Main cast: Cara Buono (Heather McCalister), Clare Foley (Lauren Davis), Spencer List (Peter McCalister), Tyler Elliot Burke (Shawn McCalister), Adam Weppler (Dylan), Ehad Berisha (Mike), Giselle Torres (Veronica), Dan Leahy (Ben), Sienna Hubert-Ross (Ashley), Erik Bloomquist (Danny Peterson), Emily Keefe (Kellie), Cory Asinofsky (The Pizza Guy), Cody Boccia (Deputy Barnett), Madeleine Dauer (Agatha), Declan Foley (Tommy), Coulter Ibanez (Dennis), Tess Santarsiero (Martha), Michael Park (Officer Jerry Matthews), and William Sadler (Gilbert McCalister)
Director: Erik Bloomquist
I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never seen any of Erik Bloomquist’s previous films, mostly because it’s so damn hard to locate them, but after watching She Came From the Woods, perhaps I should try harder to remedy this deficiency in my life.
It’s not that this one is an amazing film, but I’m impressed by the use of practical effects and the way this thing pays homage to previous camp-slasher films of yore without coming off as an uninspired rip-off.
We’re at Camp Briarbrook. The camp is run by patriarch Gilbert McCalister along with his daughter Heather and his grandsons Shawn, the serious and dour one, and Peter, the obnoxious one that I really wish to see brutally killed ten seconds in his first appearance in the movie.
Gilbert wants to retire, and this makes Heather unhappy because (a) he told her oldest son about this but not her and (b) “YOU’RE ABANDONING US!!!” Has she ever stopped to consider that her unhealthy attachment to the camp and her insistence that the old man works there until he dies may be why her father doesn’t want to tell her anything?
There are also the usual bunch of irritating and stupid councilors that think that it’s time to party once the kids are finally sent home, and naturally, egged by Peter, they conduct the usual “let’s summon the spirit of the psycho killer said to have terrorized this place yonks ago” ritual because why not.
They will be so thrilled when they realize that they have indeed successfully summoned Nurse Agatha back into this world, and now, she’s going to make sure that they all get the medicine they deserve…
You know, this show has many child actors, normally the bane of my movie watching, but my goodness, they are the more tolerable cast members here.
The adult characters are some of the most obnoxious I’ve ever seen. Dylan is the predictable asshole, but he’s evil here and so over the top loud and painful to watch that the only consolation I can get is that this piece of offal is not meant to live to the end of this show. He takes way too long to get what he deserves, though.
The worst, though, is Peter. He’s responsible for egging his fellow mentally incapacitated dumb friends to start this mess, and he spends the rest of the movie being useless and annoying. He may be less excruciating to watch than Dylan, but frankly, he’s the more hate-worthy of the two.
Sadly, Shawn is the hottest guy of the lot and he’s also one of the more likable characters—but he’s barely in this thing, unlike Dylan and Peter that are in this movie for way too much. Lauren and Heather end up being the sane ones that are also tolerable, but my favorite character is Officer Matthews that wastes no time just getting the hell out and leaving these imbeciles to die like any sensible human being would.
Obnoxious characters that just won’t quit raising my blood pressure aside, I do enjoy the kills. I also love the use of possessed kids to murder the imbeciles that are unworthy of share oxygen with the rest of the population, and while there isn’t much explicit gore here, the kills are actually pretty brutal and hence worthy of approval.
The biggest disappointment here is Agatha. When they show me those close-up shots of her… yeah, I’ve seen much better on an average Dragula floor show.
I feel that it’s also a mistake to give her too much of a detailed past. She becomes far less scary as a result, less of an iconic unstoppable killing force and more of a generic villain with bad make-up.
Anyway, as I’ve said, I find this movie more grating than entertaining due to the relentless over the top vileness from some of the characters here. Still, I’m impressed by the pacing, the technical aspects of the whole thing, and the good use of practical effects to create some memorable death scenes.
Hence, while I may not be bowled over by this one, a part of me does like it. I should really check out the other works of the director and his sibling, both of whom write all the screenplays of their movies to date.
