Murder in the Woods is your basic teen slasher flick. It follows a group of college kids partying it up in a remote cabin in the woods. Until they start getting killed off, anyways.

The Good

Uh…people get murdered?

Look. Murder in the Woods isn’t some kind of subversive horror masterpiece. You’re not bearing witness to previously unheard of terrors. You won’t have an existential crisis while watching it. It’s a B-movie teen slasher flick, and it knows it. The title promises you Murder in the Woods and that’s exactly what you get. So if you’re tired of tuning in to horror movies that never live up to their premise, this one will work for you.

It’s also worth mentioning that this movie was consciously made to include a completely Latinx cast. That’s basically unheard of for a horror movie directed at a mainstream, English-speaking audience. Murder in the Woods takes care to sprinkle in some cultural references to El Día de Los Muertos, the chupacabra, and alters to honor ancestors.

Again, this is a slasher flick where (spoiler?) nearly everyone ends up dead. So if you’re looking for happy endings with your representation, you’ll want to look elsewhere.

The Bad

Murder in the Woods

Like all B-movies, you’re not in it for the incredible acting. The opening scenes in particular are a bit cringey. The “teen dialogue” is…oof. By the time the group arrived at their cabin in the woods, my patience was wearing thin. Let’s just say when the killing finally starts, I’m not sorry to see some of them go.

I did think that the killer seemed so obvious it had to be a mislead. And then it wasn’t. (Oh, well.)

The film does give the killer a bit of a backstory to explain the reason behind their murderous rampage. It’s interesting enough, but also makes the situation a little more confusing. Why kill a whole cabin full of people when you wanted vengeance on just one of them? The answer (I guess) is the standard slasher motive “they just like doing it.” Which – sure, fine. Again, I know what I’m watching. But then why bother introducing a different “motive” at all?

I’m overthinking this now. Let’s get back on track.

Murder in the Woods: The Bottom Line

Look, this is a film where you get exactly what you’re promised. Murder in the Woods provides murder…in the woods. It doesn’t really do anything standout or unique for the genre, but I’ve seen worse movies.

Rating: 6.5/10

Murder in the Woods hits VOD September 18.

Meanwhile, horror fans should check back to THS for more Fright-A-Thon, our celebration of all things spooky and scary.