A slow slide towards a very high cliff

Rating: Null/10 (9 February 2001)

A friend of mine saw this movie the day before the news of it being a fake was announced by the press. He told me that it disturbed him so badly that he couldn't get it off his mind and had nightmares about it that night. When I finally went to see it I went knowing full well that the actors hadn't really disappeared but instead had started making the talk show circuits. There were four other people in the theater besides me. Everyone hated the movie... except for me. If you've already seen this movie and hated it, then there probably isn't anything you can read here that will change your mind. But this was certainly no ordinary movie. This isn't a movie you can walk into and think "All right, scare me! I dare you! I've seen some of the most disgusting special effects and make up that Hollywood has to offer!" The people who challenged the movie in that way missed it completely. I figured there had to be a reason why my friend was SO deeply disturbed by it while every one was now panning it. It was because, at the time, he believed it was REAL! This movie requires total belief that the things that happened REALLY happened. That was why the studio lied to the public telling them that these three kids died. It forced the public... even for the brief time it was able to keep the story up, to believe it really happened. Thus, getting the full, intended effect of the movie. If you saw it and hated it... see it again, this time placing yourself in the woods right next to Mike, Josh, and Heather. It's maddening, it's sickening, it's terrifying. It's like a slow, torturous, inevitable slide, fingernails furrowing the ground uselessly, towards a high, deadly cliff. Also it may help to consider this. (I don't believe this is a spoiler, but I'll warn against it just to be safe) The ending and the last shot really does make sense... if you stop and think about it carefully. (repeated viewings may be required for this) While the "lost" part of the movie was like the slide towards the cliff I mentioned earlier... the final shot, if you "get" it, will make your blood run cold! Hope you enjoy it more this time.