Since 2020, Erik Bloomquist has directed five films, with a sixth already in post-production. It’s a lot of work for so few years, but Bloomquist is someone who likes to be kept busy. In addition to directing, Bloomquist is also a writer and actor, often starring in his projects and co-writing them with his brother, Carson Bloomquist. The filmmaker isn’t afraid to traverse different genres, but horror is definitely where Bloomquist is most at home as he proves with his current film, She Came From the Woods.
Set on the last day of summer camp during the year 1987, She Came From the Woods places a group of counsellors in harm’s way after they unleash a decades-old curse. Camp Briarbrook has been run for over forty years by the McAlister family. As with any good movie summer camp, Briarbrook has an urban legend attached to it. In Briarbrook’s case it is the legend of Agatha, a woman who ran some strange experiments from within the woods. The legend says that she was searching for the answer to immortality, but was stopped before she could complete her mission. Having grown up on Briarbrook, Peter McCalister (Spencer List), the youngest of the McCalister clan, pays no credence to the story and encourages his fellow employees to perform a resurrection ritual. However, as is to be expected in a horror film, the legend proves true and with the ritual completed, murderous mayhem ensues.
No stranger to working within the horror genre, She Came From the Woods is a different beast to both Ten Minutes to Midnight and Night at the Eagle Inn. Whereas the other two had some serious issues and ideas at the heart of them, She Came From the Woods is played for fun. It does touch upon the idea of generational trauma and how family secrets can be their undoing, but for the most part it’s a kitsch and gleeful slasher movie. Bloomquist’s love of the genre is evident throughout. From the addressing of the much older age of the counsellors, to the inclusion of several homages, everything screams informed genre fan.
Any good slasher film needs plenty of victims and the group of counsellors here present an ample bounty. There’s a ton of characters for Agatha to work her way through, and she has an interesting way of dispatching her victims. Keeping to the rules of the slasher, each victim is dispatched in a way that is different to their peers. Some of these are truly horrific, others completely unexpected. Bloomquist keeps the viewer on their toes and isn’t afraid to play around with the genre rules. Agatha’s prey features some familiar faces such as Sinister’s Clare Foley, and acting royalty, William Sadler. Sadler is an asset to any piece, and if you have him on your cast, you have to use him. That is exactly what Bloomquist does, allowing Sadler’s character Gilbert McCalister a weighty monologue. Gilbert’s confessional plays over some wondrous shadow play and this silhouetted flashback sequence is one of the visual highlights of the film.
She Came From the Woods taps into the same vein as television series VHS 1984 and Netflix movie Fear Street 1978. Tonally, the film falls somewhere between them and there’s enough differentiation for the three to co-exist. Fans of either are likely to have a blast with She Came From the Woods. As fun as the film is however, and as exciting as some of the kills are, there’s a distinct lag in places and there’s a sense that it’s a fraction too long. It’s only a mild sag though and there’s plenty of eye-catching visuals and killings to help gloss over the bumps.
She Came From the Woods
Summary
Another strong movie from one of the busiest filmmakers in the genre, She Came From the Woods is a great way to get that end-of-summer slasher fix.
She Came From the Woods was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest 2022.
