The Barrens
| release date | October 9 2012 |
| studio | Anchor Bay Entertainment |
| director | Darren Lynn Bousman |
| writer | Darren Lynn Bousman |
| starring | Stephen Moyer, Mia Kirshner, Erik Knudsen, J Larose, Allie MacDonald, Max Topplin, Peter DaCunha |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
3 Comments
While Darren Bousman is one of my favorite directors, this film was pretty weak. I was expecting the Jersey Devil to play a major part in it, but all it had was minor part that didn’t play out till near the end. The one major thing The Barrens has going for it is it’s acting. Setphen Moyer gives the best performance of the film. In a way this movie was The Amityville Horror in the woods, with a backdrop story involving the Jersey Devil. I wouldn’t call it bad, but very much disappointing.
Saw this with a like minded friend and we where able to predict what would happen almost scene for scene with a few variables different but still damn close. With that said though, we still did enjoy it. We found it a fun ride with great atmosphere and characters.
The acting is actually pretty damn good minus the young boy, but I wasn’t expected him to do anything outside of cry anyway. The lead played by Stephen M. was done really well, really enjoyed his style here.
The creature, while not in the film a whole lot, is amazing. We didn’t get a horrible looking 3D Studio Max mash up monster, we got a modelled animatronic they generally looked terrifying. I this thing was staring me down while I was alone in the woods I wouldn’t even bother running I would let it take me and have it over. Maybe to some animatronics and creature suits aren’t 100% realistic, but it’s ALWAYS nice to have some REAL on screen.
The plot is engaging and keeps you watching and does a good job and keeping you guessing and trying to figure it all out and the ending is worth waiting for.
The deaths are sub par, there aren’t to many and the gore is not really that realistic, better work has been done in lower budget works thats for sure. More creature time would have been nice but it looks as if they wanted a Jaws sort of approach.
With all that said this is worth your time, I bought this on release day and am very happy with it.
Pasted the draft with the spelling mix ups and errors. Sorry!
The Barrens took a promising premise and did nothing remotely interesting with it. The film had some suspense, grisly but off screen deaths and a likable cast. The result though came up very generic, slow moving, underdeveloped and dull. There were absolutely no scares, terror or entertainment value to this picture, making it one of the weakest horror films of 2012.
The film stars Stephen Moyer from the True Blood series and Mia Kirshner from The Black Dahlia. They play Richard and Cynthia Vineyard who go on a camping trip with their kids, but soon their trip takes a sinister turn when mysterious vanishings and death follows them. Richard is convinced that it is The Jersey Devil that has been after him since he was a little boy and paranoia soon takes over when no one believes him. I thought the performances were lackluster and has a botch script that brought the flawed film down even further. The characters were underdeveloped and didn’t make me give a damn about their story and what happens to them. It’s a shame because they are likable actors in an unlikable film.
Director, Darren Lynn Bousman is becoming a hit and miss filmmaker, although it’s not as bad as 11-11-11, The Barrens is by far his weakest effort. I did not like his filming style in this movie; it came off as uninspired and amateurish compared to his many superior efforts such as Mother’s Day, Saw III, and Repo! The Genetic Opera. He is capable of so much more than this flat, made for SyFy channel movie. The writing and filming was just lazy to me. Hopefully it’s a hit next time because he definitely has it in him.
Overall, the poster is more interesting to look at than watching the actual film. The premise and leads alone may keep you intrigued for the most part and has a twist or two towards the end, but The Barrens is as tedious as they come. Disappointing addition to the horror genre. 4 out of 10
Well there is one good thing I can say about this movie and that is the acting by Stephen Moyer. The rest of the movie is pure crap.
A father takes his family to the Pine Barrens of New Jersey to scatter his fathers ashes. What he doesn’t tell his family is that he supposedly saw the fabled “Jersey Devil” years ago.
Now to the review. First why would he take his family to a place like the Pine Barrens to scatter the ashes of his dead father after apparently seeing the fabled monster years ago. Also, besides the acting of the main star, the acting is atrocious. The plot is so full of holes that Murphy in Robo Cop would be envious. His family believes the father has contacted rabies and ties him to a tree to go get help, alas we see if he is insane, has rabies or is telling the truth.
Their is one good scene of gore at the beginning that has nothing to do with the plot or at least 99% of the plot. If you want to waste your time on a movie with a stupid story line and some really bad acting (save Moyer) then give it a shot. Personally one of the worst films I have ever seen in a long time. Come to think of it. I don’t believe I have ever seen a good movie from Darren Lynn Bousman.