While filming a near episode, the team for a cryptozoological and paranormal reality series head into the woods to get the scoop on their latest episode about a strange box buried in a local mine, but when they arrive discover that something far deadlier is lurking in the woods for them.
This was a pretty serviceable if unremarkable found-footage effort. Starting out like numerous other entries in the format with the introduction to the team getting to the house for their next story, that this one goes into an even more familiar route involving the typical backwoods personalities with the questionable informant that creeps everyone out, the town of locals offering friendly warnings to stay away through stories of questionable logic, and the setup of the group intending to look into the history of a piece of folklore that's covering up a deadlier truth are brought up rather early in this one. This gives the film a rather solid background into their quest out into the woods but also doesn't bring anything new or original into the genre. With this build-up employed quite nicely, there's some genuine fun and creepiness to be had once they get to the woods to finalize their plans for the documentary. The scenes involving him trying to get everyone to follow his plan of trying to push forward towards the deepest part of the woods where the stories bring about a series of generally enjoyable confrontations with them out in the middle of nowhere are inherently fun and somewhat chilling. The descent into the underground tunnel and the chaos that unfolds once they get down there as well as the interactions once the discovery in the cave has been unleashed are solid enough with some interesting ideas and concepts being utilized taking place throughout the woods. It's what makes this one a bit better than expected here. There are some big issues to be had here. The aforementioned overall familiarity with the series of genre tropes utilized here is the main issue, but the next one is the utterly unlikable main character that's part of the usual tropes and expectations found in the style. All he does is constantly force others into dangerous situations without any hint of personal safety merely for personal glory and forsakes everyone else to continue on that path. Hardly any of it makes for a compelling time following him or the group. More problems emerge from the night-time found-footage camera work that renders a lot of what's going on way too difficult to see what's happening which is rather unfortunate due to this being the best part of the film where you want to see what's happening. These factors all bring this one down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.
This was a pretty serviceable if unremarkable found-footage effort. Starting out like numerous other entries in the format with the introduction to the team getting to the house for their next story, that this one goes into an even more familiar route involving the typical backwoods personalities with the questionable informant that creeps everyone out, the town of locals offering friendly warnings to stay away through stories of questionable logic, and the setup of the group intending to look into the history of a piece of folklore that's covering up a deadlier truth are brought up rather early in this one. This gives the film a rather solid background into their quest out into the woods but also doesn't bring anything new or original into the genre. With this build-up employed quite nicely, there's some genuine fun and creepiness to be had once they get to the woods to finalize their plans for the documentary. The scenes involving him trying to get everyone to follow his plan of trying to push forward towards the deepest part of the woods where the stories bring about a series of generally enjoyable confrontations with them out in the middle of nowhere are inherently fun and somewhat chilling. The descent into the underground tunnel and the chaos that unfolds once they get down there as well as the interactions once the discovery in the cave has been unleashed are solid enough with some interesting ideas and concepts being utilized taking place throughout the woods. It's what makes this one a bit better than expected here. There are some big issues to be had here. The aforementioned overall familiarity with the series of genre tropes utilized here is the main issue, but the next one is the utterly unlikable main character that's part of the usual tropes and expectations found in the style. All he does is constantly force others into dangerous situations without any hint of personal safety merely for personal glory and forsakes everyone else to continue on that path. Hardly any of it makes for a compelling time following him or the group. More problems emerge from the night-time found-footage camera work that renders a lot of what's going on way too difficult to see what's happening which is rather unfortunate due to this being the best part of the film where you want to see what's happening. These factors all bring this one down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.
