Feral (2017) User Reviews

A well shot mess.

[Kolobos51 · 4/10 · 26 May 2018]

Feral is not a good movie. I wasn't that impressed with the ads and mostly just saw it because of the leading ladies. Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie's Halloween films), Renee Olstead (Unfriended), and Olivia Luccardi (Channel Zero) are the leads who, along with a couple of lame guys, go on a camping trip after finishing college then run across werewolves er, ferals.

This movie starts with a gore soaked cold open in which special guest star Lew Temple (The Devil's Rejects, 31, The Walking Dead) seemingly tortures a monsterous female to death. While watching this, I had two thoughts. The first was that this is a pretty cool start to the movie. The second was this terrible feeling that this was probably the best part of the movie. And, aside from endless cleavage shots of its lead actresses, it is.

And yes, this movie is so bad that the cheap, juvenile thrill of pretty girls in tank tops ends up being a major highlight and that is a majorly bad thing.

The five kids on the camping trip are boring and annoying AT THE SAME TIME. There's a sort of vague, millenial SJW vibe to these kids that made me think I wasn't even supposed to like them. There's a listless, bored quality to the most of the actors, who never seem that worried about what is going on, to the characters, that are lucky to have one trait a piece, and to the pace, which is just slow and dull.

This movie could REALLLY have benefited from a sense of humor, some gratuitous sex and violence, dumb humor, anything! It's just so boring. By the end I was checking emails and just waiting for it to be over.

I like Scout Taylor-Compton but her character is such a Mary Sue. She kind of reminded me of the ridiculously capable gal from You're Next but lacked even that character's charm. She's really just too capable too early and the character has nowhere to go. Lew Temple is equally one note and Renee Olstead isn't even in it that much. Olivia Luccardi is the only one that manages to develop much personality and I had the impression that was mostly because of quirks the actress threw in herself, like flipping a character the bird behind his back because he's being a jealous prick to her.

The only memorable thing here, if you can call it that, is that the lead couple is two girls instead of a hetero normative couple. The movie doesn't do anything with them though so, really, instead of getting a bland, underwritten romance between a man and a woman, we get a bland, underwritten romance between a woman and a woman.

The creature effects are okay but that's about it. I didn't like this movie and only gave it a 4 because I had the impression that at least some people involved were trying. The DP shoots the film well, the makeup effects are solid, and Scout and Olivia Luccardi do what they can with their roles. Still don't recommend spending money on it though.

In short, as I said at the beginning, Feral is just not a good movie.

My quick review.

[josh_therealdeal · 3/10 · 3 December 2018]

This movie is about a zombie virus and 6 people.

The zombie virus is the most likeable character.

Another low budget silly zombie/virus film on the lines of Cabin fever n Mutants.

[Fella_shibby · 4/10 · 5 June 2018]

The trailer was good. The movie started well with a man in a cabin waiting to kill a tied up zombie/infected person n cut the scene n we get to c a group of friends trekking in the woods. During the nite, one fella walks out of the tent to take a pee n we get to a c a creepy creature lurking in the dark. The first kill was decent but the movie turned bad after this. There is absolutely no tension or suspense. Most of the characters r shown to be medical students, especially one studying to become an epidemiologist but the kind of stupidity they show towards the infected victims is annoying. The source of the virus is never explained n the ending was meh. The director's earlier effort Tooth n Nail is much better than this lousy film.

Potential wasted.

[Otte1 · 3/10 · 17 July 2018]

Movie had potential, with a 28 Days Later type setup except in the woods. Director makes all types of college film mistakes. 1. Time continuity off, it is morning yet after a couple of hours walking, it is night. This keeps happening....check. 2. Characters smart one second, dumb a few minutes later....check 3. Hear bump in the night and feel need to investigate, alone, with no weapon...check 4. Gun with endless supply of bullets....check 5. Something chasing us let's split up....check

At this point, you do not have any care what happens to any of the characters.

...Why?

[sonnyrainy6 · 1/10 · 18 June 2018]

'Feral' is an excellent example of a low budget horror movie done wrong. We've recently had some low budget gems in the horror genre (for example 'Starry Eyes'), but it's movies like this that make the genre take a step back, especially considering this is another 'college kids go to a remote cabin in the woods and die' kind of horror movie, which should've died after 'The Cabin In The Woods' proved that these sorts of horror movies have overstayed their welcome in cinema.

This all brings me to the question: why was this movie made?

I still ask myself that now having watched it but this movie shouldn't have been made at all, especially considering it has basically been made already. The Australian horror film 'Primal' came out in 2009 and has an almost identical plot to this movie. This wouldn't be as big of an issue as it is if that movie wasn't so godawful, and unfortunately 'Feral' is even worse in its execution.

Firstly, despite the plot being unoriginal and generic, it still had the potential to provide for an entertaining movie, but this film is sleep-inducingly dull. This is mostly due to the movie's terrible pacing, with characters being killed off 10 minutes into the movie (bearing in mind that there's only 6 of the college kids to begin with), meaning that the remaining 80 minutes goes by incredibly slowly as we wait for the remaining college kids to die. This is made worse due to the boring characters presented to us, who have no development, no personality and apparently no intelligence as they constantly make the dumbest decisions that no real human would ever make unless they'd been lobotomised.

The quality of the acting doesn't make the film worthwhile either. I had some expectations for the performances considering that Olivia Luccardi was playing one of the main characters (having given a solid performance in 'It Follows'), but even she gives a bad performance in this movie. Scout Taylor-Compton easily gives the best performance but that's hardly saying much considering the performances from her costars. The worst performance in this movie easily goes to Lew Temple as the movie's antagonist, who sleepwalks through his role with the most monotone delivery of every single line that he speaks. It's clear that he only starred in this borefest for his paycheck.

Taking into account that this is a horror movie as well, I might as well talk about how scary the film is: it isn't. There's absolutely no tension because of how dull the movie is, and the creatures themselves look like poor imitations of the creatures from 'The Descent' (go and watch that instead), but it's not like that matters anyway because the lighting is so bad that you'll barely see the creatures at all.

This movie was doomed from the start. An overdone concept with weak actors and a terrible director could have never made for a good movie, let alone a low budget horror movie like this. Just watch something else, because this movie is a complete waste of time.

Unbearable Story, Awful Cast

[claudio_carvalho · 2/10 · 1 June 2018]

"Feral" is a terrible movie with unbearable story and awful cast. It is amazing how a group of medical students can be so stupid, taking the most unreasonable attitudes while hiking in an unknown area in the wilderness. The non-likable lead lesbian character is a joke, performed by the ham actress Scout Taylor-Compton, who lisps and makes the weirdest grimaces. Olivia Luccardi also lisps and is hard to bear her voice. It is funny to see Scout Taylor-Compton saying that she is a doctor and saves lives; meanwhile she shoots the Talbot when he tries to explain what is happening. Further, as mentioned in a witty review by another user, "spends the entire time looking at him (Talbot), as if he killed her mother." Talbot says that there is a lethal virus that turned his family into living dead, they see the effect on their friends but they say that the guy is lying. The screenplay is a complete mess with lack of budget and character development. In the end, everybody is certainly rooting for the death of the last characters to end the flick. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

My god, what a mess of a movie!

[DeepRest · 2/10 · 30 May 2018]

To be honest, this movie isn't even worth reviewing. So I'll be quick and to the point, because I don't want anyone to waste 90 minutes of their life on this movie. The only two likable characters in this movie get taken out of commission within the first 10 minutes. After that, you're left with the whiniest, most annoying group of people you'd never want to meet. They meet someone, played by Lew Temple, who deserves way better than to be in this, and he's nice enough to let them bring their injured friend to his cabin, stay there, and feed them. You would think they would be grateful, right? No.

Scout-Taylor Compton, who suffers from resting b!tch face, spends the entire time looking at him, as if he killed her mother. She shoots the guy, when he's trying to explain what's going to happen to their friend, chases him out of his own home, then beats him with his own gun when he comes back. Oh and her girlfriend stabs him in the back. He tells them that their friends (two at this point) are infected, and are going to turn into the creature that she has already seen one of her friends turn into, after it tried to kill them all. Her response? "NO! I am training to be a doctor! I am NOT killing her!"

Cut to 10 minutes later, when she's bashing friend #2's skull open like it's a pumpkin, to save her own butt. Then she sends her girlfriend out into the woods, knowing full well that there is another creature out there, while SHE keeps the gun. Sure enough, her girlfriend gets attacked and infected. Her girlfriend BEGS her to kill her, because she doesn't want to become a creature. Does she grant her girlfriend's final request? NO! She leaves the gun with her and makes her commit suicide...alone. Then it ends on the other infected friend who is handcuffed to a bed, growling. As if we forgot, or even cared that SHE was still there.

If you've read this and you STILL want to watch this movie, then you will watch anything. You probably have posters of The Bye Bye Man, Truth Or Dare, and The Emoji Movie framed on your wall. No insult. It takes all kinds to make a society.

Typical "straight to video" garbage

[horrorgasm · 1 June 2018]

I've seen much worse, but it's still not a good movie by any means. As everyone else here has already said, very weak acting and script. Just another generic cabin in the woods story that we've already seen done so much better, so many times already.

The nicest thing I can say is that the effects are passable, but not in any way impressive. Not that you'll be seeing much of them anyway since this is yet another cheap horror movie that didn't have anywhere near the budget it needed to do what it wanted to do, and so the majority of the movie just time-wasting filler.

And oh man, can someone PLEASE get Olivia Luccardi to a dentist already? I think that gap is actually getting bigger.

One-Dimentional, Cliched Tropes

[momster64 · 7/10 · 22 December 2019]

So, the story in itself is interesting enough, however a couple things just kept occurring to me throughout.

One-dimensional characters who adhere to one specific cliche - the angry one who's time is spent pointing her shotgun, cursing, and snarling her lines; The meek one who retains a deer-in-the-headlights expression and whose dialogue consists of, what was that? where is he? what are we going to do? what's down there? The injured one who gets to spend her movie time lying down and moaning..

Plus the plot issues: Y'all went on a six hour hike with full backpacks and necessities, but as the movie progresses there's not even a water bottle to be seen. The story is set over a span of a few days, again despite no water or food. There is however a handy supply of horse tranquilizers and antibiotics. Cabin Guy has been shot, beaten up, knocked unconscious, and eventually stabbed in the back, yet on and on he goes like an Energizer bunny. The requisite miracle shotgun that never needs reloading. Plot points that are introduced (conflict between characters, their medical-school backgrounds, etc) that aren't explained or are useful information.

I gave it a 7/10, it did have genuine tension and a decent premise, it's not one of those "I wish I had my two hours back" reviews, but after awhile those issues kept recurring so much that it kept me nitpicking the whole time.

Stay away from this rubbish.

[psxexperten · 1/10 · 27 May 2018]

I have a few questions after watching this garbage they call movie. Such as: Who the hell makes these films? Why? How? Are they even humans? Surely the production cost outweighs the incoming revenue? The acting in this stinker is all over the place! The reason I rate this movie a one because zero in not an option.

Underrated

[laceymiller-77711 · 8/10 · 24 July 2019]

This movie is a good rendition of a zombie diseases plaque type of movie and is seriously underrated.

1's?...... REALLY?

[HarrySmooth · 6/10 · 24 March 2023]

GAWD..... the Attack of the Couch Critics strikes again!

This was a perfectly Good Movie! The Monsters were Creepy, disgusting, and Vile, just like a Good Monster is supposed to be! LOL, No Kidding though, I thoroughly enjoyed this Movie! Made me "JUMP" once even! The Cast were believable, some good Acting going on here people.... Thank GAWD I don't watch a movie based on ratings! In Fact, I read the ratings, and if there is an absorbent amount of "1's", (that means ALOT heh heh) I'll watch it just to "Spite" the Onedermen!!! LOL, and like THIS movie, I find quite a few gems that way! Give this one a try.... Stick with it! It's PFG!!!!

Completely bloodless and far from wild

[TheLittleSongbird · 3/10 · 15 June 2018]

Was drawn into seeing 'Feral', with a cool poster/cover, a promising trailer, an intriguing premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws are here present in those films, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'Feral' is weak, with so many huge flaws and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is very little to recommend in 'Feral'.

Lets start with the positives.. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky, and is surprisingly well shot.

'Feral' also starts off promisingly, it does intrigue and it does have creepiness.

Going on to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it comes over as vague and under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.

Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and all of the acting is lacking severely, Scout Taylor Compton's performance will make one not stop cringing.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace and film drags on forever after such an intriguing start and doesn't recover. Even the ending however is botched, due to being so afterthought-like and with no sense of how to end it. Found too many of the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense.

A lot of 'Feral' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsettling.

There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, while the horror elements are unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of horror. Some badly sagging momentum too and a lot of weirdness. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music is ill-fitting.

Concluding, weak with no substance or entertainment value. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Flippin excruciating Rancid abysmal loser

[digijue · 1/10 · 23 August 2018]

Please don't bother wasting your time on this cack So boring,dull script,terrible actors,cliche upon cliche I personally didn't care who died because there are no likeable characters Horror at its worst...not scary...just boring predictable tripe

Lesbian werewolf killers

[omendata · 4/10 · 18 June 2021]

I dont know if the director added the lesbian aspect to give this a prurient aspect or to appease the LGBT nutters but sadly it didnt work.

All the characters were irritating and unlikeable - two lezzers one with teeth like a piano and the other with the usual army vest and combat troosers - she aint no Ripley or Vasquez thats for sure.

Quite good creature effects and a few moments of tension but terrile script and dialogue and seenit all before nothing new here really!

Annoying lesbian werewolf killers 0 Werewolves 1 I was rooting for the werewolves myself!

plain garbage

[kajpcanada · 1/10 · 25 May 2018]

Absolute drivel and psycho babble BS, avoid at all costs

Bad acting, the reactions feel fake. Full of topics

[proteusbcn · 2/10 · 26 May 2018]

If someone dies and another one is injured, you can't sleep at night, next day you go back home... running! but no... you stay several days. All movie is like this. They could make a very nice movie just during the first night (someone is outside, who killed one of your friends, you have to run but you can't... surviving the whole night)

Watch at your own risk <3

[influxtwo · 5/10 · 10 May 2020]

A very strong 5 which is good I think. This had a lot of potential. Decent makeup effects even, to boot. A decent cast of average but decent actors who are all lucid and more than capable of understanding their script here with this kind of material. Only that's the real problem. Is the execution isn't very thought out. The most glaring thing about this film and watching it for me is the weaknesses in how it is written which never let's it be as great as it could've been with these actors and makeup artists who all suffered a bit under the weight of hammy writing. It relies far too heavily on familiar cliche annoying tropes like "Nobody has a cell phone" and "Let's go 50 miles out of civilization completely unprepared for ANYTHING." "We never think of calling the police really but let's scramble to the closest creepy park ranger" "A man is screaming outside our tents about 50 feet away and NOBODY hears it or even flinches" How far away did this guy go to take a piss? that nobody in the tents near by could hear him screaming hysterically basically right outside their tents for his life while a humanoid creature savagely rips him apart? Like I said, the plot here is not. thought. out. Again with the police thing, why do some characters in average low budget horror never think of ever wanting to notify the police during their awful little vacations that go horribly wrong but instead think they can handle things on their own nonchalantly. These plot devices work far better when they are well fleshed out and written with great care or context to persuade a horror fan who has seen their fair share of the genre. I hate to rag on this film but I think some contrivances take stronger writing to succeed with. With that off my chest. It's still enjoyable for a bit of low budget weirdness. The DNA by now of horror is not challenged here. It's Wrong Turn down by the Cabin Fever in the Evil Dead woods. But I will say this. It was pretty cool when Scout picks up the baseball bat - it is the best part that makes the movie. The creature makeup effects are quite good and the music is alright in those scenes. The ending fate of the characters was emotionally sad. Like the movie would imply, Watch at your own risk.<3

Great horror movie

[davish_wulf-1 · 7/10 · 28 May 2018]

I can't believe the low reviews on this movie. Even after checking them I saw the movie anyway and was impressed not only by the movie, but how can people rate this so low. The movie is very well shot, great performances by the cast, specially by Scout Taylor-Compton. The atmosphere is great and has that classic 70s feeling that keeps coming back nowadays. The action scenes and effects are top notch and although it was done on a low budget, the result was very pleasant. Not perfect, some scenes were a bit strange, I got the feeling some of them were shot during the day and not at night, sounds from "day birds" instead of nocturnal animals, and so on. Some strange decisions also from the group and inconsistent sound range from victims that were never heard so near. All in all, good entertainment, great little movie here.

OMG the acting the writing the...

[tiany-71717 · 3/10 · 16 December 2018]

I'm more annoyed at this acting and writing. Like I love me a good zombie movie but come on. Zombies hesitation to eat/kill you? You're attacking a man that welcomed you into his house. You don't "trust" him yet you're still in his house??? Wtf

**spoilers

Then your friend is screaming in the back and you're sitting here fighting with the man what kinda crap. I was over it by then. Then you tie him up in his basement LOL. I can say more but all I can is laugh.

To the team on this movie. You just didn't think this one through huh?

deserved better rating

[melissaoaks · 9/10 · 18 July 2018]

Again, another perfectly awesome horror movie with a low rating. Geez, really??? Just watch this movie, if you give it a bad rating, shame on you. that karma will come back to you.

Zombiesque Biters

[Pairic · 6/10 · 13 July 2019]

Feral: If you go down to the woods today you won't get a big surprise because it's students, a bit lost, camping in an isolated forest again. Three couples pitch their tents, two quarrel, the third is happy when an engagement ring is produced. The engagement is short-lived as the guy is attacked and literally eaten alive by a strange shadowy creature, intestines chomped up while the guys screams. His girlfriend is then bitten. (Not a spoiler, happens ten minutes in.) Then they start to turn into ... Zombies? Lots of biting and eating going on. There is also a mysterious but "helpful" hermit. The creatures loos more like Nosferatu style Vampires. The kids of course make stupid decisions even though they are grad-students. Filmed largely in a dimly lit cabin and dark forest, some tension does build up with a few scares and there are strong female characters but this is no classic. Directed and co-written by Mark Young who might have done better with a bigger budget. 6/10.

Cringey Script

[WankerReviews · 3/10 · 28 May 2018]

Aside from the fact that I never liked Ms Scout, her presence is made even more irritating by her character, whose an in the closet lesbian, whose afraid to come out to her family. This whole background story seemed forced and what made this movie super cringey. There was a small storyline involving another guy who she used to hook up with, making semi homophobic comments towards Scout's partner, Jules. Then a scene where the guy gets instant karma. The whole execution of that felt preachy, and wasn't done well.

Another thing that bothered me was the old man in the cabin who knew about the creatures. One of Scout's friends gets infected, and without any explanation he tries to kill them. Thus making Scout and Jules attack him and hold him captive. One thing I hate are characters that are written without any common sense. Why didn't the man sit them down and try to explain to them step by step what the heck was going on, instead of trying to kill one them right away. Why didn't he just open his mouth instead of speaking in fragments? Another example of something poorly written script, in order for conflict to happen.

On top of that when he does finally spit out what's going on, the female characters are too stubborn, and end up getting even more of their friends killed.

Overall the acting was decent and the make up effects were good

Potential, but falls drastically short

[jhidalgo-15248 · 3/10 · 27 January 2019]

I'm surprised I watched the entire thing truthfully. The characters had to be the dumbest bag of bricks one could buy at the lumber store. Their decisions were always irrational, illogical, and utterly nonsensical. The protagonist by the end of the movie was driving me just about insane.

The movie truly had potential. The mutants are definitely scary to say the least. Their movements and sounds definitely kept me wanting to watch, but the fact the virus is never explained, it just suddenly appears and attacks some man's family while on vacation... Three stars automatically for me getting through the movie, and extra for the mutants. All in all, I would avoid this movie.