The thriller all others must base themselves on.

Rating: 9/10 (31 July 1999)

Let me start by saying, wow. I saw this movie in a theater filled with the most diverse group of people I've seen in a theater since Titanic. Punk teens intermixed with aged film afficionados. The first 40 minutes of the film seem more like a comedy than a thriller, with the three students travelling to Burkettsville, and getting information from townsfolk. Then they head into the woods. If you read the film summary I wrote, Now youre thinking, "When does it get so scary?" The genius thing about the film is that, like all of the best, waits until the last 20 minutes of the movie to reveal itself as a thriller. The suspence in this movie is killer. Take off your watch before you enter, or you will find yourself looking at it to see how many minutes are left, and that would truly ruin it. The film, Strangely enough, never drops from it's climax, once it reaches it. You find yourself pitying the students as the last shreds of humanity are torn away into an almost animal wish to escape the forest. This film doesn't explain itself, which will turn off Kevin Williamson fans, who want the happy ending, where all is resolved. You will question what happened in the end for days, before realizing that some things are better left unknown.