Though Bruckner attacks the frights with full-gore gusto, a climactic recourse to effects-heavy default options reminds us that, in scary movies, short cuts are rarely the smart choice.
Straightforward, unpretentious and well-acted, this is a solid if unsurprising genre piece. It may not rise above skilfully delivering horror tropes, but connoisseurs will eat up its refusal to wink at them.
Director David Bruckner knows how to jolt us out of our seats one moment and to repel us the next but there’s nothing here we haven’t encountered before in countless other shockers about innocents and not-so-innocents lost in the woods.
Rafe Spall stars in an efficient horror film with obvious hints of Deliverance and The Blair Witch Project.
A polished and atmospheric film but once the creature appears, it fizzles like a deflating balloon.
General release. Check local listings for show times.