A woman ventures into Japan's haunted
Aokigahara Forest to find and rescue her twin sister. HORROR
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The Forest (2016)Directed by Jason Zada
Written by Nick Antosca, Sarah Cornwell, Ben Katai Starring Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney, Yukiyoshi Ozawa, Eoin Macken, Rina Takasaki |
The Forest represents such a wasted opportunity. The legendary Suicide Forest of Japan reduced to such a weak movie. For a lot of Americans, this may be the only way they hear about the real-life, super haunted location. This film is predictable, confusing, and ultimately not at all scary. I find that the best horror movies, and even most of the average ones, are scary at least once. I don't think that's asking too much. The Forest aspires to be scary, but it uses cheap jump scares and never once takes advantage of the atmosphere it could be using throughout.
Natalie Dormer, fresh off Game of Thrones, stars in dual roles as Sara and Jess, twin sisters with problems. When Jess goes missing in the Aokigahara Forest, Sara can feel that she's still alive. Sara hops a plane to Japan to find her, and is told by everyone that Jess is dead because everyone who goes into that forest intends to kill themselves, hence its nickname of "Suicide Forest." Sara runs into a journalist named Aiden (Kinney), who agrees to take her with him on his journey into the forest. Also, Aiden might be lying about who he is, or maybe he isn't. It's not too clear and isn't really resolved. Sara becomes the victim of jumpy ghosts and hallucinations, neither of which amount to anything spooky. Horror fans should skip The Forest. Just watch Blair Witch and The Grudge at the same time. You'll get the same effect. This movie is boring for the most part, has a rushed ending, and tries to incorporate so many different ideas, none of which end up working in the film's favor. Who was that Japanese lady? How did Jess survive this long? Will Natalie Dormer's career bounce back from the string of duds she's had lately? Only time will tell. |