José Andrés' Daughter
José Andrés Zalguegui	...	Bartender (as José A. Zalduegui)
Ramón Churruca	...	Ignacio
Isabel Jiménez	...	Waitress
Yaiza Esteve	...	Nerea, The Child

Storyline

Ledoyen and Considine play a young married couple at the end of the 1970s, who come to visit a friend (Oldman) who now lives in the Basque region because he has married a woman from there (Sánchez-Gijón). Their tranquil summer turns to horror when they discover a girl with horribly mutilated hands in the forest. They try to help her by taking her away from the home in which she is locked, but the local villagers, who have to protect the girl, start a pursuit in the forest they know much better than the visitors.

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Plot Keywords:

couple | spain | married couple | cabin | rape attempt | 

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Taglines:

Where the hunter becomes the hunted.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France Spain UK

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

16 February 2007 (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Backwoods

Filming Locations:

Navarra, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

EUR3,600,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$123,913

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmax Entertainment, Monfort Producciones, Castelao Producciones

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gary Oldman, Paddy Considine and Virginie Ledoyen were dubbed for the Spanish version of the film. The scenes where the characters had whole scenes with English dialog were all dubbed. Only when the characters spoke in English with the Spanish characters, the dubbing actors said their lines in English. 'Aitana Sánchez-Gijon' dubbed herself.

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Goofs

When Paul is out with the villagers, back at the house Norman, Lucy and Isabel do not hear the practice shots Paul and the others take on a clear day. Yet later in a torrential downpour, having walked miles farther towards the nearest town, the trio hear the distant single shot when Paco kills Paul.

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Quotes

Norman: I'm just trying to think!
Paul: Don't think! Let me think for both of us!

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Connections

References Little House on the Prairie (1974)

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Soundtracks

There is a war
Written and Performed by Leonard Cohen
Taken from the Album 'New Skin for the old Ceremony'
Courtesy of Sony HNG Music, Canada

User Reviews

My respects to Gary Oldman

For speaking Spanish, a great effort, and a good performance. He is a very versatile actor. I, too, thought that the creepy factor of the movie was going to rest on the child and her situation but I found that the fear was instilled by putting these men in a foreign town and in a situation out of control.

The movie opens with a song about "war" and I think this feeling predominated in the movie. I also found creepy the transformation of the more docile character (Paul's friend)

I also found that although the movie repeated some stereotypes from other scary movies, it was done in a sober manner. The performances (of the men specially) were good and credible. Maybe we were expecting a more "chilling" movie, but I took it for what it seems to be: a war among men, natives and foreigners, the primal versus a more civilized attitude but at the end: all primal.