User Reviews

The only good thing in this mess of a movie is its actors. Both Richard Harmon and Philip Granger were solid and believable. The rest is barely watchable, unfortunately. A poorly written script delivers a truly abhorrent lead character that is as interesting as a roach caught in a jar trap: you're annoyed by him and can't wait for him to drop dead; disappointing cinematography fails to capture a beautiful Canadian landscapes; and ludicrous CGI scares away even those who came to terms with all the above. 'Woodland' could be much better that it is. A huge waste of acting skills.

I don't really know what to say by and large about this movie's plot. It is a very quiet, slow, methodical film, framed in such a way that its supernatural synopsis almost feels like a bait and switch of sorts.

The setup is some photojournalist guy, Jake, in 1989 is going up to Alaska for some reason to a heavily secluded area with just one another guy called "Sparky". Jake takes random photos and when he develops them finds that they contain imagery that wasn't in the scene when he photographed them. Later on he finds that the imagery in the photo ends up appearing on the objects he shot. As in, he seems to be taking photos from the future.

But this plot element is played down so heavily that it could have been completely removed and the film would've been almost exactly the same. It's done so lethargically and without any impact on the story as a whole that it's almost entirely possible that it's not even happening, that he's somehow hallucinating that these photos are from the future somehow. Considering all the flashbacks showing him rolling around flailing in seemingly drug-fueled stupors, he may just be hallucinating as a result of long-term drug abuse.

Ultimately, this gimmick plays no role in what the film is really about, and that which he himself monologues at one point in the film; something's gone wrong with his life and he's essentially taken himself and all his worldly possessions to live and work in a completely abandoned part of Alaska, and we, the audience, and to some degree even he doesn't entirely know why. Or does he?

All of this would be much more compelling indie-movie type fare if the character weren't so insufferably obnoxious, brooding, and seemingly prone to violent outbursts for no clear reason. Instead of being an intense character study of an intense character, it becomes almost the living embodiment of the meme "God has allowed me to live another day and I'm about to make it everyone's problem"

I liked the photography. Basically nothing new under the sun, or trees. A dude with substance abuse takes on a watchman job with a camera. He begins to soulsearch..yawn..and sees his failed future. Not sure about anything "thriller" in here but it could've been a short film instead. I agree the acting was wasted by the lead, but, hey, meloncoly is always a hoot , right! Not sure exactly the point, the message or the underlying theme here, other than a drunk or druggie should never be secluded in the wilderness with their thoughts or conscience.

Intensely boring.The film falls into a pattern of following one man's daily routine, and so we get him doing the same things over and over again. Here he is, walking through the woods, talking about trees. Here he is fishing with his boss, the only other character to mention. Here he is not experiencing paranormal events or anything horrifying.

It's well filmed. The cast is okay, although they don't really have anything to work with. The old man gets a couple of moments to act towards the end. There aren't a lot of effects, but those they use are fine. There just isn't anything going on. Boring cyclical activities, and very occasionally something mildly creepy happens.

The horror elements are limited. There's a girl in make-up, there's a big CGI shadow of something we don't get to see, and there's a mild air of fatalism that pervades the entire movie.

I'll avoid spoilers, but I'll tell you that the movie really goes nowhere. The plot doesn't develop, there's no tension, and there's no climax.

Kind of boring and a bit amateur . Had potential but way too slow and clunky. Way too many drone shots of trees. The acting wasnt bad but the story was like a high school drama attempt. The bear scenes were near comical, special effects childish . Altogether a waste of time am afraid !

The storyline looked interesting to me so I decided to watch this movie. Definitely the worst decision I made lately. The two main characters have zero chemistry, the drug addict acted like a baby in a diaper commercial. The movie is so bad, that when you watch it while being depressed you're definitely goping to end on suicide watch.

The 2 main characters portrayed by Harmon and Granger are believable. Set in the 80's this film shows a drug addict trying to contend with his past while escaping to a woodland fishing lodge during the off season. Its slow, building pace adds to the suspense. The beauty shots of Canada's west coast tie the story together. If you are looking for a multi-million dollar Hollywood thriller, you've got lots of other choices, but this film gets into your head...wondering - is what we see real or just in Jake's head?? Great acting. No surprise Granger won an award for his supporting role.This is a good Indie film!

This movie has such beautiful, breathtaking cinematography. The mountain scenery draws you in completely, you feel you are right there. The storytelling in this sense kind of prods you to join in with your own imagination instead of spelling it out for you - I think this is a positive aspect of Canadian made films. For a low budget they were able to pull off to the best of their ability, what they should've, compared to some of the huge budget movies that completely lack substance but spend a lot of money packaging a pile of $%$# to look nice (and which undiscerning types don't seem to care enough to call out). A great first attempt and I'll look forward to more from this team/director as they grow their work.

Watching Woodland was similar to observing two drunks fight in a street because of half a bottle of flat warm beer. It was quite depressing.

The characters are obnoxious and the whole story is totally meaningless. Woodland is another of artsy-fartsy independent film that gives the impression of depth, but in the end it is as deep as a puddle of water in the middle Sahara during summer.

It is not worth your time

The acting was excellent and the plot kept my interest the whole time....I really enjoyed it!

I found this movie fascinating in that it creates and sustains an effective trance like effect. I think that comes mostly from the visuals and music score considering very little happens and there's very little plot or dialog.

If that was the intent, it succeeds quite well.

Man walks in woods and smokes a joint. Man sits down in woods and smokes a joint ..man fishes from a boat and you guessed it..he smokes a joint. THE END.

I have no idea what actually happened. Many problems starting with a percentage of the movie happening in dark woods with no light.....yes you are staring at a black screen with sounds and absolutely no context on what is going on. By the end you do not know what is real or not. The only thing nice is the scenary.

The only thing thrilling about this turd of a movie is when it ends. What a boring piece of garbage.

I mean, come on. Who thought a movie about a loser junkie on a deserted island would be interesting?

You have better things to do than watching this. There's grass growing and paint drying.

I will review with only two lines.

You had already worst experience with any brand.. just remember that worst experience of that brand.. I am guarantee you that Woodland purchase will be on your top of the worst experience..

Idk why people are dissing this movie. Yeah, the synopsis could be better but that doesn't take away how great this movie is. From the cinematography to the eeriness of the film. Richard Harmon did get another good job with acting!

I don't understand why the rating is so low for this movie. Filmed at a very beautiful place. The story is interesting enough to make it watch till the end. The ending is there with a nice twist. Your time will not be wasted.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Woodland; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 0.50 Direction: 0.75 Pace: 0.75 Acting: 1.00 Enjoyment: 0.50

TOTAL: 3.50 out of 10.00

The first thing I asked myself after watching Woodland was What and Why? What was the point of the movie? And why did the writer/director believe it was a good enough story to put on film?

The trouble is the story is pure rubbish. Not only is it poorly constructed, but too much of nothing happens. And the two characters demanding your attention, Jake (the main protagonist) and Sparky, lack credibility - they're not the kind of people you can care for, though, there is a scene where Sparky is philosophising about being alone and not missing answering the telephone that I can fully relate to and appreciate. Jake doesn't get into the weirdness until the halfway point - If you last this long. And even though the development of the supernatural photographs is a smidgen creepy, Jake takes it in his stride. The drug-induced hallucinations must have prepared him for them. In the real world, if something this freaky happened, the guy or gal would be running about looking for somebody to tell. But not our Jakey. And that is the major pitfall. There are only these two guys on the island, undoubtedly they've formed a bond of some kind? Think again. Both the blokes meander through their lives as though they're taking a leisurely stroll through the woodlands. It's this lacklustreness that damages the story most as it permeates every scene with tedium.

And the direction does nothing to lift it out of the doldrums. If anything, it only pushes the story more into the realm of indifference. There are some finely crafted compositions, though, without any excitement, it's hard to get too enthusiastic about them. One of the worst things is the director's overuse of colour erosion. He likes to keep a depressed grey feel to the picture, though there is no real need for it, nobody is dejected or miserable. It would have been nice to see the island in all its finery and greenness. It would have served to add a heartbeat of life to this lifeless flick. As for the special effects, the worst one was the bear. Or should I say the shadow of the bear because we never see the beast? Jake is out and about snapping his piccies for his Photojournal when a dark shadow falls on him. He turns and looks in terror as the shadow grows ever larger. By the time Jake turns heal and runs, the shadow is so massive the bear must have stood over twenty feet high. It's the funniest thing in the film. And, at least, it broke the monotony for a second.

The cast is the best thing in this picture, though I must believe they were here for the paycheck and not the credit. All the actors have been in better roles, and I primarily watched Woodlands for Richard Harmon, who came into his own in The 100 (a series to watch if you haven't already). And though they perform well, there's not much for them to get their thespian gnashers into as all their characters needed more meat on their bones.

I would suggest that everyone steer well-clear of this uninteresting archipelago of dreadfulness. I believe in saving the planet and humanity, but even I would consider chopping down this Woodland and burning it into oblivion.

Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chillers list to see where I ranked Woodland.

Take Care & Stay Well.

It's not horror, but it's suspenseful and well made. Harmon is great as always, so any fan of his should love the hell out of this.

I could go into the failure to develop characters, a plot, or anything else necessary to make a worthwhile movie, but the filmmaker already did that.

Until the end, all of the important events in the movie can be explained away by the huffing and smoking of various substances by the people involved in the movie. The special effects were less believable than me in an MMA t-shirt.

The trailer was by far the best part.

A very satisfying nature, professionally filmed. A little short story, but intriguing and bold. Rating is unfairly low :(