Short Film Review: She Came From The Woods

November 9, 2017 Author: John Amenta

At the last Connecticut Cult Classics double feature event in late October, Cult head Larry Dwyer mixed up the festivities from what was proven to be the normal routine. Amongst the two feature films, vintage trailers and raffles a short film was announced as a sort of opening to the evening. As much as I enjoy these nights, my initial response was truthfully one of minor annoyance. What are the odds that a low budget, locally produced horror short is going to be worth the extra twelve or so minutes tacked onto an already long mini film marathon event?

I was as I have been many times wrong. She Came From The Woods, written and directed by Hartford area natives the Bloomquist Brothers was an added bonus to a great night. In twelve minutes of runtime, the brothers, their actors and crew managed to create something that could easily have been a parody but plays as an homage to the slasher films of the late ’70s and ’80s. It’s all here folks; the summer camp setting, the promise of teenage sex, skinny dipping, pot smoking and the scary urban legend that may just have a bit of truth to it. All played seriously and quite well by the small cast. The problem with reviewing a short film is that getting too far into detail can give too much away, so I will not. What I will say is if you get a chance to see She Came From The Woods I urge you to do so. One of my favorite features in a great film is a unforgettable final scene and this one provides that in spades.

When the lights came up the crowd gave a great round of applause and my group of friends began discussing just how cool SCFTW was. My stalwart friend Tony recognized the visual effects supervisor’s name as an old friend, one Phil “Skippy” Adams. I saw this as an in, and contacted co-creator Erik Bloomquist on Facebook to let him know I really appreciated the film, and the crowd seemed to dig it too.  I highly recommend this short to anyone that loves horror, and if you are interested in finding out more about the Bloomquist Brothers and their filmmaking adventures check out our radio show on WESUMiddletown 88.1FM on Sunday night November 26th as we have them on as guests.

Search

Recent Facebook Posts