User reviews

It goes like this...This is reality, ok, nope THIS is the real reality, fine... Wrong again THIS is the REAL REAL reality....ah ok...Guess what, they all lying, THIS is the Super duper real and only reality...ok wtf? No worries, its a dream.

In the end the mess is so big that doesnt make sense and the only thing you want is the thing you watch to end so can go on doing something better, like watching mushrooms grow.

Sure, this movie tries to have an artsy, plot-twisty feel. But the two realities that are presented in the movie are easy enough to understand and I thought it was interesting to see both sides of it. It certainly held my attention, and given most movies these days I give it a big plus for that reason alone! The creature designs were interesting enough (albeit low budget, but that isn't always terrible!) I think this movie would even be worth a rewatch, but I don't think it's my new favorite by any means. 5.5(teetering on 6)/10

Spent most of time screwing my eyes up to try and see anything happening... why is this filmed mostly in the dark- this does not make a film scary, just annoying and also too much use of a foreboding soundtrack does the opposite of putting you on edge. No script to speak or just very confusing.

Well, "The Retreat" wasn't really as good of a horror movie as I had expected. Sure, the movie was watchable and entertaining enough for what it turned out to be, but it just wasn't a particularly memorable or outstanding addition to the horror genre.

"The Retreat" had some interesting enough aspects to it, such as the wendigo and the creatures that scuttled about with it, and the trip into the forest (around which the movie's plot evolved), and the happenings in the forest. However, the movie just spiraled downwards and out of control as the storyline went from being interesting to downright confusing and totally dropping the ball as to what was going on. That part is where writer and director Bruce Wemple totally lost me.

As for the acting in "The Retreat", well it was heavily reliant on the performance of mostly two actors, that being Grant Schumacher and Dylan Grunn. I will say that they managed to carry themselves well enough, despite the fact of not having a properly constructed storyline to work with.

"The Retreat" is labeled as a horror movie. A very weak horror movie, mind you, because there literally was nothing scary about the movie. I think the label psychological thriller mystery might actually do the movie more justice.

Ultimately, while I did manage to sit through the entire course of the movie, I can honestly say that "The Retreat" is not a movie that had me particularly entertained or thriller. Nor is it a movie that I will watch a second time.

My rating of "The Retreat" settles on a four out of ten stars.

Like a student film, by bad students. Trying to be waay too clever jumping between realities. Walk before you can run filmmakers, very dull ho hum.

By the hour mark I just wanted this film to end. Whilst it had some creepy moments early on, the whole ambiguity trope just didn't work and felt needlessly incoherent. Whilst the acting was fine etc, it just wasn't remotely scary enough.

It is not the scariest movie at all but it did have a few moments that definitely did creep me out. Not a low budget, and not a low quality movie. The story kept me guessing until the very end and the acting was very very good as well. If you like movies that are horror mixed with mystery this is exactly what you get in this film.

This movie is not worth watching for free,let alone renting it. Although the Wendigo looked like an alien Rake,the writing,acting,and continuity of the storyline left me wondering what the hell happened. No conclusion or even a simple explanation of the outcome....would have rated it a zero if I could....pass this one up...save your money....

Hidden gem here. Its a little slow in the beginning, but stick with it, it gets much better. I thought it would be close to garbage according to the 4.0 ratings. The movie has much more depth and some nice twists, much more than most horror movies lately. Highly recommended, IF you like horror/thriller movies.

Bravo, great job 8/10

I enjoyed this movie, but it's because I already knew quite a bit about the wendigo urban legend and knew what to expect. If you have no idea about the legend then I'm afraid you'll probably find this to be a confusing mess, or at the worst, boring. I guess people might go into this thinking it's a monster movie but it's actually a slow psychological horror with themes of madness. It works as a good homage to the wendigo legend but I have rated down because the legend isn't well enough explained for newcomers. I thought it was a pretty neat serious psychological horror though.

It's not bad, however, the story jumps around way too much, almost making it tough to know what's going on. I'd say this is more of a thriller and not horror. The cinematography is great, but it's unfortunate that they used some kind of orange and teal filter. Everyone's skin appears orange.

But this movie sucked! It could have been a watchable movie, but it is disjointed, the script sucks, it almost seemed like it was going to be a broke back mountain movie with a wendigo. It turns out it's just a below average movie.

Dragged on relentlessly, hallucination movie with poor plot. Boring and bland with no start or end. Hung to the premise of an ancient demonic myth. Bypass this one. Its just nothing.

I have no idea wtf I just watched...this was so dumb.

I have watched wallpaper drying that was more fun than this and scarier. The last 20 mins are o.k. I wouldn't watch this again if you paid me vast amounts of money.

Heading out for a bachelor party, a group of friends decides to take a special hiking trail in the local woods but when they get lost in the woods decide to try experimenting with drugs only to come upon a dangerous woodland-based entity that starts playing with their mind the longer they stay in the area.

For the most part, this is a pretty enjoyable outing. A lot of what works here is the strong setup that takes on the groups' stupidity to work properly. The idea of them going out at night on the darkened trail as part of their series of hikes makes complete sense as to how the group gets lost as easily as they do. The trick in doing it on the hike back is also played nicely as there are some fine chances for them to get back safely yet instead turns this nicely away from the expected into a far more satisfying psychological bent about being lost in the woods than an outright monster movie. The various timelines and story-points that emerge here play off a different kind of film in that it's seemingly more about the experience he undertakes and how it's manipulated by either the elements or the creatures' supernatural powers makes for a fine story here and manages to work out quite an effective effort. When this one gets going, though, it's all due to the fun psychological mind-games that result here. The harrowing first encounter alone in the woods manages to bring about a fantastic confrontation with the creature that's quite enjoyable with the overpowering nature of it who quickly and easily tosses him aside yet strangely backs off gives this a fantastic starting point for the later encounters. From the hallucinations of the beast stalking him through the woods to the unseen shots of it following him which are quite intriguing playing off the psychological nature of the storyline. Since everything is based around whether or not it's a hallucination or actually happening, this one manages to come across far more chilling here with the idea that it's not actually him out there to begin with. Offering up both scenarios as equally likely in that he's alone and being stalked by a supernatural creature or that there's nothing but the two of them who have fallen prey to the elements snapped makes for a chilling set up with just enough action to make for a fun time. There are some big issues within this one. The most egregious of this is the confusing storyline here that tends to make it quite difficult to figure out what's going on. Tending to revert through time quite easily by going back-and-forth through numerous storylines involving their camping trip gone wrong, the flashbacks to the psychiatrists' office and then to the meetings with the fiancee he's marrying causes some tonally whiplash keeping everything straight throughout here. It also doesn't help that this series of storylines cause the main creature to nearly disappear from the main part of the film since it doesn't tend to get a lot of screentime in the last third of the film. Most of these are taken up with keeping the storylines going or showing the guys out hiking in the woods rather than the creature so although it does have a few moments here-and-there it doesn't have as much as most would like. The other issue here is the utterly moronic decision that sets the movie in motion of the group going out in the woods alone at night as most of them state doing so is a bad idea is a clue enough that this one doesn't have any proper motivation for doing so. That all ends up holding this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

Creature features are my absolute favorite type of horror films. So, I only have 2 complaints about this film.

1. The creature fx aren't that great - but still a pretty cool looking monster.

2. When the main character fires a rifle, the sound effects used are so bad that it's comical.

Other than those, I was truly pleasantly surprised with this film. I came across while scrolling through Prime.

The acting is great. The setting is awesome and the story is too.

There are several psychological twists throughout, so pay attention! I usually don't care for that but in 'The Retreat', I think it allows the viewer to decide which twist is the one that's real.

Super impressed with THE RETREAT! Watch it!

If you look past the terrible direction and the horrible acting, sound mixing messed this movie up. Community college level filmmaking. It's only a 2 star because kudos to the film crew for braving all the snow.

There's no depth of characters at all. Sound is atrocious. #2 is for the potential of some good acting, not by the Gus guy though.

Looks great, sounds great. Just when you think it's going nowhere - Boom! Plot twist after plot twist after plot twist pull you right back in!

Admittedly, it gets a bit confusing in the final act, as the movie jumps back and forth between multiple timelines.

One massive flaw- the 'Wendigo(s)' look ridiculous and basically move around like 'men in costumes'. Other than that, a solid movie!