Red Woods (2021) User Reviews

Not good, not terrible. It is suspenseful.

[zhivago97 · 3/10 · 4 August 2021]

To be honest I hate found footage-type movies and I hate low budget when it's really obvious. This movie has a lot of flaws, primarily because the storyline and the storytelling are very convoluted, it's too long and has unnecessary characters. It's hard to keep track of all the characters: who is dying, who is doing what, who is missing, blah blah blah. The bottom line is that it's a poorly conceived and executed movie, but it does have some upsides.

That said, I sat through it and was hooked after about 15 minutes. I wanted to see what happens next. The setting in the woods was beautiful, and the creepy abandoned, falling-down houses in the middle of nowhere had there own appeal. Why are they there? Their presence alone raises interesting questions in a creepy movie. Yeah I wanted to see if there were dead bodies in the houses, that's the whole point of the movie. So for me, there was a decent amount of suspense.

Plus there was just enough character development to make me care about what happens and I wanted to see more. The acting wasn't great (but there are FAR worse movies out there). Some characters were relatable and/or authentic and others were unnecessary. Yes this aspect was uneven.

There isn't much saving grace in this movie but I have to give credit where it's due. The fact that it kept my interest when it had so many downsides (and I am not afraid to criticize bad films and give low scores), means they did something well. Rating a 3 seems about right to me.

If you can get through the first 20 minutes, which is the slowest, then give the rest of the movie a chance. If you don't have interest after 20 minutes, then don't waste any more time.

An Urbexer's Perspective

[kbtoys100 · 3/10 · 22 December 2021]

As someone who explores abandoned buildings, I love watching movies about the hobby, as they are rarely ever realistic and provide a nice laugh. Red Woods is one such film.

The premise is cool: a group of people embark on a days-long trek into the woods to check out some abandoned houses and begin to find some strange things: a bloody mattress and a forgotten cemetery. The cinematography is gorgeous; they have some professional cameras, stabilizers, and a drone. The effects are pretty good and it's clear they spent some money on things.

The problem is everything else. The editing cuts bizarrely mid-sentence multiple times and it seems several scenes of plot are just missing altogether. The last half of the film becomes nearly incomprehensible. There are way too many characters and no one acts remotely like a normal human being would.

For example: the bodies. Both groups find dead bodies in these abandoned homes yet don't bother to tell each other and are joking about it less than a minute later.

Then that night for some reason one character attacks another and a random man shows up and tells a scary story to which NOBODY questions why he is there other than someone whispering 'who is he?'

The next day someone, I didn't even know who, disappeared. Then our characters find some cliche hillbilly's and murder them in self defense, which again doesn't bother them.

There is also a VERY confusing subplot about a "first team" that left beforehand they are going to meet up with and two of the group possibly being some sort of x-files type government agents.

I can only imagine that writer/director Nicholas Danko watched a lot of the popular urbex videos with clickbait titles such as "found bodies!" "Secret test lab!" Etc and based this all on that.

Found footage movies are meant to suspend our disbelief more so than a regular film, essentially telling the viewer 'hey, this is real' but literally nothing in Red Woods would make someone believe that. In addition to the previously mentioned issues, the acting by just about everyone comes off as kids in a high school play. The psychic girl, Jack (referred to as Jax in one scene by everyone) is the only one that shows some minor talent, and her friend is passable. The woodsman explorer guy, Cross is so horrible in his 'breakdown' scene after falling on a body that it gives new meaning to the word 'stilted'

Red Woods should have been a simple, fun setup but Danko is unable to tell a coherent story. Slick production levels alone do not make it watchable either.

All I'm Saying....

[photo-otohp15 · 3/10 · 20 August 2021]

Is that if a group of five strangers barged my home with a video camera and a gun, I'd grab my gun, and be ready to shoot.

Idk, after that scene, it got hard to root for these people. I get where they were coming from for sure, but if you look at it from the two guys' perspective, that'd be absolutely terrifying, especially when you're living off the grid to avoid stuff like that.

Serial pyro/killer guy was an interesting concept, but making it a revenge story made it less scary and more sad. I suppose there isn't anything wrong with that, but it also made that plot point more predictable, and kinda..... lackluster.

It's really bad, not in a good way.

[griffiths-brent · 2/10 · 12 January 2022]

Usually I love this type of film, but this is a mess. Bad writing, bad direction, bad acting... There is nothing redeeming about this project at all. Please don't waste your time like I did. Imagine if Tommy Wiseau made a found footage but it had no comedic value like The Room did.

I'd rather watch your grandkid's home movies from the early 90s. I'd rather watch surveillance video from a parking lot of an abandoned mall. I would rather watch basketball.

Not even just boring, but actually annoying to watch.

Please stop with the planted fake reviews

[phantasmda · 1/10 · 6 February 2021]

Ok I've just watched this and honestly, I would have given it an average 5 stars. It's not an awful film by any means, it's a low budget knock off of the Blair witch Project but with a serial killer instead of a witch.

Some of the locations are and camera work is pretty cool but it has all the same problems nearly all of the BW knock offs suffer from. Slow plodding pace, an hour of people talking, walking through woods and old houses, more talking, bickering and walking around and little to nothing happens until the last 15 minutes.

The death scenes in this are all off camera bar one and there's almost no gore to speak of. It's not scary, it's not unsettling, it's so tame and by the numbers. Sure I have seen a lot worse but that is not a glowing endorsement.

The reason I have given this 1 star is that I am sick of seeing these low budget movies being given glowing 10 star reviews the day they come out, from accounts set up that very day that have literally done nothing else. one review, one interaction and all on this film claiming it's the best most scary thing ever produced, usually over praising actors in the film or the director. It's so blatantly obvious they're fake and planted reviews from members of the production team to boost interest. It's insulting and a way of trying to cheat your film to success.

Until IMDB comes up with a system that only allows reviews from people with a reputation on here, you know, people who have been members for a while and regularly post here, rate and review films and are honest in thier opinions. This will just keep on happening, it's too open to abuse at the moment.

My honest opinion of this film, if you enjoy cheap found footage films where people spend an awfully long time walking through creepy looking forests and old abandoned houses, then you might enjoy this. But for me, there's not enough happened in it to justify its run time, the characters are stupid and say and do some of the most ridiculous things, thier interactions with things are absolutely bananas. They scream in shock when an old mattress is turned over with a big stain on it and yet when they find a dead body hidden under the stairs it's almost like "oh look at that, that's strange" and then they just move on.

There's a lot better found footage horrors out there but there's also a lot worse. But don't base whether or not you want to watch this solely on the reviews turning up on the net. Most of them are fake, most of them are written by people associated with the film and that alone should tell you all you need to know about what they, themselves think of thier own films quality.

Couldn't even finish the movie.

[estapendeja · 1/10 · 14 March 2021]

This movie is so boring, unlikeable characters, and takes forever to get to the point. I couldn't even finish the movie whatsoever, don't waste your time.

People giving this movie ...

[MetroSkunk · 1/10 · 18 July 2021]

... good reviews must have been involved with it being made.

Waste of time

[Stephanie-Hurst · 1/10 · 2 November 2021]

Bad acting. Atrocious dialog. Characters are unlivable, and you root for their demise. Supposed to be found footage type of film. This movies features very unattractive actors and honestly I've seen better acting in a high school drama. Don't waste your time.

Not that bad

[shannon-bill · 7/10 · 9 February 2021]

This was nowhere near as bad as some reviewers here would have you believe. Not at all. The sylvan scenery was gorgeous and the story was well-written and directed. The acting was acceptable and frankly, I was entertained for the duration. Not sure what some people want but if you aren't a fan of horror than perhaps this isn't the movie for you. This wasn't Sheitan or Calvaire but it is a diverting way to spend a little time. Again, it's a solid effort on a budget.

What?

[leahy-43637 · 1/10 · 30 July 2021]

*Falls through staircase on to dead body*

Let's get that scrape cleaned up and keep exploring!

Did I miss something here? Found two dead bodies early on and not one person was phased, just started roasting marshmallows while laughing around a fire.

Solid Indie Film

[candidthoughts · 10/10 · 6 February 2021]

For a found-footage indie film with no Hollywood budget, this film is very well done. The story provides fresh new twists on what is typically a formulaic plot in these types of movies. The acting was great--the characters were genuinely portrayed. The actor who played Cross was especially great at performing with anger and angst--he nailed it. The film's audio could have been better, though. Kudos to you independent filmmakers and actors! Keep up the good work and don't be discouraged by the nay-sayers!

Better than average found footage horror

[clk264-649-716463 · 7/10 · 25 June 2021]

Here's the thing: You have to take this movie for what it is. It's found footage horror film that takes place in the woods. Have we seen this before? Yes. Many, many times. Is it basically the same thing that you always see every time you want to watch a low budget horror film? That's negotiable.

On its face "Red Woods," seems like every movie that's out there that you can get on Amazon prime: someone's missing in the woods, we go looking for him, only to have all the people involved in the hunt wind up being killed.

I particularly enjoyed this one from other films, because, you actually have a storyline that is decent; The characters are believable (I'm from the area the movie takes place and it's pretty accurate); and instead of it being a "evil force" that the producers could save money by not showing anything, we have an actual killer with deaths and dead bodies.

I wasn't expecting an Oscar caliber type of film, and I wasn't expecting much beyond "the Blair witch Project," but, I got something close. Please ignore the negative reviews: check it out!

Ooooooh scary!

[shanewilkinson-34541 · 2/10 · 5 February 2021]

Plot: You decide to hang around in a remote woods after you've already just found a demolished building with still warm burnt bodies and fell through the stairway in a nearby building onto another dead body, keep on filming build a bonfire at night, yell into the woods to hear your own echo and try to make a very very bad Blair Witch Project with characters so bad, you hope they get murdered.

Nearly unwatchable due to bad acting

[brianmccarthy-09778 · 2/10 · 29 July 2021]

Barely got through this thing. Should be a cool concept: group of "urban explorers" who know each other through social media team up to explore some creepy woods to find out what happened to the protagonist's brother. The only reason this isn't a one is because parts of the opening sequence are cool. All downhill from there. Main guy CANNOT act and the supporting cast isn't better. Why is there a ghost psychic in this? Why don't these idiots just call the cops based on the opening video? I am from this area and there are legit creepy spots like this, but it could have been so much better.

Really bad

[sassekatie-58380 · 1/10 · 4 September 2021]

It took me all day to get this login today so I could leave this review. This movie made literally no sense. It felt like a drunk fever dream. So so bad.

Oh my god so bad.

[madeleineadam · 1/10 · 4 October 2021]

The acting is the scariest thing about this movie. Legitimately, with some friends and some beers, I could do a better job. I can't tell which is worse, the clunky and plodding "script" or the utterly insulting delivery of said script. It's as if the actors were told the movie was for very dumb people and to deliver the lines in such a way that a toddler could understand the meaning. It could almost be a comedy, but overall this was more pathetic and sad than humorous.

Another movie w a stupid ..

[MetroSkunk · 1/10 · 18 July 2021]

... character you just hope would get killed. In this movie it's Jax, this idiot who everyone thinks has a spiritual connection with the dead and nature. Just dumb as hell. This movie is awful in every aspect of film production.

Horrible

[wendy-manis23 · 1/10 · 24 February 2021]

One of the worst movies ever. The only reason I watched it all was to see how much more dumb it could get and it didn't disappoint.

If You're Into Found Footage, This is a Lot of Fun

[gsuplee · 7/10 · 29 June 2021]

I watched the movie with low expectations based on the reviews here. That's how you should watch it, too, you'll appreciate it more. While the story is predictable, it is a lot of fun. The antagonist is about as scary as a dandelion, but that aside, I get what the filmmakers were trying to do here. If you're into found footage films, it's worth watching. Those leaving negative reviews are expecting this film to be something it's not.

Don't waste your time

[myronthird · 1/10 · 29 July 2021]

One of these movies that's just kinda all over the place. Save ur time. Extremely boring, you'll probably fall asleep anyway.

Beyond The Scare

[bvjware · 10/10 · 5 February 2021]

Excellent & very scary. I will never, ever go into the woods again. Acting of real people. Props and scenes fantastic. Theme of visiting abandoned houses with their unique terrors kept me on the edge. Bravo! You frightened me.

great visuals; the rest is not bad

[MunkyMovie · 6/10 · 11 February 2021]

This may be a good found-footage palate cleanser for those who have seen too many variations on "Blair Witch." The twists at the end were not mind-blowing, but they closed the loose end adequately.

Nope

[donkey_dick · 2/10 · 23 May 2021]

Kind of a good idea / premise but they blew it. Boring and not scary. What a bunch of jerks!

Wow.

[gabdoesvideos · 2/10 · 6 February 2021]

This may or may not have been the worst film i've ever seen. This was hard to watch. The cuts are horrible. The audio is hard to make out. The acting is, to put it charitably, weak. The plot/narrative is not at all engaging. And it is not suspenseful, although they try in a very heavy handed way to make the watcher feel suspense. Other than that it is a great movie.

Failed narrative technique

[costie · 4/10 · 16 January 2023]

Low budget horror movies are one of my guilty pleasures.

But I could not bring myself to finish this one.

This is more feedback to the makers of this movie:

I wanted to finish it - and gave it a couples attempts - and I've enjoyed lower budget movies (like Terrortory).

But what made this movie unwatchable for me was the inconsistent narrative. It just felt disjoint and inconsistent - and not in cool disturbing kind of way but just in a "I don't feel there is any vision here at all" kind of way.

I had to turn it off following a conversation between two characters where one of the characters was going on about some kid from his childhood that he has weird memories of. I guess they were trying to create some kind of spooky history but chose the wrong way to do this. I was the opposite of spooky - just awkwardly delivered dialog with no emotion.

From this moment forward I couldn't anchor myself anywhere in the narrative.

Don't get me wrong - I support these kinds of movies and I'm sure nobody is getting paid and all that. It's clearly a labour of love. I don't have any specific advice on how I would have made this movie - other than to chose a more consistent narrative structure that is easier to follow through on.

In other words, the film makers bit off more than they could chew here.

But don't give up and keep making movies!