Feral

If there is one thing people of Sweden love to do is go camping in the forest. Why ? It is pretty simple. Swedish people love to run around naked in the forest, and make love to trees. This is why the political party Miljöpartiet De Gröna is so popular here, they want more people to follow this path. Of course there are Swedish people who go to the forest just to pick berries, mushrooms, or climb trees. No matter what reason you have to visit the forest, always make sure you have the right equipment to survive. And warm clothes of course, unless you prefer to run around naked there as members of Miljöpartiet De Gröna. Speaking of spending time on a forest, i think most of us have learned that this could be a bad idea after seeing the 1981 classic movie Evil Dead by legendary director Sam Raimi. If you young horror fans never heard of this film, you need to see what a culture classic really looks like. Evil Dead may have been made from a very small amount of money, but made a very crazy mix of classic horror and almost a satire of gory films. My absolute favourite is of course Evil Dead 2, released in 1987. Almost the same film as the first one, but with more crazy brutality, and even more insane satire that made this film a masterpiece. Army Of Darkness is of course a classic, also known as Evil Dead 3, and also directed by Sam Raimi. The classic concept of Evil Dead, being attacked in a house out in a forest have been used in many films. One horror film actually managed to do something different with this concept, known as The Cabin In The Woods, released in 2012. The film may have looked like a Evil Dead rip off in the beginning, but managed to turn things around very effective when you find out what is really going on. I suggest you see that film if you enjoy intelligent horror movies. Another horror film that had similar ideas from Evil Dead, but threw in a different concept is the 2003 movie Wrong Turn. I would not say Wrong Turn is a must see in any way, but the film actually was entertaining for using cannibal hillbillies, who looks deformed. The sequels are not all good, except for Wrong Turn 2, with a crazy Henry Rollins playing a wild character. Since summer is over and i love to see horror films that takes place in the forest, i stumbled upon a B movie called Feral. The trailer looked ok, so i decided to give this film a chance. Is the film Feral a fun ride for the audience of old school horror, or is this a ride that never should have been made at all ?

A group of friends including Alice ( Scout Taylor-Compton ), Jules ( Olivia Luccardi ), Matt ( George Finn ) including many others, all go out to a forest area to go camping together. But the vacation is soon to be changed, when Matt is attacked in the forest by a demonic creature. Soon another victim is attacked, and the remaining survivors find a man in the forest, who happens to live in a cabin. His name is Talbot ( Lew Temple ) and he agree to help the campers. But what they don´t know, is that Talbot is aware of these demonic creature. Is he involved in their existence or does he carry any other secrets ?

Feral is a mixture of a traditional horror film, and includes another version of the Blade 2 vampires. Remember the vampires that were a different species than the ordinary vampires ? These creatures attacking the campers look something like them. They are not vampires though, they are infected with a virus that make them into some kind of demonic creature. The creatures are actually the best part of this film. They look creepy, and the sound they make is also very effective. When you hear these creatures around, i guarantee you will enjoy yourself. Feral is in no way an original horror film, we have seen this concept before. However, what makes this film fun, is the story becomes more clear later in the film. We find out why people who are being bitten turn into these monsters. And this is the part that makes this film interesting, that a virus is the cause of the transformation. I also like the fact that this film does not try and make the story complicated, and go for an old school concept. So how does the characters work ? I personally feel that the strongest characters in this film is the women, who clearly makes an impact. Actor Olivia Luccardi ( who you may remember from the really good horror film It Follows ) makes her character Jules effective in this story. I also enjoy actor Scout Taylor-Compton ( remember her performance in Rob Zombie´s remake of Halloween ? ) as Alice, including the actors Renee Olstead, Brock Kelly and Laundry Allbright. I also enjoy the performance of actor Lew Talbot as the forest loner Talbot. We don´t get to find out much about him, but he have an interesting story behind him. The negative about Feral has to be that the film does not deliver as much as i would have liked to, on a horror quality level. While some scenes works good with the attacking of the demonic creatures, some scenes feel a bit too easily constructed. And this is such a shame, because if they could have figured out some more ideas to use these creatures more effective, we could have had an ever more fun film. With that said, i can´t say i am disappointed with the film in general. Director Mark Young ( who directed a number a films, including the Michael Madsen film Tooth & Nail ), have made an attempt to bring back old school horror, using practical effects. And i appreciate his effort, because we need to keep these films being made, to make sure B movies continue being made. Feral will not please all horror fans, but if you go into this film with an open mind, i think you might have a good time. One thing is for sure, if i hear any creepy sounds in the forest again, i will be ready with a flame thrower.

Rating: DDD