Movie Review: The Forest

Movie Details:
Title: The Forest
Release Date: 26th February 2016
Cast: Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney, Yukiyoshi Ozawa, Eoin Macken
Rating: 2/5

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Warning: I was supposed to go and watch Kung Fu Panda 3 but we changed our minds at the last minute so I went to go and see this instead. After seeing so many supposedly 'horror' films which in reality are more thriller than horror, I wasn't very happy with change of plans but I went with it anyways. (Note: there may be some *ahem* complaints, moaning and groaning)

If it wasn't for Natalie Dormer's acting capabilities, the rating for this movie would probably be even more lower. The scenery and the twin instinct were what kept this movie going: the unwavering faith of Jess being alive. 

The two main protagonists, Sarah and Jess are twins. One is loving life whilst the other is depressed and on the verge of suicidal. Although they are twins but are the total opposites. They both have a traumatic upbringing with their parents being killed (we aren't told how until towards the end of the movie),  its a perfect representation of how in reality people react differently in certain situations. However, there is a slight twist because of how the parents were killed and what Jess saw. I loved the visuals and colour aspects of this movie, although in horror movies the only colours associated with them is black but this had more greenery. Of course in the night scenes, the black played perfectly as a backdrop to give it that 'scary' aspect. I wasn't very fond of the music that was played, I found it quite eerie and annoying. Not my taste really. As I said before, Natalie acting skills are impeccable in this movie. Jess didn't really have many scenes, but she does a splendid job with playing Sarah well. The facial expressions, her determination to find her sister at any cost leads her to unimaginable situations, the consequences of her actions makes the viewer think twice.

I can't say this movie topped The Conjuring, because this was no way near that good but it was scary at some points, like the forest scene when the women appears I got scared at that part. And it did occasionally give me the goosebumps here and there (I can't say if other people enjoyed it either, some people just walked out halfway through).

Her? I was so not expecting her. At one point she is this sweet innocent girl, then BAM she is evil (her facial expressions were spot on, it wouldn't have felt scary if it wasn't) :O. I mean just look at them, doesn't she just give you the chills? One point I really thought she genuinely was stuck like Jess and Sarah but it turned out she was already one of the dead. And this little cunning girl really wanted to lure Sarah deeper into the forest than let her escape. I often question the motive of the characters, I mean if you can sense something bad lurking somewhere why do you go there? But then I guess a movie wouldn't be really Horror if nothing like that happens right?

It did quite well building up suspense, but I felt like I was getting bored too quickly and was losing interest. Jess turns out to be quite a surprise, and whilst I am glad she is okay I wasn't too pleased with the ending.

Have you watched this movie? What did you think of it? Do you like watching horror movies? Let me know in the comments below