Don't Go in the Woods

Plot synopsis:
As something kills a hysterical woman, and a bird watcher, four friends (Peter, Joanne, Ingrid and Craig) trek through the wilderness. A tourist is thrown over a waterfall (landing near some oblivious frolickers) and his mother is wounded, and dragged away. The four backpackers set up camp for the night, and elsewhere a pair of honeymooners are attacked in their van and murdered. The next day, the two couples continue their hike, while an artist is stabbed to death, and her young daughter is taken.
Two more campers are butchered, and while off on his own, Peter witnesses a fisherman also murdered by the killer, who turns out to be a spear-wielding wild man adorned in furs and rags. Peter rushes off to warn his friends, but the maniac gets to them first, spearing Craig and sending Joanne fleeing into the woods. Peter finds Ingrid and after the two stumble upon the wild man's cabin, they accidentally attack another hiker, thinking he is the savage. The killer finishes off the hiker and wounds Ingrid, but she and Peter escape and eventually reach civilization where they alert the authorities.
Irrational due to guilt over leaving Joanne behind, Peter escapes from the hospital he and Ingrid are brought to and returns to the woods. Joanne finds a campsite containing a dead body, then a cabin where the killer hacks her to death with a machete. A posse (which includes Ingrid) is formed to hunt the maniac and look for Peter and Joanne. The sheriff finds the cabin, where he uncovers Joanne's body, leaving Peter even more distraught.
By nightfall the wild man claims another victim (a man in a wheelchair who is decapitated). Ingrid steals a machete and goes off to look for Peter who she finds by morning, along with the savage who they stab to death in a frenzy, only stopping when the search party arrives. As everyone clears out of the forest, the baby that was taken from the artist is shown alone in the wilderness playing with a hatchet.

Tags: violence

Review:
It's hard to comment on the score because the teenagers are absolutely unable to play any musical instrument (except for the blind kid whose electric bass works just fine in the forest, as if by magic)and are even less able to carry a tune.
Before I say anything about the movie, I want readers to know that I love horror movies, and the idea of a horror/musical to me sounds like it could be awesome.
I thoroughly enjoy horror movies of all kinds, especially the really bad ones that just make you laugh.
Fine, I get the whole "band in the woods trying to get inspired" thing, but it seems like the director for some reason needed every single insignificant "actor" in the film to get a solo song performance, which just makes no sense to me at all.
Just when you think you're free from the terrible music, and you might actually get some horror or gore, another cheese-ball "I'm so sad" song that's even worse than the last starts right up again.
At some point I couldn't hold myself back from fast forwarding through them, which was about when I realized just how much of this movie is occupied by bad music.
Some of the songs are even repeated by different characters in the movie, making them even more frustratingly bad.It's really beyond me how anyone could positively review this piece of work.
Fine if you like the idea of a horror/musical, and fine if you think it's "original", but the aggravatingly repetitive songs, the too-little-too-late killings, the fragmented straw-man plot, the absolute lack of suspense, the terrible acting, and most of all the HORRIBLE score make this movie a 0/10 in my book.I hardly ever write reviews on here, but if even one person reads this review and decides against watching this movie, then at least I've saved one soul.
Don't Go in the Woods (2010)BOMB (out of 4)Vincent D'Onofrio makes his feature directing debut with this horror film, which is one of the most original in recent years but it's also one of the worst.
A band goes into the woods to try and come up with some new songs and before long their girlfriends show up as well.
This is not a remake of the same titled 1981 slasher but it's too bad it isn't because this film is simply awful.
I love watching horror movies and I love watching bad movies but every once in a while I come across a film that just makes me downright angry and this is one of them.
The entire movie is simply a waste of time and I'd really love to hear from D'Onofrio on what he was trying to do.
Did the director really think horror fans were going to sit through this music and be entertained?
I remember seeing it at the drive in,way back when.I got a call from a friend to come over to watch the 2010 film of the same name.
I waited for a scene where someone ,or something is watching them,ready for one of them to leave the group,go off to pee,or make the beast with 2 backs,and get killed.Well,instead,they broke into ....more lame songs.It was at this point,i realized i was watching a musical.Now,i do watch them sometimes,and i did make it thru "Little shop of horror"(both versions),but this movie was not what i expected.Long scenes of singing,at the strangest times,a story that makes no sense,very little blood,sub-par effects,and basic camera work made this a LONG watch.i did make it till the end,but felt like a ass,for sticking around.All in all,i have seen much better musicals,and WAY better horror films.To me,this movie fails on BOTH levels..
I thought this movie was pretty bad, just watched it and came here to see if maybe I was missing something.
I like horror and I like music and I've liked that combination in other movies but this was just weird.
What gore it has is done well so the FX team gets a passing grade but for a horror movie there just isn't much there.When it was over it had me wondering if these kids were a real band and maybe the movie was just a vehicle to get their music some exposure.
Really bad musical but worse horror film..
Several hipster doofus emo guys are in a band and decide to go into the woods and like work on some new music dude.
After way too much bad singing a killer finally shows up and the boredom is elevated to slightly less boredom.This movie is horrible.
Mainly at the moronic songs but also at the acting, the barely existence plot, and the lack of suspense or horror.This is so amateurish in every way you wonder why VD didn't just shelve this pile of crap.
Only thing scary is that it actually got 2 good reviews out of 6...I was all excited to see this movie, its still playing however i've refused to continue the torturing myself...
Even the songs, like seriously WTF are they singing about, I wish someone would just hurry up and kill them all!!!
Terrible, Horrible, Disappointing, Stupid I don't even want to call it a movie, just a true time waster!!!!.
This time, the camera was not shaking like crazy, that was only good thing I can say about this movie.I saw it on Show Time, it was about, "A rock band that's on the rise retreats to the wilderness seeking artistic inspiration as they write new songs, but finds only murder and mayhem when they are stalked by a well-groomed killer.".
Slowly the killing begins, and really its not that hard to figure out who's doing it by a certain point.The gore was really decent, and the music I actually liked.
Although, if you don't like that kind of music or their voices then you might as well stay far away since 90% of the movie is music.
Seriously, if you think this is bad acting, you haven't seen half of Netflix's streaming horror movies.
And I'm picky when it comes to my horror films (and musicals!).
They respond as teens would, with the Likely exception of the phones.(Not gonna place a spoiler) I will be buying this movie if only for the soundtrack and the fact that the concept is real enough.
So you want to watch a horror film, but your roommate only likes musicals.
This is the sort of thing you watch at a horror movie festival, or put on at home with some friends when you just feel like watching something fun.
I know this is not the best movie, but I am a music lover.
It is worth a watch if you are into music.For the debut movie - I think this was original and creative.
I am not a slasher/horror movie fan - at all.
Like I said, the reason I even stopped to watch it was because of the music.
I think it's a wonderful indie musical in line with Once, as well as a pretty scary slasher film in line with the original Firday the 13th (there's one scene that is as shocking as the most gruesome scene from Irreversible).
I have to hand it to Vincent D'Onofrio for not just making yet another movie about a maniac with a sledgehammer offing young adults in the woods, but for making that part of it a very minor part of a story that is actually about song.
Vincent D'onofrio's slasher musical is the most beautiful Horror film since Candyman.
This is actually the most beautiful, moving piece of Horror film making i've seen since the original Candyman.
Music sucked so bad I could not wait for the slasher to kill these kids.
A slasher musical?I'll give props to Vincent D'Onofrio the actor who debts as a director on this film.
The movie is about a band of hipsters from Brooklyn going into the woods (even though a sign clearly states don't do it)to write songs for the next album, only to be hunted down by the dude I would not be surprised put up the sign in the first place.The movie starts off funny as the Hipsters literally fall into all the horror clichés (starting with going into the woods), but then I had to sit in on a second act filled with music that was just to whining for me.
Possibly just as sick of the music as I am, he puts the kibosh on their little camp out.It's hard for me to say weather the movie is good or not.
It tries to be a serious horror movie with a musical element.
I think a horror story/musical is a classic and different idea to visit for a horror movie.
totally a musical disguised as a horror film.
Hoping to emerge with new music that will score them their big break, they instead find themselves in the middle of a nightmare beyond comprehension.Far too much time is spent in this movie with the various kids singing and "rocking".
Unless this was secretly a musical disguised as a horror film?
So, give him a different story and maybe it will be incredible.But, yeah, this was totally a musical disguised as a horror film...
The horror definitely takes a back seat to the music which drives the movie.
The idea if having a musical slasher film was a great.
The reason why at first I wanted to watch a slasher film but when I started watching it I was pleasantly surprised by the music.
This is directed at whoever put together this terrible excuse for a horror movie: You do know the difference between a radio and a television, right?
A horror movie is NOT a setting to be listening to crappy, angsty emo music.
Neil Amdur's May 28, 2010 N.Y. Times article "Acting in a Film: It Could Happen to You" stated "Mr. D'Onofrio, who made the movie for $100,000, said he was more interested in finding young talent whose 'rawness, flatness and bad timing' as actors would 'work in a kind of odd way' for what has been described as a slasher musical." Vincent D'Onofrio deserves some credit for trying to be a little experimental in the horror genre, which is too often formulaic.
Don't Go in the Woods isn't so much a horror/musical as a horror movie with a lot of music in it, or perhaps is better described as an outdoor band rehearsal with a very paltry amount of horror and acting in it.The killer's garb and weapon are kind of neat (though little seen), a tracheotomy by a melodica garnered the mildest wisp of a chuckle, and the scenes of one character stopping to play and record on portable Digital Audio Tape a song while fleeing the woods and of another character seemingly singing along to a recording while being attacked (the singing might be imagined) were sort of funny in a way.
There is frankly more singing in it than in most musicals - possibly only Les parapluies de Cherbourg (1964), where every line is sung, exceeds it.Meredith Border's October 19, 2011 review for Badass Digest stated D'Onofrio "said he only wanted to make it as entertaining as possible" and "said that he made the film after asking himself, 'What can I do right now?
If this is what he does, he is a joke...Music was terrible throughout.Actors very poor.Wish I hadn't wasted an hour or so of my time watching this piece of garbage.I hope there aren't reviewers who are actually discussing the plot/meaning of this movie...it is a waste of time.If you haven't watched it, please don't, I promise you will be better off watching ANYTHING ELSE!.
Its director is also a brilliant actor and I think this debut establishes him as a very stylish and intriguing filmmaker.The movie I think is an okay slasher movie, has pretty good songs and a lot of punch.It's I think a critique of artistic or musical pretension and a critique of bratty New York City slackers with an ounce of talent and a psychotic level of ambition so I'm not surprised if it triggered lots of vitriolic reviews.
That said, this is sold as a HORROR movie, a throwback to the killer-in the-woods of the 1980s.
Mindblowingly worse, every once in awhile, the movie shifts to some sort of music video in the most asinine scenarios.Of the many, many unintentionally funny and WTF moments, the best (or worst?) was a foreign exchange student is trying to translate/explain there's a killer in the woods and her first instinct is to stand in one place, sway back and forth and sing in her native tongue in order to give the killer enough time to catch up.Ahhh, I haven't even gotten to how much I hated the characters.
Check out his review for more details, but from the horrid acting (seriously bad) to the horrible songs (really really horrible) to the horrible singing ( omg these people r sooooooo bad!
And I love a good musical and I love horror and this was neither.
Cap this all off with characters bursting into song as they are trying to warn their friends about the killer or - even worse - as they're dying - and this movie becomes just one, huge confusing mess.I love D'Onofrio as an actor, but he kind of scares me as a director and NOT in a good way.
This is NOT a good reason to make a film.The best thing about the movie as a whole is that the woods in which it was filmed are absolutely gorgeous (and, apparently, are D'Onofrio's property - I have to say, I envy the man!
What I wouldn't give to have a woods of my own like that :D) Unfortunately, this isn't one of those movies that's so bad it's good or so campy that it's funny.
This is a musical joke, with good songs and lots of blood!.
I think most horror movie fans hate musicals.
But soon, they find they are not alone at all.Vincent D'Onofrio, in his feature-length directorial debut, has taken a group of non-actors and 12 days of filming in the woods, expertly mixed them, and turned it all into a little gem of a scary movie.
Cheesy score, awful singing (musically speaking), mediocre setting (the woods that we surely all traipsed through as kids) and no acting.
As many have already said, the concept of a group going to the woods for some peace, quiet and inspiration isn't a terrible basis for a movie but when there's more music than anything else it gets pretty nerve wracking.
It's like a wannabe band trying to use the movie for exposure to get a record deal, but all they're showing is just how bad their music is.
Take everyone's advise on this one and save yourself time of your precious life and avoid this disgrace of a movie with sucky songs and terrible acting with a plot that should have been set fire to before it was conceived..
Don't Go into the Woods is not 'pretty bad', it's an abomination on cinema.There is literally NOTHING good about this movie.
The acting is wooden to the point of static; the script is cringe-worthy; "I dunno, dude, sometimes you just have to light a fire and pray to the songwriting gods."; the characters are all whiny indie w***ers; the location is uninspiring and clichéd; character motivations are ridiculous at all times; they bring up the fact there is a blind guy in the band in almost every scene in which he appears; the gore is rubbish; it's not a horror movie, it's an impotent musical; the direction is clearly crap because what Vincent D'Onofrio has managed to get from his actors is utterly awful.
The true horror of this movie was the music!
If you're thinking of watching this film, please heed my warning and don't waste your time.
There was way more singing (which was terrible) than anything else in this movie.
This movie was a musical.
This movie was a musical.
The idea of a horror musical is so absurd that I absolutely had to watch this while flipping through the movie channels late one night.
The difficulty with Don't Go in the Woods is that the plot (what little there is) leans more towards horror, while the actual performance is closer to a musical.
In a musical, characters burst out into song, but it's not as if they are putting on a performance inside the movie itself.
Therefore, rather than this being a musical per se, it's a horror movie with a lot of songs being performed by the characters of the movie.
The big twist doesn't make any sense; it's not to hard to figure out once you realize our lead singer is never around any other characters when murders occur (well, except that one kill near the end, whatever that was about) and there's never really a "why" to it all or any series of clever clues for repeated viewings, or red herrings to add suspense and surprise...the horror story told here is exceedingly dull.There's a ton of other flaws...the acting is at the low end of B-movie horror, there are repeated references to the blind guy being blind, a plethora of characters exist that have no place in the film, not even providing a decent death scene, and there's nothing here to illicit any emotion, positive or negative, aside from some head bobbing to some catchy songs that sadly feel just a little too long and yet a little unfinished.
I don't know.This was an interesting piece when I watched it the first time, and if I'd written a review then I might've marked it a little higher for what it tried to do and the fact that I could actually see some real, non-musical music within the embryotic songs.
I'm a fan of campy horror films but this movie is just plain horrible.