This is one of the rare times where the grave spits back at you in the superior suspense thriller Stranger In The Woods. It was directed by Adam Newacheck, who edited it with his brother, producer Kyle Newacheck. Holly Kenney wrote the devastatingly sharp screenplay.
It starts with Olivia (Holly Kenney) kicking and screaming in a bathtub with her wrist cut. Her friends get her to the hospital in time for the doctors to keep her alive. They know Olivia had been devastated over the death of her fiancé in a car accident. All she has left of him is his husky dog, who she is taking along on a trip to the woods with everybody. Her co-worker and good friend Sam (Brendin Brown) has a cabin there. Sam is bringing his pal Brandon (Radek Antczak) along, while Olivia’s buddy Theresa (Paris Nicole) is bringing her boyfriend Liam (Devon Stewart).
Brandon seems sweet on Olivia, who is still jittery and raw. At the cabin, they run into Clayton (Teddy Spencer), Sam’s brother who lives out there. Olivia is nervous about Clayton’s open-carry pistol, while Clayton seems nervous about Olivia’s big husky. The cabin is decorated with several taxidermized animals in curious poses. Clayton keeps coming off creepier and creepier, saying wildly inappropriate things and losing his temper. Everyone starts partying, and Olivia starts getting drunk. While out amongst the trees during a drinking game involving flashlights, Olivia freaks out, saying she saw someone in the dark. Her friends start questioning her sanity, as the pressure of her fiancé’s death seems to be driving Olivia into delusion. But then her dog disappears…
“…the pressure of her fiancé’s death seems to be driving Olivia into delusion. But then her dog disappears…”
Stranger In The Woods has the ambiance of what Hitchcock’s version of 2000 Maniacs may have played like. It revisits the rural menace craze of the 70s that produced such hits as I Spit On Your Grave and Deliverance. Audiences back then flocked to see country mice terrorize city mice on vacation. The subgenre was insanely controversial, not only for the constant rape but also for demonizing rural communities. You can imagine how well these portrayals would play out in today’s town life versus country life political divide, especially with forced birth in the mix.
The film bravely wades into boiling water with a genius rewiring of that old back-home terror. Kenney’s script manipulates that old-school backwoods dread in very clever ways. She uses pre-conceptions like puppet strings to make the viewer walk the plank. The revelations work not only on a suspense level but also as a social commentary of who the real villains are. It is exactly the kind of revisionist take on classic exploitation that we need right now. It is the elevation of the spine-tingler to a plateau where we can all see how we are.
Instantly, Stranger In The Woods is on a higher level than your average movie, indie or not. It starts with a bang that every movie should emulate, immediately cranking everything to 11. This is where the Newacheck brothers get to show their stuff. The editing here has some of the choicest prime cuts I have seen lately. There is even a brilliant reference to Repulsion with a grotesque cooked rabbit, which completely ties in with the main character’s struggle with her sanity.
Filmmaking of this quality at the indie level will definitely attract some attention from bigger fish in need of talent. The talent flashpoint here is Kenney, both as a writer and actress. I have always stood by actresses writing scripts to give themselves the best chance to strut their stuff. Kenney’s level of achievement here sets a new high watermark for the practice. Her striking performance takes the depth she writes for herself even deeper. That she can write material this good for herself should guarantee a string of excellent roles in great pictures. Stranger In The Woods is a quality nerve twister with a bubbling hot pool of talent behind it. Highly recommended.
"…a genius rewiring of that old back home terror."
