The current state of the horror genre nowadays has bore much sweet fruit. With the current wave of socially relevant fright fest that have emerged in turbulent times, it does seem that some styles and tones that were extremely prevalent in the 80’s horror are getting makeovers for the better or being left to the ages because there is almost no possible way to justify their continuance.

Watching ‘Dark Forest’, the debut film from Zellco Productions in Canada, I felt that former revelation throughout on both the positive and negative.

‘Dark Forest’ lays out the story of a group of ladies heading out for a camping trip in an isolated forest. Among the group is Emily (sympathetically portrayed by Laurel McArthur), whose abusive boyfriend Peter (Dennis Scullard) is adamant she not go on the trip to the point where he hurls insults and beer cans at her friends. When she sneaks away from him to join her friends on the trip, Peter anger protrudes further outward as he enlists his ‘friends’ to join him in hunting the girls down in the forest. What follows is a Roger Corman-esque spree of bloodshed that recalls the 80’s splatter-fests of yesterday.

Sadly and Gladly, the film is ambitious be more than what it is at many points. Starting off with the central plot line, the idea of slapping together the slasher characterization onto the all too timely topic of domestic abuse is inspired in ways, creating a potentially terrifying villain whose selfish nature and demented viewpoint of love are cringe worthy. And Dennis Scullard as Peter is up to the challenge, providing a truly creepy persona. Despite his menace, the film as a whole undermines its potential relevance by relying on Exploitation tropes. This is apparent in the way female side characters are treated or treating each in a very outdated fashion.

Alas, it is all underdeveloped in a 75 minute film that also carves time for a second and third group of victims who seem to be there to provide further kills for Peter in order to rack up the body count, despite the fact they are irrelevant to his goal. Interestingly, they seem to throw romance in his face in a nearly comical fashion before he proceeds to hack and slash. The idea is there, but it seems to be lost in the forest without a map.

The film also grasps onto a Death Proof style third act where the heroes and villain face off. Again, another great idea that feels too little developed when also trying to embrace a 80’s slasher esthetic. The sub- genre they manage to tap into is one that usually devoid of much substance and sincerely is just there for thrills. That, combined with editing that barely connects anything together, left me wondering if there was an extra 30 minutes of set-up/exploration that is on the cutting room floor to get it to an acceptable length for distribution.

Yet in spite of my blows, I admire this films intent to try for that blend. There are moments when the film is aimed straight at the target and even hit the target. The final showdown in the last 5 minutes recalls a mix of the visual grit of the first Slumber Party Massacre finale mixed with the aforementioned Death Proof’s attitude. And the cinematography is a big shining star in the film as it fully embraces the 80’s grit and rough edges that reminds me of the VHS and early dvd copies of those Slasher films I watched behind my folks back at 8.

All in all, I feel that Zellco, and Writer/Director Roger Boyer, have the potential to hit a home run in the indie filmmaking ball game based on their passion and intriguing ideas.. sadly, this film was not that homer.

Do feel free though to watch it and judge for yourself. It is now available on iTunes, Amazon Prime, and other VOD sites.