A common plot within the horror genre. A group of guys go bonding on an isolated cabin adventure, sh*t kicks off and suddenly the group are fighting for their lives against a paranormal force, psychopath or any other number of horror themed entities guaranteed to give you a good runtime duration of thrills, chills and bloodshed.
Between the Trees stands out from the majority of horror films by being a heavily character driven horror film. The film is a slow burn to start but a commendable attempt is made of allowing the audience to really bond with these guys. Something we don’t see often enough in films (let alone horror films) nowadays.
When the movie introduces these creatures in the woods I feel that’s when the film starts to fall apart. It feels like a side story to the central plot and the creatures themselves look hilariously bad. What started as a rather strong development of plot suddenly wilts away and the mindless killing begins.
Between the Trees certainly isn’t a bad movie, the acting is good enough to keep you watching and it certainly doesn’t feel low-budget. But the second the ‘horror’ movie side of things kicks in the film absolutely folds in on itself and self destructs. Thankfully a strong musical score and some good cinematography keep my eyes on the screen just that little bit longer and the ending was a nice surprise compared to usual horror conventions.
It’s a good effort but sadly it doesn’t fully hit home for me but still worth a watch if you enjoy your cabin in the woods type flicks!
Summary
A plot we’ve seen a million times over. Between the Trees is a bold effort that really hits the nail on the head in many departments but falls short in every way of becoming a true ‘horror’ movie.
