ALL GIRLS WEEKEND

The woods are lovely, dark and deep

Five young women take a hike in the woods in northern Georgia during the mild winter. They face mysterious injuries and worse. Why?

"All Girls Weekend" (2016) is a low-budget indie adventure/horror that combines elements of “The Blair Witch Project” (1999), “The Edge” (1997) and “The Woods” (2006). It’s not great like “The Edge” but it’s about on par with the other two despite its low-rent status.

The acting is shaky at first, but the no-name cast rises to the challenge. None of the women are babelicious, but they’re a’right with Gem (GiGi Calero) and Dani (Katie Carpenter) kinda fetching. Nancy (Jamie Bernadette) is a little reminiscent of Ensign Ro from TNG, albeit with three-times the attitude. Fortunately, she becomes more human as the story progresses.

The sylvan fall/winter locations are gorgeous, especially the early overhead shot and the Boerum Mill ruins; meanwhile the score is proficient. One critic complained about the supposedly amateurish editing (e.g. the camera turns to an actor, pauses; she talks. Then cuts to the next actor, pauses; and she talks). Actually, everything flowed well as far as this goes; editing is only an issue when it annoyingly calls attention to itself.

There’s more to the story than first meets the eye; good job on this front. Whether or not you like the movie depends on if you appreciate lost-in-the-woods type stories. I do and enjoyed quite a bit of it, but some parts are kinda dull or unpalatable and the movie needed the presence of a standout actress to draw the viewer’s attention.

The film runs 1 hour, 25 minutes, and was shot in northern Georgia (Cumming, Marietta, Buford, East Point & Atlanta).

GRADE: C