Black Wood (2022) User Reviews

Watchable, but not outstanding...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 26 July 2022]

Sure, the synopsis for this 2022 horror Western titled "Blackwood" from writer and director Chris Canfield definitely sounded interesting. And I must admit that the high IMDb rating (8.1 as I sat down to watch the movie) that the movie had when I stumbled upon it helped convince me to sit down and watch the movie.

And yeah, "Blackwood" was a watchable movie, but it was nowhere near as great as the rating would lead you to believe. It was essentially just another tale of the Wendigo, but not a particularly exciting or thrilling one at that. And there are actually more interesting movies out there that tackle the myth of the Wendigo in a more entertaining manner than "Blackwood" managed to do.

The acting performances in the movie were good. I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble here, and that definitely counted for something and worked well in favor of the movie. Bates Wilder and Tanajsia Slaughter carried the movie quite well with their performances in the leading roles. It was a shame, though, that actor Glenn Morshower wasn't given a more prominent role in the movie.

Visually then "Blackwood" was okay. I mean, it wasn't a particularly outstanding movie in terms of special effects and make-up. And the Wendigo creature, no, it just didn't work out for me. So that was somewhat disappointing. But hey, "Blackwood" is not really the type of movie that needed impressive special effects to tell its tale, if you think about it. But the way the Wendigo was portrayed just wasn't all that good.

"Blackwood" is the type of movie that you will watch once and never again. I will say that just as quietly as the movie snuck in under the radar for me, just as quietly will it vanish into the mists of oblivion. This just wasn't a memorable movie.

My rating of "Blackwood" lands on a very bland four out of ten stars.

It's a movie...

[jayg_58 · 5/10 · 29 July 2022]

Kudos for not showing us Sears catalog cowboys. These guys were semi-authentic, bad teeth, dirty shirts. Their guns were a little too clean. The Indian girl may have been Indian, but she didn't really look it. She did look pretty raggedy, albeit her clothes were usually cleaner than she was and definitely department store front window stuff. OK, so much for appearances, the acting wasn't great. Too over the top. Everyone was trying too hard. The story was decent - cowboys out to steal gold from some prospectors run into the ghost of a cursed warrior. I don't think the writer/director really knew how to handle that, but it worked alright. You could tell this had a very constrained budget, but it kept me off the FF key for the most part. I'd recommend it for a cowboy, ghost spirit movie.

Disapointingly long and a pointless and meaningless film for the over 12's !

[ianclarke340 · 3/10 · 31 July 2022]

Films like this confuse me, I can't figure out why people want to watch this genre or what they get out of it.

It's set in 1800's America but in reality it's not a 'Western' in the traditional sense, it's a Horror but plays out like a fairytale ! I kept watching and hoping it would improve, I stayed with it mostly through curiosity just to see where the story went.

I found myself disliking almost all of the characters but that's not always a bad thing, sometimes the characters are just not likeable and it can take a good actor to play one. I disliked the story which was clearly based on old legends or possibly old wives tales and disliked the way the story was told through the actors who clearly could use a few more drama lessons and I really disliked the 'supernatural' aspect which was a complete failure in many ways !

There was mixed up clips and bad continuity, terrible lighting and 'fog' effects to create some kind of suspense and awful sound effects and worst of all was the ending which was a huge disappointment !

Who were the characters again?

[burtzland · 2/10 · 30 July 2022]

The character development and acting was 90% garbage. My uncle and cousin were extras in this so I suffered thru hoping it would get better. It never did. The scenery is great.. but it shouldn't be! This is a horror film.. and was shot in full sunlight. There is fog during intense moments but it doesn't fit the scene / lighting and isn't consistent. The woods should be dark and overcast during the day.

Near the beginning a man eats a dead dear raw in a field as the female casually rides by. It's like we turned the channel to The Walking Dead and back again quick. It's moronic! By the end of the movie I didn't have a connection with any of the characters. If you're reading this.. just skip it! It's a couple hours of your life you'll never get back! If you're my uncle or cousin.. sorry guys! It's not your fault!

We have a horse in the tree

[nogodnomasters · 3/10 · 6 August 2022]

Dutch Wilder (Bates Wilder) is a bad guy for hire in the post Civil War west. He is tasked to go into the Black Wood and locate and kill two prospectors and take their gold. He has a group. In town they crossed paths with Dowanhowee (Tanajsia Slaughter) a Native American whose village was destroyed. She is "called" to the land and steals a horse. And then there is the Wendigo legend which we know from the first scene where the prospectors are killed, it is no legend.

Low budget western with a Wendigo. The horror aspect wasn't that great. Not a bad story except the characters were boring. Maybe a little guy yelling, "Zee Windigo, boss, zee Windigo" or some eye candy., or the Wendigo cracking jokes.

Guide" F-word. No sex or nudity.

Great cinematography

[tbkrum · 10/10 · 30 July 2022]

A fun watch ! Scenery throughout the Black Hills of South Dakota was beautiful. The drone shots were great! While some could may find fault here or there, for a first time foray into movie making it came out very well.

A fun mix of Western and Creature Feature

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 26 July 2022]

After hearing of a horse robbery, a group of trackers set out into the wilderness to track the Indian responsible, but when they finally encounter her at the edge of a cursed forest realize the local legend of a man-eating Wendigo is true as it hunts them down forcing them to band together to escape.

Overall, this one had a lot to like about it. Among the better features here is the generally decent ability to mix together the two genres which is pretty apparent throughout here. The general time period and setting give this a likable enough grasp of the Old West while we travel through the small ghost-towns and open plains that are prominently featured throughout here which is all authentic and helps immensely with the immersion into the locale. As well, the whole setup and storyline of the film involving the hunters tracking the thief into the area and slowly coming under the impression that there's something hunting them down but are unable to do so due to the commitments that brought them all together which makes for a far more involved storyline that has a lot to like. This allows for a fun time here providing for a generally enjoyable series of creature attacks in this Western setup. The opening attack on the travelers escaping through the wilderness and being taken out in brutal fashion is a great way to get this going, while the first attack in the woods on the hunters tracking him down gives a strong idea of the creatures' viciousness. Other fun encounters in the finale, where the creature appears out of the mist to rip the trackers to shreds or the big confrontations with the creature in its cave hideout while traveling through its dimension offers a fun, gory series of battles that offer up an intriguing mix of folklore with how to combat it and graphic bloodshed in the final resolution over everything manages to generate some more likable factors. Alongside the great creature design, these make for a fun time here. There are a few issues to be had with this one. The biggest factor holding this one back is the overall sense of padding featured to try to bring this to a respectable running time which results in a somewhat disjointed pace throughout here. That mainly comes about from the behavior of the trackers who are sent after the missing money but instead get sidetracked into following the stolen horse who are portrayed in a stereotypical manner of not trusting each other and snapping at the slightest opportunity for a group that should've been over that kind of banter long ago based on their previous encounters together. As well, other scenes including flashbacks to the massacre of her tribe, the attempts at bonding ver family tragedies, or the hallucinations of the dead kids serve this one well in establishing characters but just make parts of this feel overlong at points, which end up being the biggest factors against this one.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.