Audience Member
Spoiler Alert
If everybody dies, what is the purpose of watching it?
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Had a Interesting Plot but it fell flat for me. The ending was kinda cool I guess but wasn't that good of a movie overall. 4.5/10
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
Full Review
robert z
I stumbled across this verdant gem the other day and thought, "I should watch this. It'll fit right in with the Vegetarian Horror theme of The Scariest Things Podcast Episode LIX!"
Oof. The things I do for fame and fortune...
Arbor Demon (also known as Enclosure) starts off with a pregnant woman happily hiking alone in the woods until she's startled by something the audience can't see. She gets chased by something the audience isn't shown, and, ultimately, she's caught by something the audience doesn't get to look at. And that right there describes most of what's wrong with this movie.
Fiona Dourif [Cult of Chucky (2017)] plays Dana, the recently pregnant photographer wife of Charles [Kevin Ryan; TV's Copper (2012 - 2013)]. Charles doesn't know Dana's pregnant. He wants to be a rockstar and is kind of a tool. On the verge of Charles' first months-long tour with his band, the couple decides to take a camping trip in the woods for some alone time before he leaves.
In an effort to put some distance between themselves and a group of gun totin', camouflage wearin', good ol' boys, Dana and Charles move deeper into the woods. From their new position, they watch in horror as something tears through the hunters' camp... while we viewers get to mostly watch Dana and Charles in their tent watching whatever it is we don't get to see. It sure was some dramatic use of those binoculars, though! Whew!
Production quality of Arbor Demon is actually quite high. The cinematography is decent, sound quality is excellent and consistent throughout, even the score is well done and fits each scene as it should. But when you're watching what's obviously a monster movie you're not watching it because you appreciate a movie with reasonable set lighting. You're watching it for the monster. And, while the creepy forest demon hand was very cool, the audience can only stand a few scenes of it mysteriously disappearing behind a tree before we're wondering if the whole special effects budget was blown on a single monster hand.
You'd think things would pick up once Baby Busey appeared, but sadly 'twas not to be. Charles saves Sean [Jake Busey; The Predator (2018)], one of the hunters, but the pacing of the movie remains uneven and the dialog gets even more awkward and... kinda kooky. Granted, if anyone can deliver goofy lines and make them sound mildly coherent it's Jake Busey, but that still didn't help the muddled backstory meant to explain the forest grannies demons.
Don't get me wrong, aside from looking like a group of elderly tree-grandmas, the forest demons were pretty cool. The special effects makeup and costuming would've scored big points in any Arbor Day cosplay contest. However, if their scenes in the movie were any indication, the demon outfits weren't what you'd call "action-wear". These demons were more about giving disapproving looks and pointing accusatory fingers than any sort of rough-and-tumble shenanigans.
Arbor Demon had some potential. They'd obviously spent some money on production and the monster suits were well made. Once you finally get to see them, it's fun to see the individual characteristics of each costume. Someone spent a lot of time putting those things together and it showed.
Unfortunately, and possibly because the suits were too fragile or cumbersome to move, the monsters in this monster movie lacked any sort of punch. The pacing was too uneven to build up any tension to support them and the dialog was too scattered and awkward to give them any kind of ominous history. They were just left standing silently in the forest, pointing at stuff, and probably hoping things would wrap up in time for them to catch the senior discount for dinner at Denny's.
Robert Zilbauer
https://scariesthings.com
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The trailer made this movie look better than it actually was. It started out promising, but turned silly half way through.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Married couple Dana (Fiona Dourif) and Charles (Kevin Ryan) are at a crossroad in their lives. Charles has recently quit his job as a paramedic to pursue a life-long dream of going on tour with his band, and Dana has discovered that she's pregnant. She hasn't shared the news with her husband though as, according to him, they 'aren't that couple'. Before Charles disappears for six months the pair head out on a camping trip to celebrate their anniversary.
Their first night at the site is sleepless thanks to some local hunters drinking and shooting guns until late. The second night, after venturing deeper into the woodlands, they are kept awake again, this time by something much more sinister. To top things off they end up rescuing one of the hunters, Sean (Jake Busey), after he is attacked by something. The newly formed trio then have one mission, survive.
Enclosure is a taut situational horror, add in the stranger element and the dramatic tension is heightened. Sean really doesn't seem that grateful for having been rescued by the couple and seems intent on creating trouble for them. Busey is on fine creepy weirdo form, having inherited the skill from his father Gary. From the moment we meet Sean we know there is more to him than meets the eye. He clearly has his own dark agenda and slowly starts to manipulate the pair against each other. The whole second act is a battle of wills between Dana, her husband, and Sean.
Stalking around the outside of the tent, and oblivious to the drama unfolding inside it are our dangerous creatures. The effects work is breathtaking. These creatures dwell deep in the forest and have evolved to blend into their territory. The camouflage design works brilliantly with plenty of scares coming out of nowhere as you suddenly realise that that isn't just a tree you're seeing. Just like Predator this threat appears out of nowhere and, let's face it, things that can hide in plain sight are always more frightening.
Slowly winching up both the scares and the dramatic tension, Enclosure always has its audiences enjoyment at the fore front. This could have easily been a silly 'lost in the woods' movie, but it's much more than that. You care about the central couple and watching their decline from happy anniversary celebrators to fractured relations is difficult to watch. Unfortunately, things get a little muddled towards the final climax. The supernatural element starts to drown everything and some of the well-developed tension ebbs away.
Enclosure will have you reassessing those camping plans. A frightening and fraught story elevated by strong performances and some intense creature designs. Predator meets The Descent by way of The Hallow.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
this was silly. she didn't even take off her pants at the end, there.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
Full Review
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