Beyond the Woods (2018) User Reviews (64)

Works as a creepy drama, Falls flat as a horror film

[umimelectric · 5/10 · 2 February 2019]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed most of this movie. Good character development and chemistry between the actors; with the acting being rather impressive, and likely best thing going for Beyond the Woods.

If this film were just a straight up drama about some old friends dealing with becoming different people in the interim time from when they last got together until this trip, it would have been rock solid. Even some of the creepiness was at first very well conceived, and could be explained away in the story by the drug/alcohol use and human anxieties they cycle through during their time secluded in the wilderness. It really would have been just fine if left at that. Unfortunately, it was originally developed as a horror flick and so the filmmaker ruined a 7 star indie drama by eventually forcing it into becoming a cliched supernatural slasher. I feel like that's a pretty big shame because the final twenty minutes was just super cheesy and so jarring when compared to the bulk of the story. Things just escalated too fast and it felt out of place. 5/10

Irish Indie about a mundane vacation at a holiday home and the (*gasp*) gate to hell nearby

[Wuchakk · 5/10 · 1 September 2020]

A group of friends & family gather at a remote holiday home in rural Ireland, but they're off-put by the sulfuric stench of a newly opened sinkhole a couple of miles away. The stench will be the least of their cares when a bit o' hell breaks loose.

"Beyond the Woods" (2018) is an Irish horror Indie that's mostly mundane drama at the holiday home where the dudes & dudettes hang around drinking & smoking or maybe walking the yard/woods. If you can handle that, things turn horrific in the last act with pretty good infernal f/x, especially for a spare-change Indie. Personally, I enjoyed the lens into everyday social life in Ireland, but others may understandably find it tedious.

The film runs 1 hour, 23 minutes, and was shot in Cullen (the holiday home & surrounding woods) & Crosshaven (creature nightmare scene), County Cork, Ireland.

GRADE: C

It could have been worse

[ten-thousand-marbles · 4/10 · 19 August 2020]

There was an actual story which I didn't expect, and it's not terrible. The issue is it takes up the first two thirds of the movie and it's more soap opera than horror. When the horror kicks in it's a bit predictable. Overall, it's worth a watch, but don't expect quality cinema.

So close to being great

[aumadara · 5/10 · 4 September 2021]

***SPOILERS*** Surprisingly, the characters and actors are really good. The drama happening between them was interesting and felt realistic. The supernatural situation with Ger getting lost in the woods was going well until the being collecting souls showed up and looked so cheesy. Really disappointing after being drawn in by these characters and the disorienting effect the "sink hole" was having on the friends. The movie felt like it wasn't sure if it was a drama about friends or a horror movie- it didn't work out well trying to be both. An explanation of the being(s) and what exactly was happening with the axe would have been nice. Ray's explanation wasn't enough. And so I guess Lucy's okay at the end? I'm not even sure. It could have been much better & the characters deserved better.

Good acting, terrible movie

[lord-blade · 3/10 · 19 July 2018]

So the cast did a good job of being a believable group of friends. The acting is great. You can really believe that these are friends who've not seen each other in a long time and are awkwardly trying to enjoy a weekend together.

Sadly, that's about all the movie has going for it. There is no real horror. There's a badly done "creature" with an axe, that makes a couple of appearances but mostly just hangs around off screen making odd noises. The creature has completely undefined powers, and seems to be all powerful one moment and just a regular mortal with an axe at others. There's no sense to it.

The end of the movie just falls apart completely. All in all, a very poor showing.

Not Horror but Horrorble.

[andreask-07174 · 1/10 · 31 March 2018]

If you enjoy loads of mindless chatter then this is the movie for you. Kept waiting for something...anything interesting to happen. Never did and after a long and gruelling 58 minutes and 14 seconds I had to mercifully switch it off. Someone describes this as character-driven Irish horror, to me it was more like endless cackling hens. Another said it was top quality Irish horror film. God save me from ever watching another character-driven, top quality Irish horror film. Like another reviewer has mentioned I also believe that some if not all the glowing reviews might be from people affiliated with this horrorble Irish film.

Terrible

[hackskii · 1/10 · 27 March 2018]

Bad acting, bad cinematography, cheesy villain, slow, boring. I didn't like anything about this movie. Amazed so many people gave this trash such high ratings, must have been the cast that rated this.

Crap

[k-a-laerials-890-829614 · 1/10 · 17 March 2018]

Don't waste your time, absolutely diabolical, unbelievably shocking acting, Sky Tv had it down as 5/5, they need poking in the bloody eye

Disappointed

[lunny-69257 · 2/10 · 4 April 2018]

I dont no what the other reviewers are seeing 10/10. Have a day off people. Its a 2 at best. Shame really hoped it was better . Potential was there Untill the hooded demon axe swinger in my nans dressing gown appeared

Sorry guys

Great compact horror movie

[alexmurphy-22179 · 8/10 · 30 January 2019]

Very impressed with this flick. Not at all what I expected given the slasher cover and a bad trailer with worrying font. A-list worthy acting talent on show here first off. The director delivers quite a unique blend of horror and drama which builds in tension perfectly. Amazing location. Will be interested to see what he does next.

Smells like Sa-teen spirit

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 8 April 2018]

A group of young adults go to a remote home for a holiday. Unfortunately a sink hole has opened up a few miles away and a strong sulfur smell is present. They joke about the gates of hell opening up. Slowly their actions change slightly and things start to happen as souls are collected.

The horror build up was slow. It had a few things I didn't see coming. Too much of the horror was off screen, most likely a budget issue. I think the heaven-hell discussion was a complete bore and they could have used that time to let us get to know the characters better.

Guide: F-word. Loud Sex. No nudity.

Prepare for a complete bore fest.

[ant36au · 1/10 · 5 April 2018]

Appalling acting with actors who are devoid of any chemistry together,a script that is so bad that it has a bunch of actors sitting around just yapping at each other,dull filmography that fails to take in a beautiful area,disgustingly bad cgi ghoulie,you have "Beyond the Woods" in a nutshell.It is so bad they had someone involved with the film post no less than five fake reviews and ratings a month apart.seriously it's so bad I can't be bothered with this review anymore,just don't subject yourself to this tripe.

Sucked in by false reviews

[mandip312 · 1/10 · 4 April 2018]

The film came up on one of our movie subscriptions and had a rating of 7.8.........film has just finished and we are wondering how anyone can honestly give it more than a 1.

Making me question any ratings on films now.

Very poor movie

[aligazwany · 1/10 · 12 March 2018]

It is a very poor movie and there is no story. Its a shame to call this a horror movie.

Terrible and Cheap

[misz_zet · 1/10 · 15 July 2018]

Characters barely acting and just talking all throughout the movie. The killer is just a big man in rags who carries an axe..turns black out when kills then that's it lol a waste of time

Appalling

[brianmcgrath80 · 1/10 · 31 March 2018]

Seriously, I've seen fourteen year olds make better acted and more technically proficient youtube videos. Don't waste your time it's baaaad...(not even in a good way)

Awful

[barrymc67 · 1/10 · 6 April 2018]

Avoid this like the plague. Worst film I've ever seen.

Not looking good!

[Crankitup_86 · 13 April 2017]

Well there's been four reviews on this movie, and every single one of them are glowing! I've just had a peek and all four accounts have only been on IMDb for a-couple of months.. 3 months at the most! And this is the only movie they have reviewed! "Surprise..surprise" I smell bulls$#*!! Well that's another movie I've been put off watching!

1 hr 17mins i will never get back

[jonnysmack · 2/10 · 13 February 2018]

Unfortunately, this is a very poor, very badly directed film with practically no story line. Its a shame as some of the acting is good in parts. I realise the limitations of what is clearly an extremely low budget film, but both the direction, editing and Audio are so poor that it removes any chance of getting immersed into the movie. The early reviews are clearly friends or employees of the film.. its just not good at all!

Fake reviews have the opposite effect as now unsatisfied viewers will bomb it, let that be a lesson.

[deloudelouvain · 4/10 · 20 February 2020]

Here we go again for another round of fake reviews (the perfect tens have only reviewed this movie as usual). I don't need to explain why that is, it's pretty obvious. So here is a review from somebody that reviews every movie he watches. Beyond The Woods fails as a horror movie because the horror is just not present. Or they must have thought that those mediocre 'horror' scenes counted as scary. It all looks very amateuristic. The acting is just average, nothing really bad, nothing really good. The story is poorly written, really nothing interesting, a plot that is underdeveloped, it's basically waiting for answers you will never get. It doesn't matter that it is a low budget (it shows though) as I've seen a lot of good low budget movies but this one isn't one of them.

Loved this movie.

[derekshannon · 8/10 · 25 January 2019]

Came across this movie on Sky and ended up buying it in HD. I wasn't sure what to expect because most of the critical reviews were great but there were some over the top bad user reviews. After having watched it I can only assume those people auditioned for the movie and didn't get the job! The acting is top notch first off. I was really impressed with the standard of acting in this. Overall production values/special effects are great. It feels like a modern take on a classic cabin in the woods horror film. Not enough blood and gore in the film unfortunately and I would have loved more scenes out in the woods during the day. More on screen kills and woods scenes and I'd probably rate this higher but none the less it's a must see for real horror fans. An unexpected gem.

Well acted , poorly written

[geeklegionofdoom · 6/10 · 11 February 2018]

I was almost instantly impressed with the acting in the opening few minutes of this movie. 7 friends gather in a farm house to reminisce about old times. The actors seem like genuine people and real friends, there is some great character work by the actors and all seem very real. One may seem a little OTT , but that's down to him being written as a typical jerk. The premise is good. These friends more or less trapped in this farm house with a mysterious sink ( or should I say stink ) hole opened up two miles away, that maybe spewing up more than nasty smells. Once the friends start to get menaced by a mysterious presence it starts to go down hill. It feels like the writer, who also directs, doesn't seem to know where the story and this antagonistic force is going. It's powers seem undefined , and seems to be able to do what ever the plot demands and has seemingly Omnipotent abilities . Yet we have a dude dressed as Skeletor walking round with an axe. Lot's of questions are raised but very few are answered. It's light on actual horror and gore aswell. The character work is great and cinematography, lighting etc all looks to a good standard . The movie does have a somewhat cheap feel to it too. The man behind this has talent as a director but maybe should work of someone else's script . The cast are top notch and does make you care about the characters . Overall good potential, but lack of experience behind the camera shows

Awful. Avoid.

[Harbottle-64 · 2/10 · 28 February 2018]

Lousy plot, poor acting and a laughable demon. How this ridiculous fillum got a 7+ rating is beyond me.....though I have my suspicions....

Possibly the worst film ever!

[haywardphillip · 1/10 · 29 April 2018]

Had to sign up to IMDB just to put it out there how bad this is!! Wow it's truly awful!! AVOID

Best. Shill Review Efforts. On imdb. EVER...

[mariusar · 1/10 · 16 September 2018]

That is the best thing that can be said about this film. I have never come across a film of this category where the efforts of shill reviewers have been so co-ordinated and so successful. The film as of this writing has a rating of 6. Simply LUDICROUS.

A not-so-deep dive into the accounts of the "glowing reviewers" easily reveals the truth. But even more damming are all the "xxx of xxx people found this review helpful" votes. The ratios of helpful shill reviews reach ratios which are patently impossible even for a genuine classic films like The Godfather.

The only thing this film's producers did right was to hire a few smart, motivated shill reviewers who understand how to play the system here on imdb.

I am giving this film a "1" just to offset the damage these morons have done.

The film actually has acceptable acting thought that's pretty much it. Without the idiot shill review campaign here, I would have given it my minimum "3".

"1" because crime doesn't pay. Not in the end....