The Woods (2006)

[trekgeezer]

Young Heather (Agnes Bruckner) is dropped off at a creepily isolated girls school somewhere in New England, because she apparently can't behave to her prick of  mom's standards.  Her dad (Bruce Campbell) seems to be pretty much ignored.

The school headmaster (Patricia Clarkson) seems at first to be the most normal acting of the faculty, the rest having various ticks and strange habits.

There is the usual cast of characters for this setting. The bully Samantha (Rachel Nichols) who bedevils Heather and the weird Marcy, who befriends her.

The school is creepy enough, but when girls start to go missing with no one apparently looking for them and tales of witches things really get tense.



This movie apparently sat on a shelf for three years before finally getting this DVD release. A bit of trivia, this movie was being made at the same time as M. Night Shamylan's  "The Woods", which caused that movies title to be changed to "The Village".

This movie was directed by Lucky McKee (May) and he does a good job of building tension, but some may find the ending a bit rushed.  From the reviews I read on IMDB, this movies is compared by many reviewers to Suspiria.


The film was made in Quebec and the school location does look very remote.  The acting is good and the CG effects are excellent.


I picked this up at Big Lots for $3 and it was more than worth it.

[Jack]

I didn't care too much for that one.  The characters were basic stereotypes and the plot was "mysterious" to the point where it didn't really make any sense.  I just found it uninvolving.  The production values were very high though.

[BeyondTheGrave]

I enjoyed it. I like how they played down played Bruce Campbell in the beginning and he totally shined at the end.

[Neville]

This film had bad buzz, but I found it rather enjoyable. It's a flawed film, alright, and the mystery payoff is not that great, but it has atmosphere in spades and a good casting. I too had a blast watching Bruce Campbell in a serious turn for once, and Rachel Nichols was very funny as a school bully. I still find myself thinking "Firecrotch" whenever I see a redhead, and I chuckle.

[hellbilly]

Because of The Woods my friends and me used to say "Fire Crotch" all the time. For some reason we thought was funny as hell. Myself didn't really care much for The Woods. It had its moments but overall it left me unimpressed.

[Fausto]

Good film, I appreciated the "evil dead" nods toward the end. I got a chance to ask Bruce Campbell about it at monsterfest, and he said that Lucky McKee didnt have an ending planned, and had to come up with something on the spot.

[Jim H]

Good film, I appreciated the "evil dead" nods toward the end. I got a chance to ask Bruce Campbell about it at monsterfest, and he said that Lucky McKee didnt have an ending planned, and had to come up with something on the spot.

That's funny, I saw the Q&A on youtube so I actually heard you ask this question! 

I've been meaning to check out the film, basically just because of Bruce Campbell.  I'll get to it eventually.

[Neville]

If you are going to watch it just because Bruce is in it, keep in mind his role is pretty small.

[metalmonster]

I Thought The Movie Was Okay But Not The Best


I Also Think The Movie Is Kind Of A Ripoff Of The Movie SUSPIRIA , Because It Is About A Girl Going To A Far Away School That Is Secretly Run By Witches

[Neville]

Could you edit that to add a spoilers warning? There's people following this thread who still haven't seen the movie. Thanks.

[skully13]

This film was decent but personally, I believe the characters excelled in other films such as Nichols in P2 and Campbell in the Evil Dead Trilogy. That's just my opinion though.

[vanlutz]

Thought this movie was terrible and boring. A waste of all talent involved.

The problem with this movie is it didn't have a stand out talent like Angela Bettis. May would have sucked if she weren't the star. Nothing happens in The Woods, and when something finally does, you're already asleep.