PRE-ORDER @AMAZON NOW!

A Night in the Woods opens at selected UK cinemas:

TOMORROW! -7th September 2012

Available on DVD and download:

10th September 2012

Pre-order yours here

So, is there anything intrinsically wrong with making a film that plows a similar furrow to a classic?

A Night In The Woods can be compared to a UK version of Blair Witch but let’s face it, the idea of sending the cast out into the wild to film their own demise is so delicious that it seems churlish to make snide remarks on the format. After all, our folk devils are different to those in and around the New Jersey forests and British horror wrote the book on weird rural locals providing dark mutterings about sticking to the roads.

Cursory research online will reveal that Blair Witch borrowed heavily from Video Nasty classic Cannibal Holocaust in any case and all films have a provenance – a set of influences either subtle or obvious – on which they draw. Personally, I love found footage horror so if a British team want to explore a similar set of movie making techniques in my own backyard, this delights me. Found Footage has always appealed to me for the same reason that I love DIY punk and underground music… Because it’s low budget and needs the imagination of the audience to complete the puzzle. Because it’s a genre that doesn’t need vast reserves of cash in order to put the fear of God into me. Because when I watch a movie like this – whether it’s a work of genius or a bust – it makes me feel like I could pick up a camera and frighten people as well.

Some people say Found Footage as a genre is overplayed. I argue different. It’s bloated franchises and over-budgeted mainstream horror that displays a dearth of imagination. A Night In The Woods works because it’s stripped back, stripped down horror. A few people, something lurking and the actors ability to show fear and terror sell the picture, not some dude in a mask accompanied by a bombastic rock-heavy score.

Here’s a clip from A Night In The Woods during a quieter moment, no doubt before the storm…

MORE GREAT A NIGHT IN THE WOODS CONTENT: A NIGHT IN THE WOODS PRESS RELEASE ☠ WILDERNESS HORRORS ☠ PRIVATE FOOTAGE ☠ IT’S IN THE TREES, IT’S COMING