Devil's Tree: Rooted Evil

source: Devil's Tree: Rooted Evil

Wow, is this movie entertaining. I'm not saying it's good, just entertaining. Not only have I not been able to find a section of the movie that should be considered horror, but the acting is SO bad that the actors look like they're making fun of really bad actors. Sadly...they're not. The only passable one is the guy that plays Rob. I'm from New Jersey and the only reason I even watched this is because I thought this was supposed to be based off of Devils Tree in New Jersey. It's not. Supposedly based on "actual events" (👌🏻) at a "Devils Tree" in FL. The dialogue is horrendous at best and there is not a single second of this movie that could be considered scary. But I was entertained.

Rating of 3 is me being generous)))Acting is more horrible than movie itself, but not by much... absolute definite nothing...

DEVIL'S TREE: ROOTED EVIL is supposedly an indie horror flick but on reflection it has little horror content at all. The story is about a female reporter who descends on a rural town to investigate the legend of a supernatural tree, only to come up against the usual conspiracy and bigotry elements. It's slow and uneventful, even less interesting when it takes a veer towards sadism.

This is one of those 'based on actual events' films. Usually, its so vague, its like 'its about a house, and all the rest we just filled in for the heck of it'. But in this case, it actually has some substance. So, the story is based around this tree, and that it has been the location for many murders etc. In fact, you get to hear about one of them, but its only at the end in the credits, do you get to see the actual killer, and some story behind the film. Its more supernatural than ghost, and some of the killing scenes have got the old type of effects, no cgi, thank goodness. Also, around the start of the film, the main character Sam, spots a kitten wandering by. So, she picks it up (its a cute kitten), and then decides its mum isn't around, and promptly saves it. If this was a normal town, it could have been a family just moved in, the kitten got out, they put 'have you seen tiddles?' posters up, but its okay....tiddles is safe with its catnapper... Anyway, as for the film, its okay. Some acing is a bit off now and then, but the majority of the film and scenes are good.

A huge tree with a nasty habit of people dying around it, is the subject of choice for a student journalist who wants to find out what is really happening and why. I went into this one figuring it would suck large but was I surprised. Top notch effects with loads of scary scenes that effect your neck hairs. With the ample amount of devil possession flicks out there this one stands out. The scene where a man shoots himself in the face and then shoots himself again because he didn't do it right, was worth it alone. Some award winning effects on that one. The ending could have been a lot better but that and its short run time might be the only flaws.

Don't really know how in the world can it has 6.0 rate. The movie is not worth the watch. Literally haven't been this bored in a while. Acting is so bad made me cringe, the script was bad, the plot was poor. Lazy writing and even lazier acting. This doesn't count as a horror flick by far. This is something you have to avoid. I usually try to uproot the underdogs but this its a miracle it got out in public. If the actors would actually try and if the plot would make some depth and actual good content behind it. Things would be presentable.

Please let one thing be clear: I absolutely love horror films, especially ones that have to do with the supernatural - evil spirits, black magic and all this other nonsense. I find it enjoyable to turn my brain off every now and again and watch something completely illogical and fun. And every now and again, a film like Occulus or The Witch comes along that manages to tingle my spine and sweep me away to the realms of joy and darkness. Now before I go into my opinion on this, I have seen some rather low-budget horror flicks that were utterly effective (as well as high-budget ones that were utter crap), such as the aforementioned Witch, The Blair Witch Project and The Last Exorcism among others, and I have thoroughly enjoyed these films, so a low budget, to me, is no excuse for a bad film. And Devil's Tree is a bad film. Supposedly based on actual events, It deals with two rather stupid journalism students investigating some tree in a park that had some murders happen next to it. The clichés waste no time coming, and one character's obvious susceptibility to the Evils That Be are so poorly-acted and overly-dramatized that the film loses any semblance of atmosphere, tension or horror. I always thought that good horror is subtle, and this just isn't. Fifteen minutes in I forgot their names, and the two exchange such ridiculous, cookie-cutter lines that you end up not caring if they meet their untimely demise. However the writing IS responsible for the film's best moment. I wouldn't say it's a good thing, just that is might be a problem when a horror flick's most memorable moment is a line that actually has the phrase "Simon says" in it, and is actually in context. Achievement Unlocked. As for the cinematography - there's rarely a moment of creative camera work and the drama is never accentuated by the visuals. I'd bet the filmmakers played the hell out of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, because there's a scene of self-mutilation that really seems to try to capture the visuals of that game. It loses its "charm" about two seconds in and is worthier of a sigh of boredom than a gasp of relief. There's only so much that can be achieved with black eyes, gore shots and religious symbols, these need to look good and they need the company of a thick atmosphere so they can disturb the watcher and be effective. Well there's no atmosphere, there's no interesting use of camera angles and the exaggerated FOV shots are jarring at best. Just look at Rubber.It's a dumb film about a murderous tire but it manages to be visually striking because it features masterful camera work. That it was made on a much lower budget only amplifies Devil's Tree's failure. I did, however, enjoy the musical score. It may be your run-of-the-mill horror score featuring all kinds of strings, but I found it effective. If there's one thing that could help you look past the bad writing, bad acting and boring presentation, it's the score. Overall, Devil's Tree, to me, is a film that serves one purpose - for aspiring horror filmmakers to view so they can see how not to make a film. It's an atmosphere-free, poorly-written, poorly visualized bore which has no redeeming qualities aside from the soundtrack. What really saddens me is that this film seems to really try. I can't judge the filmmakers for good intentions, and you can tell by the seriousness of the tone that this is an honest attempt at creating a legitimate horror film. I just truly hope they learn from this so their next endeavors produce better results. As for now, Simon says don't waste your time on this.

Wasted 1h30 of my life (well no as I clipped my nails so got that done at least!). Story awful, acting unbelievably poor... go bake a cake instead of watching this film...

No matter how hard the shill reviewers on here polish it this will forever remain an utter turd of a movie! I only gave it an extra star for some quite interesting gore effects but thats about it - Turd acting , Turd of a story, Turd Turd Turd!!!