I was advised to have a view on this low budget independent and so I did. Just let me say that the acting is sometimes not convincing and the storyline isn't that good too. For example, when you get a scythe in your body, better say, chest you won't be smoking or drinking at all after wards. But here it happens, sadly. Or when Jessica runs into the death bodies of her friends she doesn't give any scream or isn't even bothered. When one screams to be killed, that's bad acting too but what makes this flick worth watching is the gory scene's. Okay, you will see a lot of blood but also severed limbs or crushed heads. And let that be the fact why this flick is worth watching. There are two shots that are a bit weird, two times the director just let us see some breasts, not that I mind but it was so weird, they are going to make love and you see them undress and suddenly one close up of a tittie. It's nice but could have been done into the scene, it's just an insert of it. Anyhow, I haven't seen any shadows from sound or whatsoever so that's okay. If you are in for a bloody low budget than i would surely recommend this flick. Just go for the gore and not for the acting...
9 Reviews
"I coulda been a contendah...."
Steiner_Rolf8 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
....is what this film says in its best Marlon Brando voice. Unfortunately for the film and any unsuspecting viewer, it just never quite makes it into the ring.
First off, let's talk about the beastie that is supposed to be the star of the show: the Black Hodag. Originally a mythical creature from around the city of Rhinelander in northern Wisconsin in the US (look it up!), our film version is, shall we say, quite the literary license! This thing stands upright on two combat boot-clad feet with a leather jacket, spiked gloves and an apparently spiked mask. It lays a single egg (forget how many years apart) in order to perpetuate the species.
Now, our preternatural badass goes around ripping up a little town, chewing up and spitting out the residents because they had the temerity to honk it off back in the 1800s. With me so far? Enter the college kids, on a trip to a remote locale to get away from it all and deal with the grief of having a friend fall off of a balcony and kill himself. They even invite one of the people they messed with all through his life (and expect all to be forgiven). As the townspeople begin to be shredded and disappear, and a mysterious stench that would knock a buzzard off a honey-wagon begins to spread through the town, the college kids attempt to party they way through their grief. Too bad for them, because the creature doesn't differentiate between townsfolk and visitors. Not only that, but one of them has a plot of their own, adding to the general confusion and mêlée. 'Nuff said about the plot, which is rather weak.
The acting is so wooden and stilted in parts, that it's a blessing when there is action without any talking. There is plenty of viscera and gore, mostly filmed through a color filter so the budget doesn't show so badly. It's interesting to note, that most of the actors did nothing before this and nothing after this and those that did wisely chose to change their career path to something more appropriate, like boom operator! There are some innovative dispatches of victims, and even a few comical moments as well as an occasional flash of tit.
With a budget and a more believable monster, this film really might have gone somewhere. As it stands, I'm giving it four stars for effort and because there really was some thought that went into it. Don't rent this, but if it happens to come on cable or you can con your drunk buddy into renting it, it's worth a watch.
First off, let's talk about the beastie that is supposed to be the star of the show: the Black Hodag. Originally a mythical creature from around the city of Rhinelander in northern Wisconsin in the US (look it up!), our film version is, shall we say, quite the literary license! This thing stands upright on two combat boot-clad feet with a leather jacket, spiked gloves and an apparently spiked mask. It lays a single egg (forget how many years apart) in order to perpetuate the species.
Now, our preternatural badass goes around ripping up a little town, chewing up and spitting out the residents because they had the temerity to honk it off back in the 1800s. With me so far? Enter the college kids, on a trip to a remote locale to get away from it all and deal with the grief of having a friend fall off of a balcony and kill himself. They even invite one of the people they messed with all through his life (and expect all to be forgiven). As the townspeople begin to be shredded and disappear, and a mysterious stench that would knock a buzzard off a honey-wagon begins to spread through the town, the college kids attempt to party they way through their grief. Too bad for them, because the creature doesn't differentiate between townsfolk and visitors. Not only that, but one of them has a plot of their own, adding to the general confusion and mêlée. 'Nuff said about the plot, which is rather weak.
The acting is so wooden and stilted in parts, that it's a blessing when there is action without any talking. There is plenty of viscera and gore, mostly filmed through a color filter so the budget doesn't show so badly. It's interesting to note, that most of the actors did nothing before this and nothing after this and those that did wisely chose to change their career path to something more appropriate, like boom operator! There are some innovative dispatches of victims, and even a few comical moments as well as an occasional flash of tit.
With a budget and a more believable monster, this film really might have gone somewhere. As it stands, I'm giving it four stars for effort and because there really was some thought that went into it. Don't rent this, but if it happens to come on cable or you can con your drunk buddy into renting it, it's worth a watch.
Reasonably entertaining no-budget slasher set in the sticks of Wisconsin
Wuchakk21 September 2017
RELEASED TO VIDEO IN 2007 and directed/written by Donn Kennedy, "Backwoods Bloodbath" (subtitled "The Curse of the Black Hodag") chronicles events when six college youths from Milwaukee take a Fall vacation to the Black Forest in Oneida County, Northern Wisconsin, but are unaware that the area's cursed by a half-human, half-creature called the Hodag.
This is an independent slasher flick in the mold of the Friday the 13th sequels, but hampered by a budget of somewhere around $10,000-$50,000 and the typical problems that come with micro-budget fare: bad acting, sometimes bad sound, hand-held cameras, dubious editing, etc. However, if you can handle these kinds of limitations and roll with it rather than against it, "Backwoods Bloodbath" delivers the goods in several respects. For one, the movie has a sense of humor and I busted out laughing several times (e.g. "You guys aren't FIBs?" and the following textual note).
Secondly, the movie delivers with a few quality females, starting with the barn brunette in the prologue and, about 25 minutes later, a tent-camping girl in red bikini-shorts, which is just a cameo. The main protagonist, Jessica, is pretty decent as well. Personally, I could do without the flashes of nudity though.
Thirdly, there's a lot of fairly convincing gore; and sometimes so much that it's laughable (not that I'm into gore, I'm just pointing out that it's done very well for a no-budget flick). Fourthly, the script throws in a surprise in the last act, which I won't give away. Fifthly, there are several quality cuts on the soundtrack by presumably local artists, like "Whiskey Morning" by 8 Hours of Violence (see the "Soundtracks" credits on IMDb for more info).
Sixth, the director/writer knows how to make a movie, as far as camera angles, editing, music, flow, etc. go. Sure, you can harp on this or that (which is easy to do with a no-budget flick), but the movie accomplishes its goal, it's entertaining and entertainment is the name of the game. For comparison, my wife & I saw a no-budget horror flick recently that cost less than $10,000 and it totally siphoned from beginning to end, lacking all the six positives noted above (!).
On the downside (beyond the typical issues with these kinds of independent productions), the movie's overlong by about ten minutes, with a useless epilogue/montage tacked on, there's too much juvenile crudity (although some of it's amusing) and the second half doesn't generate enough suspense. Nevertheless, if you don't mind independent flicks with miniscule non-budgets, "Backwoods Bloodbath" is worth checking out for the highlights noted above.
THE MOVIE RUNS 89 minutes and was shot in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, with additional stuff done in Brookfield and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
GRADE: C- (but C+/B- for overall entertainment value)
This is an independent slasher flick in the mold of the Friday the 13th sequels, but hampered by a budget of somewhere around $10,000-$50,000 and the typical problems that come with micro-budget fare: bad acting, sometimes bad sound, hand-held cameras, dubious editing, etc. However, if you can handle these kinds of limitations and roll with it rather than against it, "Backwoods Bloodbath" delivers the goods in several respects. For one, the movie has a sense of humor and I busted out laughing several times (e.g. "You guys aren't FIBs?" and the following textual note).
Secondly, the movie delivers with a few quality females, starting with the barn brunette in the prologue and, about 25 minutes later, a tent-camping girl in red bikini-shorts, which is just a cameo. The main protagonist, Jessica, is pretty decent as well. Personally, I could do without the flashes of nudity though.
Thirdly, there's a lot of fairly convincing gore; and sometimes so much that it's laughable (not that I'm into gore, I'm just pointing out that it's done very well for a no-budget flick). Fourthly, the script throws in a surprise in the last act, which I won't give away. Fifthly, there are several quality cuts on the soundtrack by presumably local artists, like "Whiskey Morning" by 8 Hours of Violence (see the "Soundtracks" credits on IMDb for more info).
Sixth, the director/writer knows how to make a movie, as far as camera angles, editing, music, flow, etc. go. Sure, you can harp on this or that (which is easy to do with a no-budget flick), but the movie accomplishes its goal, it's entertaining and entertainment is the name of the game. For comparison, my wife & I saw a no-budget horror flick recently that cost less than $10,000 and it totally siphoned from beginning to end, lacking all the six positives noted above (!).
On the downside (beyond the typical issues with these kinds of independent productions), the movie's overlong by about ten minutes, with a useless epilogue/montage tacked on, there's too much juvenile crudity (although some of it's amusing) and the second half doesn't generate enough suspense. Nevertheless, if you don't mind independent flicks with miniscule non-budgets, "Backwoods Bloodbath" is worth checking out for the highlights noted above.
THE MOVIE RUNS 89 minutes and was shot in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, with additional stuff done in Brookfield and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
GRADE: C- (but C+/B- for overall entertainment value)
backwood backward more like
ArchieIsCool14 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Well where do I start, I was hoping for a good horror film but was really disappointed by it.
The filming was very strange I could not make out why the film was filmed in this way just weird!! So a group of young ones go to the Backwood wood for some leisure time, and lurking in the woods is a dread locked thing dressed in black called a hog-art who wants to kill everyone it meets. As in most horror flicks one by one they are killed until one girl is left and a boy who at the end turns out to be a nasty piece of work who seems to have killed his friends? Confused yes, though you do see the hog-art kill some of them it was a awful film with wooden acting throughout.
Wished I had not bought it what a waste of money and time. It seems a cheap budget movie the way its filmed and the actors are all useless!! My advice watch it for a laugh but do not waste your time.
The filming was very strange I could not make out why the film was filmed in this way just weird!! So a group of young ones go to the Backwood wood for some leisure time, and lurking in the woods is a dread locked thing dressed in black called a hog-art who wants to kill everyone it meets. As in most horror flicks one by one they are killed until one girl is left and a boy who at the end turns out to be a nasty piece of work who seems to have killed his friends? Confused yes, though you do see the hog-art kill some of them it was a awful film with wooden acting throughout.
Wished I had not bought it what a waste of money and time. It seems a cheap budget movie the way its filmed and the actors are all useless!! My advice watch it for a laugh but do not waste your time.
Yawn. Bad.
vengeance2030 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Seriously, while funny at a few points it was super bad.
A sinister killer is lurking in the northern woods of Wisconsin & 6 friends take a trip to the cabin in the woods for beer, sex & drugs. Typical in the slasher universe but ok. Anyway, each of the 20 something students gets picked off by this killer in a typical Friday The 13th fashion. But a weird twist at the end will shock you... & NOT in the way you'd expect trust me...
The film was pretty bad, aside from some ace I-Candy, the film fails with the out of tone music, prolonged scenes which didn't need any importance added to them & the slow pacing (even though the film was 85 minutes long).
The end part was confusing & didn't make any sense. While the gore was good, it still felt cheap, the sound quality would go from high to low & I kept having to adjust my audio for parts which were to loud to bits which were too low...
Overall, a cheap crappy film Straight-To-DVD & in the vein of the Friday The 13th Films...
3/10
A sinister killer is lurking in the northern woods of Wisconsin & 6 friends take a trip to the cabin in the woods for beer, sex & drugs. Typical in the slasher universe but ok. Anyway, each of the 20 something students gets picked off by this killer in a typical Friday The 13th fashion. But a weird twist at the end will shock you... & NOT in the way you'd expect trust me...
The film was pretty bad, aside from some ace I-Candy, the film fails with the out of tone music, prolonged scenes which didn't need any importance added to them & the slow pacing (even though the film was 85 minutes long).
The end part was confusing & didn't make any sense. While the gore was good, it still felt cheap, the sound quality would go from high to low & I kept having to adjust my audio for parts which were to loud to bits which were too low...
Overall, a cheap crappy film Straight-To-DVD & in the vein of the Friday The 13th Films...
3/10
Bad Backwoods Slasher
Stevieboy6661 October 2022
Six twenty somethings take a short break in the northern Wisconsin woods but as usually happens there is an evil killer that picks them and other characters off in gory fashion. On the way to their cabin they stop off at a local grocery store, the shop keeper says "You kids aren't from around here, are ya?" When a local says something like that you just know that spells trouble. Our friends pop out to a small bar on their first night, one of the not so friendly local hicks says "Douchebags from the Big City", to which one of the kids replies "I'm sorry, did you just refer to Milwaukee as the Big City?" The killer in the woods is a ridiculous creature called the Black Hodag, in reality it is some big guy with long dreadlocks and one of the worst masks I have ever seen. The movie is obviously low budget and it shows. We get hopeless actors spurting out lines that are so bad that it is often very funny. To its credit the movie has a decent kill count and plenty of gore, the effects and make up are generally reasonably good given its budget. We are treated to several scenes of t & a, the musical score is alright and there is an interesting twist towards the end. For me it is the awful acting and script that really lets this slasher down, the film is set in Skunk Creek which is quite apt as so much of this offering stinks.
YOU GUYS AREN'T FIBs?
nogodnomasters11 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Mourning the death of Eric, six big city college students from Milwaukee head up the northern woods to rent a cabin to blow off steam. There is the normal minor tension within the group. The area is pestered by a "Hodag" which is Seth Chilsen in a rubber reptile mask and bad hair pretending to be Gunnar Hansen.
This is a rank amateur Wisconsin product with local flavor, songs, and cheese. The film has very little plot to write about. Normally these types of films plug a local band when they visit a bar. Now part of a film 4-pack.
Parental Guide: F-bomb, sex, nudity (Angela Lowe, Amy Quinn, uncredited camper tattoo girl)
This is a rank amateur Wisconsin product with local flavor, songs, and cheese. The film has very little plot to write about. Normally these types of films plug a local band when they visit a bar. Now part of a film 4-pack.
Parental Guide: F-bomb, sex, nudity (Angela Lowe, Amy Quinn, uncredited camper tattoo girl)
Backwoods Bloodbath: Curse of the Cornerback??
akbeckham867 November 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Well for starters this movie has it all. Blood, gore, tits, and a Hodag, aka R. Sherman, that runs a 40yd in 4.5secs. The movie starts out with a major gore scene and a fantastic actress who plays the barn girl very well. The exceptional costume design has me wondering how they picked the comedic hats that adorn many of the characters. For example: "The Brent's" hat says -- "Eatin' ain't Cheatin'" Brilliant. Where can I buy one? I thought the movie was very open sexually speaking. I particularly loved the scene with the forbidden syrup play. Also the random inserted still scenes of breasts to include the single one. That one was a deal sealer for the movie in my opinion. They even had a hick-hunter gay couple, that was a hidden plot twist. A major goof was how the manure plant was only 4 miles away, yet the Hodag, aka Seattle Seahawks superstar corner-back R. Sherman fifth round pick out of Stan Uni., had a smell overwhelmed at a distance of 5 feet. The most curious thing I discovered while watching this gore-fest was the Becky's OUTRAGEOUS EYEBROWS OF DESTINY. They seemed to grow throughout the movie, getting longer, and longer, and eventually to her lip I believe. Why did she do that? I may never know. Continuing... The way they captured Richard's shear athletic talent was absolutely enjoyable and superb. Cooper's ability to ignore all things around except for beer, brats, and the "State" game (possibly a Stanford game??) is the most dynamic concept for this character. The scene where Paul is rubbing one out and no one cares when he comes back to the table, I thought this was pure genius as I can relate. As for the soundtrack that illustrated the overall flow of the movie I was hoping to get a copy of the OST one day. But for now it helps night shift at work go quickly. Favorite Quote -- "Take a queue from my dick and go long." - The Brent.
Flawed, but reasonably enjoyable backwoods horror junk
Woodyanders19 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Here we go again: Six college kids -- nerdy shutterbug, hardcore jock, obnoxious jerk, token black dude, slutty hot babe, and the nice girl -- venture into a remote woodland area in Wisconsin for the weekend. Naturally, the young adults run afoul of a vicious flesh-eating local legend humanoid freak known as the Black Hodag (Seth Chilsen sporting long greasy hair, a huge overcoat, and a cheapo monster mask). Director Donn Kennedy, who also co-wrote the leave no-cliché-unturned script with Brandon Semling, does his best to compensate for the lack of scares and creepy mood by pouring on the blood-spilling gore by the gallon -- the red stuff squirts and spurts everywhere while one victim even gets split in half -- and playing up the amusingly irreverent humor to the ninth degree (the stock array of belligerent redneck stereotypes are quite funny). Moreover, there's a decent smattering of tasty female nudity, a strong rural atmosphere, and the pace moves along at a reasonably quick clip. The acting by the non-star cast is very hit or miss, with the best work done by Angela Lowe as the sweet Becky and Jesse L. Cyr as the geeky Mark. However, Erin Castrapeli's murky cinematography and the largely unsympathetic characters prevent this film from being a complete success. Still, there's one particular plot twist that's truly surprising and the movie's overall eager to please attitude makes it entertaining enough.
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