THE VIOLENT KIND

Cody is the young member of a gang of violent motorcyclists, "The Crew". Together with his sister Shade and his friends, Cody goes to his childhood home in the woods to celebrate his mother's 50th birthday. After the party, when almost everyone has left, Michelle, Cody's ex-girlfriend, is found covered in blood and in shock along the road. Michelle is as if possessed by a strange entity, and when a group of thugs sneak into the house to help the being inside Michelle, all of humanity will be in danger. The Butcher Brothers, an artistic name for Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores - who are not actually brothers - are carving out a small space in American independent horror cinema. First, the success (niche, of course) of their original portrait of an American family with "The Hamiltons" (a sequel of which is in production), then the less fortunate foray into major studio directives with "Deadly Joke", a remake of the slasher "April Fool's Day", and now the return to independence with "The Forest of Horror". Let's say that after the good debut with "The Hamiltons", the Butcher Bros. have quickly shown their limitations, displaying a certain incompetence in the narrative management of their work. If with "Deadly Joke" they had simply settled for a story without imagination that mostly copied "Don't Go in the Woods", with "The Forest of Horror" ("The Violent Kind", in the original) they attempt to liven up the story by throwing in everything and more, hoping to seem original but only showing themselves to be bumbling with unclear ideas. At the beginning, the "Butcher Brothers" go for the bikers movie, with youth gangs of violent motorcyclists who screw like animals and fight like gladiators. After consuming the first 15-20 minutes in this direction, which has the clear setup of the introductory iteration where the characters and their interactive dynamics are presented, they begin to explore the horror genre. The citation target is "The Exorcist" by Friedkin and especially "The Evil Dead" by Raimi, with a possessed woman who reproduces the same sounds emitted by the unfortunate monstrous characters in Raimi's film. This central part is the most lively, even though it has nothing new or particularly noteworthy to offer. The third act of "The Forest of Horror" represents the lowest point that could be reached. There is a forceful copying of Haneke and his "Funny Games", with odious home invaders dressed as Jim Stark from "Rebel Without a Cause" and Vincent Vega from "Pulp Fiction" who say things in the style of Tarantino without irony or the genius of the characters from the director of "Reservoir Dogs" and behave in an absurd manner, between dances and bursts of violence. A big plot twist that changes the genre of the film from horror to science fiction, without any narrative logic or a real narrative thread, clearly with the sole intention of surprising the viewer...although in the end it mostly just irritates them. In short, the directors write and direct a mess that should redeem them from the bad previous remake but only ends up burying them further. Too much, too much meat on the fire for a bland and incoherent work that also shows, with too much evidence, the low budget that the two had at their disposal. Moreover, do not expect the extreme violence and gore that in a certain way could have matched the oddities of the story, "The Forest of Horror" does not go beyond a slit throat, a bite, a few scratches, and a brawl between motorcyclists at the beginning of the film. In a very anonymous cast that recycles part of the actors from "The Hamiltons" and "Deadly Joke", the only two who stand out are the beautiful Taylor Cole ("Heroes"; "12 Rounds") and the scream queen Tiffany Shepis ("Dead Scared"; "Bloody Murder 2" and countless other b-movies), who, as usual, offers the required level of nudity for the film. A piece of advice? If you want a good film, look elsewhere.