Beyond The Woods is a horror film set in a secluded cabin in the Irish countryside. Nearby, a mysterious, fiery sinkhole opened that locals call “The Gates of Hell.” As they arrive they note the horrific smell. Marissa (Ruth Hayes) and Jason (Seán McGillicuddy) have invited their friends to Marissa’s father’s old house, now a vacation home, for the weekend. The festivities begin normally enough, as friends who haven’t seen each other for some time become reacquainted. Heavy drinking and weed smoking takes place as the first evening wears on. There is some adventurous mix-and-match sex, but more interestingly, there are tensions between some of the couples that begin to show as cracks on the surface.
In the morning, the sulfuric stench from the sinkhole has deepened, and the group finds they must stay indoors to avoid it. Strange occurrences begin. One of the group disappears, and another gets lost in the woods. They still treat these anomalies as individual quirks or bad behavior until the interpersonal drama gives way to supernatural attacks, and a dread sets in. The day wears on, and more drinking ensues.
Night falls, and more frightful events begin. Questions are asked: what came up from the Gates of Hell, or who? What will become of the group, and how can they escape the horrific reek from the hole and survive the weekend alive?
“…near a secluded cabin in the Irish countryside a fiery sinkhole opens…”
As the third act takes off, the paranormal attacks ramp up in earnest. We are served up a great deal of dimly lit running and screaming, which generally ends at the end of an axe. The sinkhole is reminiscent of the Hell-mouth in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and may serve the same purpose.
Given the budget of the film, director-writer Sean Breathnach must spend an inordinate amount of time with the pedestrian couples drama, which builds the exposition for the bloodshed to come. None of the characters distinguish themselves, particularly in any memorable way. There’s an interesting subplot about a couple who are drunken swingers and wind up having poorly thought-out sex with others, which ratchets up the tension in the group.
Beyond the Woods follows some horror film conventions and gleefully defies others, leading to an interesting twist at the resolution. Unlike Drew Goddard’s Cabin in the Woods, where the only character to realize what’s happening is the one who is high as hell, the altered state of this group does them no favors. There are other parallels in this story to the Goddard film. Ultimately, this is a horror film that leans more on atmosphere than narrative logic, so don’t try too hard to figure it out all out; just enjoy the creepiness as it comes. The moral of the story in Beyond the Woods, if there can be said to be one, is that drugs, alcohol, and supernatural terrors do not mix.
"…drugs, alcohol, and supernatural terrors do not mix"
