Intense, Intense, Intense!!!!!

Rating: 10/10 (31 July 1999)

This movie is unsettling. The night scenes should have been longer and the sound could have been better, but that sense of impending doom is something that has carried over with me even the day after viewing the movie. The realism of the camera and the realism of the actors, who draw you into the woods with them and leave on you the dread so prevalent throughout the film, turns your stomach at times. A girl who viewed the movie right before I did vomited and had to leave. In fact, many people left the theatre before the end of the movie, right around the time Heather turned the camera on herself. This movie builds tension like none other I have ever seen. The beginning is funny and light hearted as the film makers interview locals, then it begins to turn around as the three go deeper and deeper into the woods without a real clue as to where they are going, then it just because disconcerting as the three realize the danger of the night. Anyone who has ever camped out will realize that this movie is the realization of all the horrors that cross your mind while pitching your tent. Walking out, I felt uneasy and the many pictures that will no doubt be talked about for years to come were running through my mind. (especially the last scene, which will go down in horror history as one of the classic scenes of all time)The two friends I went to go see it with left the theatre feeling disappointed, as they felt it just wasn't scary enough. The next day, both called me saying they couldn't sleep the night before, and all of a sudden the movie that had left them disappointed became, for them as it was for me, the first reason in a very long time to leave a light on at night. Don't get too into the hype so as to not allow yourself to appreciate the movie, but also don't listen to the negative reviews. I have found that 90% of those who hated the movie complained of not seeing the "monster", or that after viewing many a movie at film festivals (the red flag phrase for film students, or those who think they are film students) they weren't impressed at all. Those who like slasher movies will be bored and those who attend film school at NYU will be pissed they didn't think of it first.Those of us who still cringe when we see "The Exorcist", can barely watch the screen in "Alien", feel the chill on the back of our neck when the kid in "The Shining" recites RedRum over and over again, will love this movie. It will leave certain images in your head, certain ones that you will want to forget, and will leave you in your car, or in your house, realizing the truly freightening nature of this film. It is, in one word, intense.