In the Deep Woods

In the Deep Woods is a meandering psychological thriller regarding a serial killer. It wanders over the many red herrings and possibilities to the extent that the plot becomes pointless. When the resolution finally comes, the thrill is long gone from the movie. And even though it meandering, it felt contained at the same time. So dissatisfaction is had all the way around it.

Rosanna Arquette is sufficient in the role as the lead, but her histrionic expression starts to wear by the second half. Anthony Perkins (in his last film) brings a decent intensity to his character, but his motivation is minute to the nature of the plot points for his character. It's almost as if he's too good an actor for this film. The rest of the cast are adequate, but at times, they can go too far into stereotypical behaviors.

The film starts out with enough tension to carry a TV or cable film. Unfortunately, it peters out into dulled plodding step by step plot points. I yawned at the end, and was frustrated by the lack of closure to the characters after the killer was identified.