Panic Fest Review: ‘Woodland Grey’ Can’t Help from Getting Lost in the Woods

Showing at Panic Fest 2022 is Woodland Grey, directed by Adam Reider, which continues the steady flow of folk horror that we’ve seen over the years. Much like Midsommar, In the Earth, and the documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, Reider continues the surrealism and mystery in the forest’s dark. Written by Reider and Jesse Toufexis, staring Ryan Blakely (Awake), Jenny Raven (Flatliners), and Art Hindle (Black Christmas).

William (Blakely) lives in the woods in a run-down camper, catching rabbits for his meals. He tends to his fire, pulls veggies, and checks his lines down by the river for fish. A simple life off the grid, he also has a creepy shed with multiple locks on it that he feeds raw animals.

When he finds Emily (Raven) unconscious in the woods with a head wound and a dislocated knee, his simple routine is interrupted. He’s not quite sure how to handle this new visitor, as he won’t even look at her in the eye. As Emily makes awkward small talk and William can only mumble or scream a response, it’s clear she’ll be leaving the first chance she gets, and he has no objections. 

But when Emily finds the shed and a little girl locked inside, assuming the worst in William, she takes her grandpa Moses’s (Hindle) advice. She turns the tables knocking William unconscious and freeing the prisoner. This is where the movie begins to wake itself up from the first act. Convinced William is a monster, she ties him up in the camper, determined to save the now feral child who has run off into the woods. 

Despite his warnings, Emily will have to find out what kind of creature she’s unleashed on the pair. With the ticking clock element of an important doctor’s visit for Emily only days away, they’ll try to make their way out of the woods. Despite an entity using their fears and memories to keep them lost forever.   

There is a lot to like about Woodland Grey as it has some genuinely haunting visuals and nightmare sequences. Solid performances from both leads that develop naturally, and you see actual behavior one might do in supernatural circumstances. The minimalist set pieces like the campsite and shed are grounded and don’t feel production designed, which is a compliment to its believability. 

The use of parallel timelines adds backstory and different points of view of the same scenes. Adding exposition and character development without a lot of dialogue, when done correctly, connects the two protagonists very well. The audience sees what’s at stake and who will be affected if they can’t find a way out.

The score from composer Daniele Carretta is the psyche barometer of Woodland Grey. The way the music ranges from a quick plucking at the violin strings when a character is losing their mind or fearful. Versus the soft melodic tunes playing when there isn’t a care in the world really becomes an unspoken inner monologue. It’s most effective when building up the tension/dread without visuals but we know that something out there in the woods is watching. 

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Woodland Grey has a few creatures appear from time to time. Sometimes blurry in the background of a scene, or interacting with characters, but it’s very vague about their purpose or if they’re all the same entity. Apart from “The Child” (Chelsea Goldwater), whose primary purpose is to mess with their minds, occasionally bite and wear a bunny mask (animal masks are a bit overdone at this point) while looking creepy. The others seem to just be there because it looks interesting. Are they demons, angels, spirits of the forest, fairy tale creatures? Like so much of this movie, it’s never clear, and they’re never explained or serve the narrative.

Woodland Grey is an everything, including the kitchen sink type of movie. With time jumps, dream sequences, flashbacks, repeating moments, and hidden figures, although attractive visually, it only adds to the confusion of what is going on. Sometimes, heartfelt and horrifying moments are immediately nullified because it’s a dream or hallucination. It gets to the point that emotionally you become cut off from the movie as the stakes and successes are constantly misleading. I don’t need my cinema wrapped neatly with a bow to enjoy it, but I also don’t want my box constructed from origami and empty either.  

You could show ten people Woodland Grey and get ten different interpretations of what they just saw. Perhaps that was the point? To make a surrealist film that has no linear narrative? Maybe we’re supposed to experience the same madness as our protagonists? There is a very clever, engaging, and visually arresting film here, but I feel it doesn’t know what it wants to say. If you want an experience and a “great discussion with friends” after type of watch, then check this out. 2/5

★★

We watched Woodland Grey as part of the Panic Fest 2022. Check out the trailer below and be sure to follow ScaryNerd for all things horror, sci-fi, fantasy and more,

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