The Haunted Forest

Writer/Director Keith Boynton's "The Haunted Forest" is beautiful, witty and poignant, but it also doesn't skimp on the scare. The tone is set in the well-crafted throwback opening, and from that point we are never quite sure when we are in reality and when we are in the head of Zach, the brooding teen lead. There is a Hitchcockian ambiguity there that extends all the way to the last scene. But this is not an intellectual movie. Filmed at an actual haunt, the setting is a rich and exquisite backdrop for some really good, and eventually cathartic, gore, with a whole lotta "don't go in there!" A fun movie that is a love letter to the genre.

Hoping to get through summer, a teen ends up getting involved with a friend's haunted attraction service in the woods with fellow workers who share his love of the grotesque and the macabre, but when a series of deadly accidents threatens his enjoyment of the topic finds the truth behind everything.

Overall, this was a solid if somewhat problematic genre effort. The film is at its best with the whole concept of the exhibition, making him question his enthusiasm and love for the genre. As the early stages of life show his love and passion for everything horror-related, with daydreams about killers attacking others, disregarding school and friends for genre content, and the idea of getting work at the actual attraction in the woods, it serves this one incredibly well to give an idea about his devotion and appreciation for the genre. That is incredibly tempting with the idea of suddenly bringing about the different distractions as the interactions with the other members of the service manage to counteract the accidents that are occurring around them. That leaves the final half to be immensely intriguing, with the revelation coming about and everything being given enough time to breathe as the culprit comes forward and puts everything into context rather well. While this is all incredibly well-handled, there's just not a whole lot of genuine genre fare on display here. Far too much of this one tends to explore the dangers of being far too obsessed with the film's love for horror rather than coming to terms with the real-world implications of everything happening around him, leaving everything centered on a coming-of-age story rather than dealing with the actual implications of his growing up. This is genuinely fun to see play out, but it never gives this the kind of pacing that is appropriate for the kind of setup where it features plenty of stalking or action, as this drama-focused setup offers a different type of story altogether. That disrupts the film slightly, even though it's not a genuine flaw.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.