The Forest (2011) Reviews

• YAY for horror movies with a PLOT!

  tridentbear2010-06-25

  I got to watch an advanced screening of this movie, and I was anxious (just because the last movie I watched was that recent remake of "Nightmare on Elm Street" which seriously was lame.) I won't get into the actual details of the plot, but it was more than just a "hey here's a random thing going around killing people with no good reason" type of plot, which always bug the CRAP out of me. The characters had motives, and there was this extreme tension throughout the movie (I won't say why, but it was very intense!) Overall it was like my favorite types of horror movies, which focus on the psychological/tension type of horror, rather than the let's-see-how-much-blood-this-dead-body-can-spew type. It's the kind that you think about days after. And even more freaky that the forest is a real place! Freaky deaky! Anyway, I plan on seeing it again.

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• Excellent quality horror film!

  vekraus2010-06-24

  This is an excellent horror film. It gives me hope in horror films because I've been disappointed so many times with typically cheesy dialogue and bad acting. The Visible Dark is the opposite - the film is of high quality in all aspects from story line, writing, cinematography, and an awesome performance by Michael Madsen and writer/director Shan Serafin. Having the story based in Japan around actual Japanese cultural beliefs about life and death made the story unique and interested enough to do research outside of watching this film. The story keeps my interest all the way through, is grippingly suspenseful, has plenty of comedy relief, and has several classically horrific moments that would make you cover your face with just enough room to watch with one eye. This film is worth watching if you're a critic of horror.

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• If more horror flicks were made like this, we'd be watching them more often.

  onistb2010-06-22

  I've always been a fan of older horror movies, the kind that require some thought and the viewer to be paying attention. I'm talking black and white, early 70's, gritty stories that let the imagination fun wild instead of seeing dismembered limbs and gory nasty crap all thrown in your face. That's why I never take the time to watch them. Enter "The Visible Dark." (I'm gonna do my best to not spoil the movie) Right from the first scenes, you're taken places that make you believe connections between events without being able to explain them. There are no obvious fixes and no easy answers. But the whole time you're wondering what the hell is going on. No one is safe, and everyone becomes suspect after a while. Also, trust and belief in people starts to diminish. You want to see the people prevail, but start to wonder if they can. Before you realize it, time is running out, and you're wondering if and when the evil will strike. The coolest thing is that the story is addicting without the horror aspect. The scary stuff comes along and disrupts everything, which to me is even creepier. Most horror movies I just sit back and stay guarded, covering part of my eyes the whole time. I stay disconnected the whole movie, and then after I forget about it. I near cared about the subjects anyways. This movie pulls you in and then drops the ax, kidney punching you with terror whenever you've lifted your guard just a little too long. This film leaves you effectively creeped out without being nauseous. I hope to see more like this again.

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• FA-REAKY ending!

  mazeltough2010-06-21

  This is one of the better ghost stories I've seen in a while! And the ending is creepsville. Not to give away too much but the final scenes totally will have you on edge!! You could say this is sort of like a Japanese Horror flick but, having seen "The Audition" and "Ringu," I'd say that this film isn't exactly of the same odd J-horror ilk. This is more like "The Ring" or "The Grudge." It's a more thoughtful movie, almost like a police story at first and then becomes a nightmare in the end. There is one shot that is insanely creepy. Actually a lot. The shots of the Fuji forest are probably the real deal. Which helps. I got a little confused in the middle but the ending pretty much sums up the loose ends. It's not quite as well done as The Ring but it's in the same vane. Michael Madsen is good. And the hacker is great! If you want a good scare, this film will do it.

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• Another awful waste of time.

  bolanszipgun2014-05-24

  It appears the other viewers of this movie must have watched a different movie then I did. I actually bought the DVD on the strength of the other reviews, what a mistake that was. The acting was extremely bad, the sound was variable through out, over all quality was terrible and the film was extremely boring with nothing to hold the attention. The characters were banal and one dimensional you did not care about anyone as they were instantly forgettable.I managed to sit through half the DVD before I switched it off and put DVD in the garbage. I was really disappointed as I expected this to be a real scary one. Nothing to scare you here, you wont be scared to go down to the forest after this travesty !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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