The Backwoods

The Backwoods is an intriguing curio: a direct-to-DVD film featuring two of Britain's finest actors (Gary Oldman and Paddy Considine) and yet the sum of its parts adds up to a low key Euro-pudding that manages to squander their talents on a very inauspicious Deliverance derivative that neither offends or excites half as much as it should.

Norman and his wife Lucy (Considine and The Beach's Virginie Ledoyen - never duller) take their troubled marriage to Spain to stay with Paul and his fiery mujer (Oldman and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) who have bought his grandmother's house and are in the process of doing it up. Their strained relationship with the locals (in a direct lift from the pub scene in An American Werewolf In London) and a bizarre discovery in the forest set the scene for what can only be described as a holiday best forgotten. From here the film descends into a Straw Dogs-style Spanish gothic horror movie, but even then that gives it more credit than it deserves. The randomly inexplicable 1970’s setting can only further act as homage to Boorman’s and Fuller’s classic antecedents.

Director Koldo Serra is best known for his 18-minute horror masterpiece El Tren De La Bruja, a short which must have resonated with Oldman and Considine to such a degree that both would wish to sign on for this quickie slasher and from Oldman’s perspective perhaps it was the chance to flex an impressive Spanish dialect throughout. The fact that their wives are French and Spanish (never explained) ties in with the opening credit of a Spanish-UK-French co-production and, apart from some effectively moody moments, the film plods towards a predictable conclusion. Such a shame considering the talent involved.

Extras: Theatrical trailer.

Released on 19th May 2008 by Momentum Pictures.

Written by Simon Cole.