title : Top Movies - The Forest Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites
Link : Top Movies - The Forest Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites
Top Movies - The Forest Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites
article2016 Reviews,A missing sister in a foreign country, a scary forest people enter to commit suicide and ghosts. What more is there to say?
Genre: HorrorDirector: Jason Zada
Cast: Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney, Yukiyoshi Ozawa,
Ibuki Kaneda and Eoin Macken.
Ibuki Kaneda and Eoin Macken.
Run Time: 93 min.
US Release: 08 January 2016
UK Release: 26 February 2016
German Release: 04 February 2016
Granted, The Forest is not the usual US-January release garbage of a horror movie; it offers more than that and at times it really is engaging but it also is no more than a mere mediocre horror flick. One thing which really disappointed me is that it did not get a release in an English language cinema in Munich, which meant I needed to go watch it in German and this might have damped my experience, but only by a little bit. Other than this, I did enjoy watching this movie which came as a big surprise!
The movie revolves around Sara Price (Dormer) who flies to Tokyo in search of her identical twin sister Jess (Dormer), who was last seen entering the Aokigahara forest and is therefore presumed dead. Sara though is absolutely sure her sister is still alive and tries to find a guide who will lead her into the forest to search for her. She meets Australian journalist Aiden (Kinney), who informs her that he has a guide, Michi (Osawa), who is leading him through the Aokigahara for his story. Striking a deal with her, Michi and Aiden take her along the next day to search for Jess.
Like I said at the beginning, I was pleasantly surprised when I left the screening room due to several factors. One of them was how director Jason Zada actually manages to build genuine suspense throughout the movie, give or take the last couple of minutes, and made me jump a few times. Zada also got rid of some of the horror clichés that had been dominating horror movies over the past couple of years and turned the genre stale. From a narrative perspective, I appreciated the way this horror flick began, with Sara flying into Japan while the story jumps back in time from time to time, to tell the reason for her travel and it also sets up a cause explaining why the main character goes into the “Suicide Forest”.
What I found most astonishing though is the fact that the writers and film crew stay true to the facts and Japanese folklore which revolves around this forest. From the ropes wrapped around trees, to the warning signs that recommends the visitor not to leave the main path, most of what is shown in this horror flick is accurately correct.
That being said, the movie has its fair shares of plot issues as well. There are dream sequences which serve as jump scares and simply keep coming back; after the third dream I was tired and bored of it. I also found the second half of the film a little bit irritating, because even though Sara has a reason to venture into Aokigahara and although I understood her desire to stay and not leave without her sister, the fact of her staying in the forest overnight and ignoring the guide’s explicit warnings, was incredibly stupid.
The performances were by far the weak spot of this horror movie. The actors gave the needed amount of effort for the viewer to care for them, or at least for the character of Aiden, but they don’t go beyond that and it is something which pulls the movie down. In fact, I would even say that some of the best performances are given by Japanese extras.
Natalie Dormer’s character Sara was by far the most annoying and unlikeable one; she was consistently offensive towards people and has a mopey facial expression from start to finish. I have two younger sisters and two older brothers and would do anything to bring them back, if one of them would have been in the situation Jess finds herself in, but at no time would I have risked my life stupidly or would have insulted someone who tried to help! In fact, it seems after spending just one night in the forest her sane and logical judgement simply disappeared.
Taylor Kinney was all right as Aidan; I liked his journalistic approach on the story and agree that having Sara’s family background in his report about the Aokigahara forest would have made for a more intimate article. Sadly, Zada does not explore more of his character and what we are left with is a model-like looking journalist who gives of “rape vibes” at times. I believe he would have made for an interesting character if his persona had been fleshed out better.
The film looks really nice and suiting the horror genre has a gloomy and dark atmosphere from the beginning. Most of it was shot with the use of a steadicam, which makes for very smooth and flowing scenes, unusual for today's horror movies. The last five minutes though, where some of the characters are running through the forest, are filmed using a tedious amount of shaky cam. I also found the last shot, which zoomed into a scary looking entity, to be incredibly cliché.
Verdict: Considering everything I just said, The Forestis a mediocre horror flick that is just a tad better than other movies, which are usually released around this period of the year. It has some really nice story elements, true facts about the Aokigahara forest and a solid cinematography (except for the last scene), but also fails at creating likeable characters with solid backgrounds. I don’t believe it is a movie the viewer needs to go see in cinemas or buy on Blu-ray/DVD, it is sufficient if you wait for it to be released on Netflix or you can just rent it when it gets out. I will give The Forest a 6 out of 10.
Did you go see this horror film yet? If so, let me know what your opinion is by leaving a comment in the section below. I will proceed with my Batman/Superman reviews this Sunday and upload my analysis for Nolan’s The Dark Knight, so if you are interested keep an eye out for it. Thank you very much for reading and as always, please share this review if you liked it.
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