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BACKWOODS (1987)
Directed by Dean Crow
Cinema Group VHS
Reviewed 11.23.05
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
Indiana is the quintessential Midwestern
industrial wasteland; oil refineries,
steel mills, and gobs of corn. You'd
never know it, but indeed, there
is more than fetid scents, Splashin'
Safari, and corn in Indiana. Just
ask Backwoods.
A regional rarity filmed deep in
Hoosier-ville, Backwoods
(known as Geek in the UK)
was released straight to video in
1987. If you're surprised that a
low budget horror film from Indiana
even exists, get ready for another
doozy. It's actually not too bad.
Although the film suffers from dated
decisions, honest effort seeps throughout.
The schizo nature makes for some
blatant unevenness, but who says
a Kenny Loggins meets After School
Special soundtrack has to spoil
the party? Not me. And certainly
not the beheaded chickens.
Two nerds named Karen and Jamie
(Karen: likes to skinny dip in poop
water; Jamie: looks and sounds like
Sam Raimi) bike out to a remote
wooded area for some fun in the
sun. Namely, camping. After a half
hour of walking, Forest Ranger small
talk, random chicken corpses, and
tent love-ins, K & J wake to
an old man named Eben standing over
a little girl with a shotgun. The
girl is choking. Here's where the
movie switches gears. Since Jamie
is a doctor, he saves the girl's
life with an emergency tracheotomy.
Grateful Eben invites the campers
to his place for some dinner. Following
some moonshine appreciation, Karen
and Jamie meet William, Eben's beastly
geek son. What happens next is inevitable.
While it might sound like a straight-up
inbred slasher, Backwoods
leans more towards a rickety drama
with an incredibly violent finale.
Since that tense finale is so well
presented, it's even easier to overlook
the film's slight problems. We go
from spot on atmosphere (the bird's
eye view of the forest is a fave
for director Dean Crow) to laughably
bad dramatics (Eben and Jamie's
male bonding whilst "coon"
hunting) to that repulsive soundtrack
in the blink of an eye. It's all
delivered with decent acting, bad
80s dialogue ("Word processors,
fax machines...it's a scary world
out there..."), and a cast
of six that you can't help but like.
I could've done without the scene
containing a live chicken beheading,
but what can you do? This is Indiana,
after all.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Pretty consistent throughout, even
when night falls towards the end.
For once, somebody remembered to
bring the lights. The mono sound
was crisper than most.
EXTRAS
Not a one.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The grating jump between goofy trash
and direct intensity is impossible
to ignore. Despite that, Backwoods
succeeds in overcoming its scanty
origins, delivering a few moments
of capable tension in-between the
melodramatic cheese. You've got
nothing to lose.
Thanks to Jeff Camera for providing
a copy of this film! |
Whoopee!
Bloody birdy
To the beach
Scumface
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