Theatrical Review: The Forest (2016)

"In this forest, you can't see the scares through the trees. "

(aka Game of Trees.)
Release Date: January 8th.
Country: USA.
Rating: PG-13.
Written by: Nick Antosca, Sarha Cornwell.
Directed by: Jason Zada.
Starring: Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney, and Yukiyoshi Ozawa.

The Forest is probably worth checking out for fans of Natalie Dormer; she's a solid actress who has her own way of commanding the screen, and as good as she is in her limited role on Game of Thrones, she's definitely got herself a solid following.

Aside from her though, The Forest really brings nothing new to the Supernatural table, and the familiar things that it does bring just aren't all that effective or particularly good. We did kind of enjoy it for what it was though. Mostly. I don't know. Maybe it would be better to say that we didn't hate it.

At the base of Japan's Mt. Fuji lies the Aokigahara Forest; 14 sq. miles of dense woodland that is a popular destination for both tourists, and those who want to commit suicide. It's also rumored that the forest is inhabited by Japanese ghosts called Yurei, which taunt people and try to get them to kill themselves. So really, stay the hell out of this forest unless you're ready to die. 

I CAN'T WAIT TO NEVER GO THERE.

When her twin sister Jess goes missing in The Forest, Sara freaks out and jumps on a plane to Japan to find her. Jess has tried to commit suicide before, you see, having been unable to shake the memory of witnessing her parent's death when they were children. Having no recollection of the events herself, Sara has always felt guilty for her sister's suffering, and so has always tried to take care of her.

"SOME THINGS YOU JUST CAN'T UN-SEE."

In Japan, Sara meets a reporter named Aiden who tries to get her drunk and bang her, but then decides that he'd rather do a story about her searching for her missing sister in the Suicide Forest. He says he knows someone who can guide them through The Forest, and so they head off on an ill-advised rescue mission, which probably isn't going to end well for any of them.

You know the drill. 

"TURN AROUND, BRIGHT EYES..."

The Forest may not have been very scary, but it was at least interesting. The movie works way better as a Psychological Thriller about a girl looking for her missing sister than it does any sort of Supernatural Horror flick, but at least it works well in that way. You take what you can get with these kind of movies.

As "not scary" as The Forest was, at least for us, it did have a creepy atmosphere about it, thanks largely to its fantastic setting. There were some scenes throughout the movie that bordered on scary, and could have been had they been handled better, but overall this is more of a movie that's intense at times, than it is scary.

It's really Natalie Dormer's presence that keeps The Forest from being another generic Direct-To-VOD offering, as she brings enough to the table to keep the movie engaging. Or at least as engaging as it can be. For better or worse, she carried this one on her pretty little shoulders.

IT'S A CLOUD, NATALIE. RELAX.

The last shot of the movie pissed us off, as we're not fans of the whole "scary thing pops up in front of the camera, and then everything cuts to black" thing. That's some cheap bullshit that always feels tacked on, because it is always tacked on.

Will filmmakers never learn?

AND THEN THERE'S THAT TERRIFYING VIEWMASTER SCENE...

The Forest commits the worst sin that a Horror movie can ever commit: it's not scary.

I'm sure for younger viewers, or for someone who is especially sensitive to scary/intense things, this one was creepy enough. For people like us though who have seen way too many Horror flicks, both good and bad, the lack of scares in a movie like this is pretty damning.

"HELLO, I AM GHOST. YOU WILL SCARE NOW?"

There's actually some gore in this one. It's nothing crazy at all, but at least we get something. 

THAT COUNTS AS GORE, RIGHT?

PG-13, so nope.

CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT I'M PRETTY SURE THIS SCENE WASN'T EVEN IN THE MOVIE.

Japanese ghosts want you to kill yourself. Also, having a twin is a pain in the ass.

SHE COMES IN DIFFERENT FLAVORS!

The Forest isn't a bad movie, it's just a bit of a dull one that doesn't offer very much in the way of scares. Given the movie's location, and the rich and disturbing history behind it, it's a shame that they couldn't have made a better effort here. This isn't a truly bad movie, just a bit of a bland, underwhelming one.

That said, we really like Natalie Dormer, and the story kept us engaged enough to want to see it through without checking our watches. The Forest is probably worthy of a rental for most Horror fans once it hits VOD.

C+

The Forest is in theaters now.

We've loved Natalie Dormer since we first saw her in The Fades (2011), and no, not just because she's hot. But that does help a lot.