Director: Billy Chase Goforth
Writer: Billy Chase Goforth (Screenplay)
Starring: Jennifer Pierce Mathus, David Rees Snell, CJ Jones, John-Michael Fisher, Katherine Forbes, Cassie Self
Plot: Things take a turn for the worst when a small town family finds an abandoned door in the woods. Is this just an abandoned door, or a gateway to something so dark no one sees coming?
Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Starts Well, Fizzles Out
Story: Door in the Woods starts when Everlyn (Mathus), Redd (Snell) and son Kane (Fisher) move to a small town to hopeful start a new life, helping Redd get more job chances. Kane doesn’t always fit into the schools he attends and it doesn’t take him long to get into trouble and when the family decide to spend the day in the woods they find a random mysterious door in the middle of the woods.
When the family put the door in their new home, they start to get evil visitors and the local pastor Uriah (Jones) comes to try and help them deal with new problems they are facing before the darkest takes over.
Thoughts on Door in the Woods
Characters – Evelyn is the mother that is preparing to start her own internet business, she redecorates the random door they find and starts experiencing the events, she learns the truth and sets out to get help. Redd is the father that has moved here to start a new job hunt, he tries to help with the behavioural problems and joins Evelyn searching for the truth. Uriah is a pastor that has come to bless the house, he is turned to, to help deal with the hauntings knowing how to end the problems they are facing. Kane is the troublesome child that often finds himself getting into trouble at school, becoming the target of the sinister nature of the door.
Performances – When we look at the performances, we don’t have the strongest ones here, Jennifer Pierce Mathus and David Rees Snell do struggle to make us believe the situations and life they have lived with these characters, while CJ Jones is the standout performer in the film.
Story – The story here follows a family that are looking to start a new life in a small town only to find a door in the woods, inviting evil into their own home needing to get rid of it before it is too late. The start of this story is really good, with creepy elements of hauntings in the house, the problems start when the story tries to break out of following this trend and spends way too long with the final act that is more talking than anything thrilling, which is could have been. This is a story that could have become a lot deeper, but gets caught up in the middle of the two ideas and not using enough of the horror involved.
Thriller – The opening half of the film does offer plenty thrilling horror moments, only to spend more of the second half of the film trying to make up and discuss what has been happening.
Settings – The film uses the small town setting for everything to unfold, showing people can try to escape for a new life, but every small town has a secret.
Scene of the Movie – Background walking.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Would you really take that door home.
Final Thoughts – This is a film that has a lot of potential only to fall short in how everything unfolds.
Overall: Doesn’t hit the marks.
