A found footage film that takes place in Washington state, this has an interesting setup, but falters in the last half.
It tries to be a little different. The evil they encounter is not just an ordinary witch, but Hel from Norse mythology. Two women and their fiancees, camp in the forest and look for the site of an urban legend involving Hel.
Aside from the premise, it was nice that not everyone dies, as in most found-footage movies. The scenery was nice and the acting by the female leads was decent.
However, it did get boring once they sojourned into the forest. The special effects left a bit to be desired.
A few things did irritate me. One of the girls, Ari, kept spouting, "I am a journalist" as a reason to keep probing and put her friends in danger. My favorite part of the movie was when her fiancee told her, "You're just a blogger" after she says it once too often.
Related to that, when everyone has a chance to escape, Ari insists they find the Hel/tree monster and try to reason with it. She reminded me of a cliched scientist in a 50s science-fiction film ("We must try to communicate with the creature"). Rather than be reasonable, Hel kills her fiancee. After they manage to flee and Ari is crying, her friend, Cari, tells her, "It was not your fault!" Yes, it was, Ari--it was all your fault!
There were some puzzling aspects, too. One, Ari's father is friendly to everyone when they visit, but then he gives the fiancee a mean look shortly thereafter. Why? Two, the two couples are warned not to travel to that part of the forest, and it takes them a while to find the site suggesting it is in a remote area; yet, there are neat, well-trodden paths and bridges along the trail. Where they meet Hel, there is even a woman out for a jog! Three, while most of the film is shot through the camera, when the survivors are running away they are shot objectively from far away.
I have seen much worse, but it did feel like a waste of time. At least it was short. This is set up for a sequel, which could be interesting ("Cari vs Hel!"), but I doubt this film will be popular enough to justify a sequel.
It tries to be a little different. The evil they encounter is not just an ordinary witch, but Hel from Norse mythology. Two women and their fiancees, camp in the forest and look for the site of an urban legend involving Hel.
Aside from the premise, it was nice that not everyone dies, as in most found-footage movies. The scenery was nice and the acting by the female leads was decent.
However, it did get boring once they sojourned into the forest. The special effects left a bit to be desired.
A few things did irritate me. One of the girls, Ari, kept spouting, "I am a journalist" as a reason to keep probing and put her friends in danger. My favorite part of the movie was when her fiancee told her, "You're just a blogger" after she says it once too often.
Related to that, when everyone has a chance to escape, Ari insists they find the Hel/tree monster and try to reason with it. She reminded me of a cliched scientist in a 50s science-fiction film ("We must try to communicate with the creature"). Rather than be reasonable, Hel kills her fiancee. After they manage to flee and Ari is crying, her friend, Cari, tells her, "It was not your fault!" Yes, it was, Ari--it was all your fault!
There were some puzzling aspects, too. One, Ari's father is friendly to everyone when they visit, but then he gives the fiancee a mean look shortly thereafter. Why? Two, the two couples are warned not to travel to that part of the forest, and it takes them a while to find the site suggesting it is in a remote area; yet, there are neat, well-trodden paths and bridges along the trail. Where they meet Hel, there is even a woman out for a jog! Three, while most of the film is shot through the camera, when the survivors are running away they are shot objectively from far away.
I have seen much worse, but it did feel like a waste of time. At least it was short. This is set up for a sequel, which could be interesting ("Cari vs Hel!"), but I doubt this film will be popular enough to justify a sequel.
