The Barrens

source: The Barrens

Watching Darren Lynn Bousman's THE BARRENS on this Blu-ray+DVD Combo Pack I immediately saw that there was something going on with this family that we follow. I got an uncomfortable vibe from the beginning as they hopped in their SUV and went camping in southern New Jersey, to bond. This vibe slowly reveals itself as the movie plays along with something dark and deadly added as an unwelcome bonus. When the family arrives at their camping destination they see that there's a group of younger campers around the area as well. The father (Stephen Moyer) also begins to take a deep plunge into paranoia and a dark instability as he makes his wife (Mia Kirshner) just a little uncomfortable. He keeps seeing things, dead animals and creatures moving around in the woods, you know, that kind of stuff. the thing is, he;s always alone when this happens and it makes the viewer believe he may actually be going mad or have rabies, which actually gets brought up during the movie. While all this happens their children become more afraid of their father. By the end of the movie all is revealed and with out letting too much out, I as a horror fan, got an ending to a movie that I enjoyed! Dissecting the movie; Bousman once again does a great job telling a story and bringing this one to life. The movie really doesn't reveal its true mystery until the very end and I loved that because so many movies fail with it. Heading out to the woods in the middle of nowhere with the myth of the Jersey Devil running around is just cool and then you top that off with a person going through some mental/health issues. All of the characters were great, especially Moyer and Kirshner's uncomfortable chemistry plus the cool cameo we get at the beginning of the movie. Getting back to Moyer, not only does he give a cool performance but the looks he gives with his eyes sometimes reminded me of Jack Torrance from The Shining, just creepy and evil looking. There's plenty of blood and gore for the horror fans out there plus some cool SFX that make up something really horrifyingly wicked and cool! I really got a kick out of this! One last thing, most horror/thriller types pretty much end in a certain way and Bousman, being a horror fan himself, gives us a present at the end with this one. Call me dark, twisted or black hearted but I liked it! Bottom line is, 'The Barrens' Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo was a really cool watch. It draws you in at the beginning and keeps you there until the very end. Be sure you pick this one up!

The Barrens is a wonderfully fresh and unique storyline. The writing, the directing, the acting and the overall outcome was pretty impressive for the small budget film. Darren Bousman has proved time and again that he is not restricted to a single style of film making. He has steered away from all previous approaches to the horror/thriller genre. Darren Bousman has made very well done movies in my opinion and The Barrens might be his best yet. The lack of real movies with real plot lines in the horror genre today is terrible. But Darren Bousman has proved that respectable movies from the genre are not yet dead AND he did so with a limited budget. If people could be a little more open to the terms (straight to DVD- or - Limited Theatrical Release) this movie would truly make a far bigger impact and really turn some heads. Aside from the directing, the performances put forth by the main cast (Stephen Moyer, Mia Kirshner, Allie MacDonald and Peter DaCunha) are all more than satisfying, Stephen Moyers decent to madness brings chills and raises the hair on the back of your neck. Mia Kirshner's distress as she sees her son lying face down in the middle of a pond can or will bring tears to your eyes. Allie MacDonald's echoing cries through the Pine Barrens may very well continue to echo through your head days after you watch the film. Young Peter DaCunha's setting tone of the movie is very impressive for a boy his age, not to mention his capability to understand and react to the scene with the same effectiveness as his older, more experienced co-stars. The Barrens is definitely worth the watch. If you find your self capable of sitting through any of the mainstream trash of todays horror genre then you will be absolutely stunned with the outcome of this film.

Bousman never fails to thrill! This movie has all the factors of a good scary movie: suspense, twists, guts, and fear. This is one of the greatest Bousman films I have seen. It is not for the weak of stomach and it does have a very quick changing storyline. Never quite know what is real until the end and it keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through! The actors do an amazing job in capturing the essence of these character's real life trauma. There is a great family element to this film as well that not many directors/writers would take the time to put into a film like this. The characters truly made the movie great.

The Barrens is a moody and atmospheric horror thriller set in New Jersey's famous Pine Barrens and dealing with it's legendary occupant. Stephen Moyer (whose heavy Australian accent is odd here since he is playing someone who has lived here since childhood) plays an emotionally troubled man taking his wife (Mia Kirshner with delightfully distracting cleavage) and family (Allie MacDonald and Peter DaCunha) on a family camping trip to the Pine Barrens. But, not only is Moyer's Richard a bit stressed, he also has been bitten by a dog that might have rabies. Add to that having possibly seen the Jersey Devil as a child and we have a great mix for a really interesting family outing. Despite it's convoluted set-up, Barrens is actually an entertaining horror. Obviously Moyer starts to see things and then people start to go missing and we are left to wonder is Richard hallucinating or is the Jersey Devil real and poor delusional dad taking blame for it's actions. And I must say Darren Lynn Bousman keeps you guessing and keeps the film filled with an atmosphere of dread as we slowly learn what's going on... or do we? That's what makes this deliberately paced thriller work so well, just when we think we have the facts, we get handed more reasons to doubt. The cast all perform well, Kirshner is a little too deadpan at times but, not enough to hurt the film. I personally liked her hot girl-next-door MILF because she wasn't playing the role that way, it came across naturally. There is some nice gore and make up effects to go along with Bousman's visual style which is one thing he always delivers whether his films work or not. They always look good. All in all probably the best film I've seen on the subject of Jersey's most elusive resident so far and while Bousman does give us a definitive answer by the last shot... you'll have to investigate The Barrens to find out what it is.

Written and Directed by Darren Bousman, storyboard by Terrance Zdunich The Barrens is a crafty piece put together to entice the mind and making you wonder what is real and what is not so real. The family starts off on a typical camping trip that turns out to be not so typical. Richard, who is played by Steven Moyer, takes his family out to the Barrens for some family time as well as a memorial trip dedicated to his father with whom he visited the Barrens with as a child. At the beginning of the trip, Steven and his family are at a group campfire and the tale of the Jersey devil is told by another camper and this is when Steven' s behavior starts to becomes as strange as the trip seems and problems quickly arise as Steven's mental condition deteriorates and his family becomes afraid of their surroundings as well as Steven himself. Many strange things happen and people start to vanish from the campsite as Steven's mind seems to be altered with hallucinations and fear if what seems to be closing in on he and his family. What is going on in the Barrens? Nobody can figure it out and the situation turns for the worst when Steven' s family is endangered after moving from the main campsite. What is in the woods or what is in Steven's mind?

There is legend that the Jersey Devil lives in the titular woods. It came about after a woman had 13 children, but she offered up the 13th child to the Devil so she and her other children didn't have to leave their house. The Vineyard family are going to camp there so the father can release his father's ashes. But while there, they hear that someone has gone missing, and the father thinks it's the work of the Jersey Devil. They move camp site to get away from the rest of the campers only to find that they're in more trouble than they were before. Is the legend of the Jersey Devil real, or is it just another story..... I wanted to give this movie a chance, because the director knows how to deliver a slick horror movie, and the cast wasn't half bad. What I got was just another generic horror movie, where the main protagonist is assumed as being bonkers, but all his fears and rants are real, because hey, there goes that awful CG beast. Moyer is okay as the troubled lead, but toward the end, I was more concerned about wiping his eyes than the danger to him or his family. Supporting characters are just your typical fodder for the beast, and the little boy does the worst scared impression when he sees the decomposing dog. It's like a really watered down version of The Shining, minus the tension, the scares, and the plausibility. There is nothing to redeem this film, it looks cheap, and the cast look very disinterested. If I ever want to see anything about the Jersey Devil, I'll stick to that X-Files episode. On the plus side, its the best film ever made about rabies induced hallucinations.

BAIT: a scruffy-lookin' stephen moyers with crazy eyes going into some woody area called "the barrens". and itsa film by darren lynn bousman. OK, i'm sold. REEL: first five minutes is your typical lost-in-the-woods couple getting the smackdown from The Monster. but then from the opening credits that start rolling immediately after to the blackout at the very end, The Barrens beats the typical horror movie structure to a pulp. most horror flicks about folklore send the hero on a research project to discover the origins of the monster for a clue on how to destroy the menace. well, stephen moyers doesn't need to discover any origins about the jersey devil cuz he enters into the plot already knowing how the beastie came to be. The Barrens isn't just trying to scare you with scenes of monster carnage -- it's really a carefully paced magic trick designed to distract the audience from the characters' Ultimate Doom. if you don't pay attention to details, the final minutes'll pull a fast one on ya. i wasn't paying much attention to details because the ride to the surprise ending was fast and furious. the entire cast is amazing, though i gotta give extra kudos to moyers' performance as the paranoid dad. his increasing crazy keeps you guessing: is it his imagination getting out of hand or is it really the jersey devil? CATCH: The Barrens does a great job of piling up the bodies and tension in a creative way. and really, even though this film's got lots going for it (visuals, cast, plot, well played family drama), what i liked best is darren's ability to keep on piling on, all the way to the bloody end. cuz, after all, piles of bodies, and the promise of more to come, is what makes a horror film so bloody horrifying. it's all about the lasting impressions eh, long after you've left the dark theater.

This film was actually not too bad. It started off a bit slow but after the first 15 minutes the story picks up. I had heard the legend of the Jersey Devil, and this interpretation was not too bad, so I was going in to this movie with some hope of how it would go, and I must say it wasn't that bad really. Although some parts of it were let down because of the acting, but it wasn't bad enough to put me off. As I said the story was an interpretation of the legend so it set up the movie, but right up to the last 10 minutes it leads you to believe something else is happening and you start to think that maybe Moyer's character has some mental problems, but it all makes sense at the end with a nice little twist. So I give this movie a 7.5 out of 10.

What a load of garbage, even by horror movie standards!!! I have never seen a more clichéd, unimaginative, unoriginal, warmed-over, piece of trite celluloid in some time, and this film has it all!! By the numbers, we have the distressed father (Stephen Moyer) - check, the frustrated teen (Allie MacDonald)- check, the unliked step-mom (Kia Kirshner) - check, a family in turmoil - check check, a haunted forest - check, an eerie ghost tale regarding Mother Leeds and her 13 children in which she offered up the 13th child to the Devil - check, a horse-headed winged demon creature - check, a Jersey "Barrens" Witch tale - check, and a case of rabies thrown in for shits and giggles - check check check… A better name for this abomination may have been "The Bromidic"…. Look it up! Stephen Moyer (True Blood) stars as Richard Vineyard. A father dealing with the death of his father; however, eager to share his childhood memories /experiences of camping in the New Jersey Pine Barrens with his old son, six (6) year old Danny (Peter DaCunha). However, once the family arrives at their assigned camp site, Richard is quickly disenchanted with all the 21st Century technology being used by his fellow campers (i.e. – televisions, ipads, iphones, keg beer, etc.). Even with a warning for the Barrens Forest Ranger that a couple of campers were attacked recently by a bear, Richard decides to move his family further into the confides of the Jersey Barrens. This film is just awful, and not in a good way!! The script is poorly written, and acting abysmal. But I have to admit that the closing climatic sequence is truly a thing to behold in atrocity!!! I cannot believe this film was ever "green lighted" for production!!! I cannot recommend this film for viewing, not even to my worst enemy… the 94 mins running time was painful to endure!!! Showing this film to inmates in the prison system would be considered "cruel and unusual" punishment! So stay away from this dog of a film, nothing good will come from your viewing this appalling and extremely disheartening film. PLEASE SEE MORE OF MY MOVIE REVIEWS ON FB @ "THE FARIS REEL"