IN THE WOODS

Written, Directed, and Produced by Lynn Drzick
Edited by Larry D. Osterman II
Director of Photography – Kevin D. Hewitt

Alex Kerwood – D.J. Perry
Helen Kerwood– Nimee Tenaglia
Larry Gorham– Tim Jeffrey
Elizabeth Gorham– Renee Pulse
Wayne Figley – Jim Greulich

I originally planned to review Lynn Drzick’s IN THE WOODS for my series on films released in the shadow of the Blair Witch Project. While other films in that series were either inspired by or simply parodying Blair Witch, this film has no connection to the 1999 summer blockbuster other than marketing. The sole purpose of IN THE WOODS’ ad campaign and box art is to mislead the public and cash in on the Blair Witch craze. If that’s what it takes to get your film seen, so be it. Drzick directs one of the better micro-budget productions to come along this year and it deserves to be seen.

Alcoholic firefighter, Alex Kerwood, and his wife, Helen, are struggling to hold their marriage together. After years of being together, Alex’s drinking is taking its toll. In lesser films, alcoholism is merely used as a cliché to help illuminate some sort of redemption process in the protagonist. Remember Who Framed Roger Rabbit? When it was time for Eddie Valiant to dry up and come to the rescue of Roger Rabbit, drunkard Eddie pulled out his ever-present flask of hooch and let the contents spill to the sidewalk. It’s a common film image. Rather than allowing alcohol to cheaply illustrate character flaws, IN THE WOODS uses it as a device to drive the plot and explore relationships in a film where there really is almost no need.

At it’s core, IN THE WOODS is a standard monster movie, it even comes complete with a mid-evil devil dog. Again, this film is much smarter than it has to be. At the time the devil dog shows itself, the small town has been plagued by a series of kidnappings. The only traces of the victims are small body parts. These acts are what cause Alex Kerwood to fall back on his liquid crutch, while putting out a local blaze, Alex and his partners stumble upon the remains of the most recent victim. Parallels are drawn between the devil dog and kidnapper. Which is really the true monster, a mindless animal whose only thoughts are to please its master or a psychotic killer who is driven by self-fulfillment?

Firefighters are a tight-nit group, and after Helen leaves Alex over his drinking problem, the Firechief, Wayne, takes Alex on a hunting trip. He need’s to free up Alex’s mind; a firefighter with his thought elsewhere can get people killed. On the trip, the pair come across a shallow grave and thinking it might be a recent victim, decide to dig it up. What they find are the remains what looks like a cross between a wild boar and Saint Bernard. These bones are what becomes the devil dog. Like any new hatchling, the devil dog latches onto the first person it sees, Alex. Being a minion of Satan, the pup kills all those with whom it comes in contact. Seeing Alex as its mother, it never moves outside his circle of friends…and family.

IN THE WOODS has much going for it, not just good story telling with great acting, but fantastic camera work and a haunting score. For the most part, young filmmakers don’t know how to move the camera. With IN THE WOODS the camera work is clean and fluid. It glides and spins around the forest adding an ethereal feel which expands upon the already creepy atmosphere created by the rich score. And what a score you’ll find with IN THE WOODS. You can find this one at your local video store, look it up.


Available at Dead Alive Productions