DVD review: Don't Go in the Woods (1981)

Four backpackers decide to take a hike in the mountains of Utah. But within the woods lurks a killer. But who...or what...is it? The lazy local sheriff blames bears. But the escalating body count seems to point to a human killer. Ignoring the warning signs, our campers remain lost in the woods...alone...awaiting their fate. Don't Go in the Woods is written by Garth Eliassen and is directed by James Bryan. The acting is horrid. There are some decent camerawork but the editing is bad, we are often following one character and then, out of no where, it switches to a different scene. Many characters, most of them nameless, just pop up throughout the film only to be killed within minutes which means I couldn't care less about them. For instance, suddenly a we see a wheelchair bound guy who slowly works his way all the way to the top of a mountain, a truly superhuman effort, only to get his head chopped off a minute later. The question is if there ever was a proper script or if they just improvised while making the flick. There´s zero atmosphere, no suspense and even if this is fast-paced it is quite a tedious experience to sit through due to the camerawork, editing and the soundtrack. I must say that the soundtrack Don't Go in the Woods is incredibly bad, OMG I hated it! It´s gory, there are numerous killings, people are hacked up, impaled, decapitated and so on but the fx are amateurish and cheap. No T & A in this.
This review is based upon the Dutch region 2 DVD release from Shock DVD.
Rating: 0 out of 7. This slasher should have been better, it´s fast-paced, pretty gory and has a good bodycount but it falls flat on its face due to being boring and badly made. Thank god this flick only lasts for eighty minutes!

/JL