Throwback cinema is all the rage right now and nowhere is that more apparent than in the horror genre. Not that I’m in any way complaining, but when done right it’s pretty amazing. She Came from the Woods takes the horror genre and turns it a bit sideways, combining nearly every trope we got in the 80s into one film. It starts out on the last day of the summer at Camp Briarbrook (which is basically a more sunny version of Crystal Lake) while the kids put on a little show before being loaded onto buses and sent back home to mommy and daddy. The film was written by Erik and Carson Bloomquist (directed by Erik) and it is simply dripping with nostalgia. There’s no doubt in my mind the films they grew up loving. Its influences are seen in every frame, and I for one was here for it. It was definitely never lacking a horror callback.
A few of the adults from the camp decide (as camp counselors often do) that they’re going to stay behind an extra night to throw a party and try to summon the spirit of a woman who died at the camp, this is always a great idea as horror history has taught us. Peter, Veronica, Lauren, Dylan, and Mike (Spencer List, Giselle Torres, Clare Foley, Adam Weppler, and Ehad Berisha) complete the ritual with a little bit of blood but believe that they failed… that is until some really awful things start happening.
What She Came from the Woods Got Right
Like I said earlier, this film combines a lot of genres that you wouldn’t necessarily think would work together but somehow they do. It starts out as a straight supernatural slasher that quickly adds elements of a haunted ghost story, the two blend really well together. It also leans heavily into the campy (I don’t mean summer camp here) feel of the typical 80’s slasher. It plays all those beats to eleven. It tosses in a dash of comedy to offset a lot of the terrible things that are happening and when they hit those notes just right the film excels. It does spend a lot of its runtime adding in new elements every little bit, there’s the family secret that’s revealed by momma Heather (played by Cara Buono) and grandpa Gilbert (William Sadler). Both do fantastic jobs taking their strange and off-center characters and playing them right down the middle. Possibly the only straight characters.
They also tossed in the creepy kids trope and ran hard and fast with that until finally showing us the supernatural killer/ghost that the film is named after, and when she showed up, she most definitely came from the woods. The film is filled with blood and gore and gross kills that are inventive but nothing we haven’t seen before. Probably one of my favorite scenes (and one of the funniest bits) was when the evil kids were chasing everyone, the evil kid on crutches just doing his best and trying to keep up and be evil was hilarious.
What She Came from the Woods Got Wrong
This movie had so many things going for it that it had a hard time deciding what road to go down. It was a horror film but it was a comedy, it was a slasher but it was a ghost story. Sometimes these things worked well together but often She Came from the Woods couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. It didn’t lean hard enough into any one thing for it to be really clear on what it was trying to do. It started out wanting to be very funny, and it was, then would switch and suddenly take everything too seriously, and it did. The film was a hodgepodge of mixed signals to the point where the comedy lost its funny and the horror lost its scary.
It could have leaned a little more into any one of the threads it was pulling and been a much better film for it. It would have had more of a direction and we would have known what we were supposed to think about it. There’s nothing wrong with horror comedy, in fact, I love most of the ones I’ve seen, but they knew where they were going 100% of the time. Basically, everything about this movie that I found as a strength also was its biggest weakness. With some minor tweaks, it could have been perfect. One thing I could have used a lot more of was the titular “She”. We only got her for a handful of minutes at the end of the film and her design was great.
Conclusion:
I’ve said many things so far but what I haven’t said yet is, I actually really enjoyed She Came from the Woods despite many of its drawbacks. The film took a big swing and often when you do that you’re going to get some strikes, but you get three of those before you’re out and it didn’t go that far. It finally connected. It did take me on a trip back to the 80s and that’s something I’m always down for. It really seemed like they watched the 1984 season of American Horror Story and decided they had to make a movie – I respect that. It’s one of my favorite seasons. It walked that horror/comedy line perfectly.
The one thing I can hope for is that everyone learned what worked and what didn’t in this one and they take another swing. I can see She Came from the Woods becoming a fun, campy, horror series of films. They made 700 Friday The 13th movies and they aren’t all winners. This has a real chance of redeeming itself with a sequel and becoming a cult classic. It doesn’t always fire on all cylinders but when it does it’s a fun and great escape from the usual horror of today. I say you should definitely give this film a chance.
She Came from the Woods was released in theaters on February 10, 2023!
Watch She Came from the Woods
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