Director: Mark Young
Writer: Mark Young, Adam Frazier (Screenplay)
Starring: Scout Taylor-Compton, Olivia Luccardi, Lew Temple, Renee Olstead, Brock Kelly, Landry Allbright
Plot: A wild creature attacks six students on a weekend hike in the woods. One by one, they become infected with a “feral disease”, turning them into rabid, bloodthirsty creatures, and the vacation becomes a nightmare as they fight to survive each other.
Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Typical Late Night Horror
Story: Feral starts as we meet six friends, Alice (Taylor-Compton), Jules (Luccardi), Brienne (Olstead), Jesse (Kelly), Gina (Allbright) and Matt (Finn) going on a weekend hike, which is filled with the drama of relationships, the first night takes a dramatic turn when Matt and Brienne are attacked by a creature, with Brienne left injured by the attack.
They seek shelter with Talbot (Temple) who has a cabin in the woods, but they are far from help, with the group needing to fight against the creatures that will turn them into rabid monsters.
Thoughts on Feral
Characters – Alice takes control of the situation, using her experience of animals to deal with attacks and try and hold the friends together, she has her own secrets from her father, which she needs to address on this weekend too. Jules is the girlfriend of Alice, she is the newest member of the group and wants Alice to speak to her father, while dealing as an outsider more. Talbot is the stranger in the woods, his cabin because the base for what happens, only he has his own reasons for being in the cabin. The rest of the cast complete the friends list which are more victims than any sort of character.
Performances – Scout Taylor-Compton is the big name from the horror community, she is the best of performers, with Lew Temple bringing the next most interesting character to life.
Story – The story here follows six friends on a hiking trip that come under attack by a feral creature, which will turn them rabid if they are bitten, with the battle to survive being the most important thing. This survival story is one we have seen before, it is one that works and is easy to understand, we know that we will always shave one that can fight back better than the rest, while the rest usually just become the victims or make mistakes. The characters involved in the story are written quite weakly with the idea of romance that needs to be addressed being about as deep as we get here. It does make it an easy watch, with a story that never gets complicated.
Action/Horror – The action in the film does rely on the fights with the creatures, which shows the intensity of the horror we are going through.
Settings – The film creates the remote locations of a hike in the woods, it does show where the creatures could be getting kept and how difficult it would be to escape from.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are used to show the damage the creatures can inflict, it does make them look more terrifying too which helps the fights seem more realistic.
Scene of the Movie – Sneaky, sneaky.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The characters a very thin.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror that you could easily stick on one night, it is an easy watch, has the bloodbath you could enjoy and by the end it isn’t bad to watch.
Overall: Easy Watch.
