Director: Raine McCormack
Writer: John Hoernschemeyer, Raine McCormack (Screenplay)
Starring: Richard Hope, Rebecca Johnson, Therese Bradley, Phill Martin, Robert Vernon, Sidney Kean, Beth Park,
Plot: Every village, every person, has a secret…none more so than the inhabitants of this isolated, murky village whose fate relies on the luring of two unsuspecting pawns to satisfy their appetite and determine their being.
Runtime: 1 Hour 22 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Atmospheric Horror
Story: The Village in the Woods starts when a couple Nicky (Park) and Jason (Vernon) breakdown on a remote country road, as they search for the pub they are looking to move into as returning residents of the village , with the locals believing Nicky is actually an old resident Rebecca, Charles (Hope), Maddy (Bradley), Vince (Harker) and Emily (Johnson) welcome the couple in to their little village as the new pub landlords.
As the couple spend more time in the village, the locals start to question the identity of Rebecca, as Jason starts to learn more about the village and what they have been practicing over the years.
Thoughts on The Village in the Woods
Characters – Nicky is the woman that is pretending to be the long lost daughter of the former pub landlord, she is seen as Rebecca to the locals, who start to question her own identity, she is uneasy being in the village and wants to get out before it is too late, but her partner is reluctant to leave. Jason is Nicky’s partner that is willing to go along with the idea of taking over the pub, he sees it as a new start to for the couple and easy money, he doesn’t see as much strange behavior from the rest of the villagers. Charles is the head of the village, starting being welcoming to anybody coming to village, including Rebecca, he is somebody that will always be friendly to strangers, like his wife Maddy who will always be welcoming to the rest of the villagers.
Performances – Beth Park does give us an innocent performance, which is needed for her role, walking into a location that is unknown to her, Robert Vernon does give us the strong performance as the partner that is not willing to believing everything else going on, while Richard Hope and Therese Bradley are the true scene stealers with their performances in the film.
Story – The story follows a couple that inherit a remote country pub in a small village in the woods only to find that the villagers have their own plans for the new residents. This is a story that is willing to show how the main couple Nicky and Jason aren’t everything they are pretending to be to the villagers, which is important to everything going on. We do go in direction of not seeing everything early on, while everything does add up by the end, it will keep you feeling uneasy for the most part because you will be left guessing to just what will happen next and what the villagers big plan would be.
Horror/Mystery – The horror side of the film does keep us wondering just what the villagers what with the new couple, we have moments of unease to help create the scary atmosphere, with the mystery adding to the horror in the film.
Settings – The setting of the village in the woods is the absolute highlight of this film, by seeing the murky environment, the quiet which the villagers live in, reminds us of what location can be everything for a horror movie.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are used to create the atmosphere, we get taken into the murky, fog covered woods, which only helps us feel uneasy.
Scene of the Movie – Escape to the woods.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Slightly too short.
Final Thoughts – This is a wonderfully atmospheric horror that just gives you a feeling of unease throughout the duration, with creepy performances from Richard Hope and Therese Bradley.
Overall: Creepy & Atmospheric
