A gathering of friends is thrown into chaos by the opening of a mysterious fiery sinkhole near their secluded holiday home in the new independent horror movie Beyond The Woods.
Written and directed by Sean Breathnach and starring John Ryan Howard, Claire J. Loy and Irene Kelleher, Beyond The Woods has not only managed to gain critical success amongst horror fans but was also nominated for ‘Best Thriller’ at the National Film Awards UK in London.
Beyond the Woods is a bit of slow starter as the characters meet up in the holiday home that that seems to have a distinct smell of “fire and brimstone” if that was me Id me out of there! As the film progresses rather slowly we see how the characters interact with each other, in the meantime, something or someone is watching them from the woods surrounding the cottage.
As I mentioned Beyond the Woods is a little bit of a slow burner and it takes a while before things start to happen but they are weird things, look out for the bathroom mirror scene, the dream scene on the beach and the mysteries scene during the night when one of the characters is woken by her bedroom door creaking open., nice little touches that bring the film into the horror genre that you’ve been waiting for.
One thing I love about independent movies is the physical effects that are used, going back to the days of makeup effects rather than CGI and Beyond the Woods has “the creature” using makeup effects to bring its terrifying looks to life and the first scene that we see its face is a bit of a shocker.
The production of Beyond the Woods does have the indie feel, but for those of us that know and appreciate the work that goes into making movies on a small budget without all the millions of Hollywood backing, the film works well for the feeling of tension that some of the scenes brings. The cast brings the characters to the screen well and works nicely along with each other.
Not so much a film that has jump shocks, but it does have some great touches when it comes to moments of good wholehearted indie film-making, that show the passion that the team has when putting together Beyond The Woods.
I have to say I do like the way the film goes towards the end and it has that Blair Witch Project feel that works very well. When it comes to an all out horror film Beyond the Woods doesn’t break the boundaries of the genre, but it still works well for the content of the story, if you do like you low-budget independent films then this is certainly one to check out.
Hell is waiting for you
Movie title: Beyond The Woods
Movie description: A gathering of friends is thrown into chaos by the opening of a mysterious fiery sinkhole near their secluded holiday home.
Date published: February 5, 2018
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 24mins
Director(s): Sean Breathnach
Actor(s): John Ryan Howard, Claire J. Loy, Irene Kelleher
Genre: Horror
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
