Bosque de Sombras or The Backwoods (2006)

[Sister Grace]

After seeing the previews for The Backwoods, i figured it would be pretty good. I was so wrong. According to Imdb, the plot for the movie is..

Summer 1978: an English couple are going through a difficult patch in their relationship, and so decide to spend the summer in the house that their friends have bought in the north of Spain.

Very much off the beaten track, the house seems ideal for some peaceful holidays. But their tranquillity is abruptly shattered when they discover a girl with horribly deformed hands locked away in a cabin in the woods. Filthy and unable to talk, the girl is obviously terrified and so the couple decide to take her to the police. But their attempts to help the girl are hampered by the denseness of the forest, as well as by a group of local villagers who seem determined to keep the girl in atrocious conditions.

I figured it would be decent, I love Gary Oldman and infact he is the only good thing about this movie. What starts off as a decent plot quickly turns into a jumbled mess. The dialouge is painful and most of the movie is so dark, you can barely tell what's going on. Gary Oldman was the only decent actor; the others were very cardboard-esque in thier acting. There is a potential rape scene where the girl's acting so dull it just screams "yeah, whatever..i'm so bored", and this pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the movie. I don't mind movies where the violence is somewhat subdued (No Country for Old Men for example) if it is pulled off right. The previews for this movie was awesome, but the rest was a let down. Its one of those movies that after you finish it, you're still not sure why you sat through the whole one hour and fifty-seven minutes.

[The Burgomaster]

Coincidentally, I had this DVD in my hand this afternoon at Best Buy.  I almost bought it, but I ended up just getting RAMBO and DIARY OF THE DEAD.  Thanks for the warning!