The Village in the Woods

The Village in the Woods comes across as intending to be a tribute to many horror movies of the past, particularly British horror of the '60s and '70s, but the result is contrived. It's like the filmmakers really want you to know that this titular village, Coppers Cross, is creepy, unsettling, and dismal, and that the villagers aren't what they seem. Actually, the villagers seem creepy from the get-go, with voices belying something sinister beneath the false smiles and overdone courtesy. The expected plot twists aren't terribly surprising, and there's a point in the second act where everything is so beyond established, thoughts meander, and you spend more time thinking about how the lead actor looks like a bearded Keith Moon, the late drummer of The Who, than whether or not they'll survive this inheritance scam gone wrong.

It's not a bad movie, but it fails to chart any new ground out of all the movies that influence it. There's a feeling that one has seen this before, many times and in many ways. Creepy small-town folk, big-city strangers, death cults, ritual sacrifice, pagan costumes, and so much thick fog. Nothing truly unique comes out of it. There's nothing wrong with the acting, as everyone is doing what they need to be doing to set the eerie mood and create the suspense, but there just isn't enough to the story to make it especially memorable. Which just goes to show that the best nods to creative influences aren't by imitating what they did, but rather taking what they did as a starting point while creating something entirely new.