The Backwoods

‘The Backwoods’ (2007) is a British/Spanish film directed and co-written by Koldo Serra. Set in the Basque region of Spain in 1978, it follows two couples who embark on a summer break in an isolated cabin deep in the forest. After stumbling on another deserted house and discover an imprisoned girl with horribly deformed hands, they decide to get her to the authorities. What develops is a thrilling race against time amongst the harsh wooded terrain with the added pressure of a pursuit from a group of local villagers who want their prisoner back. All this accumulates to rape, murder and double-crossing.

Both chilling and disturbing, ‘The Backwoods’ has all the elements of a classic ‘teen-slasher movie’: a creepy setting, seemingly deranged local pursuers, and graphic violence and brutality. However, the main ingredient that differentiates ‘The Backwoods’ to your run-of-the-mill ‘teen-slasher’ is the casting. Instead of young, good-looking ‘actors’ playing the leads, it is two of Britain’s finest and all be it, less aesthetically-beautiful actors who have the honours: Gary Oldman and Paddy Considine. The casting is a major factor in horror films – as the genre’s target audience tends to be 16 to 25-year olds. Choosing to enlist older, more respected actors is definitely a nod towards an adult audience and a further request for critical acclaim. Both are achieved here resulting in a new, more mature take on the ‘slasher movie.’

In 1960 the horror film took on a new identity leaving behind its supernatural beings of vampires, werewolves, and zombies in favour of an all-too human monster. ‘Psycho’ (directed by Alfred Hitchcock) created a number of fresh and innovative aspects in which Norman Bates (played by Anthony Perkins) became a new, domestic face of horror. Upon ‘Psycho’s’ release, film fans had a new style of film-horror to supply their gore-quenching thirst: the ‘slasher movie.’

With its psychopathic killer slowly stalking their unsuspecting prey, the ‘slasher movie’ brought screen violence right to the forefront as victims we are randomly murdered in the most graphic of ways. Although ‘Psycho’ laid the foundations, it was not until 1974 that this sub-genre really took off. ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ (directed by Tobe Hooper) sliced off an even bigger chunk when portraying psychopaths on the big screen. Loosely inspired by real-life events, the film follows five hippie-ish teenagers on a road trip through 1970s Texas who, after breaking down, encounters a group of cannibalistic ex-slaughterhouse workers who must feel it’s their lucky day. What develops is a horrific 83 minutes, in which half-naked, good-looking teens are chased, cornered, and eventually sliced and diced creating the most simplistic of narratives which helped to both shock and captivate audiences across the world.

Other classics followed: John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ (1978), Wes Craven’s ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ (1984) and a revitalisation of the genre ‘Scream’ (also Wes Craven – 1996). But as the turn of the 21st century came into effect, so did a number of modern takes on the ‘slasher movie.’ Films such as ‘Wrong Turn’ (Rob Schmidt, 2003), Eli Roth’s ‘Cabin Fever’ (2003) and ‘Hostel’ (2005), along with 2006’s ‘Wolf Creek’ (Greg McLean) proved that there was still life left in portraying a chase, a capture and a gruesome murder on screen. With these films the core elements where still the same: good-looking teens and psychopathic killers. However, what has developed over the years is the graphic nature of the violence. New ways in which characters were killed off were constantly becoming more gruesome and more severe, as this new generation of the ‘slasher movie’ aimed to better itself with their own sequels and spin-offs – each one attempting to go that little bit further in order to shock their audience. Both financial success and controversy went hand-in-hand on release with many of these films. The term ‘torture porn’ in particular was used when labelling the ‘Hostel’ films but, like always, this just added to the films publicity and will no doubt give future writers and filmmakers the incentive to come up with more horrific, more gruesome ways of portraying a day in the life of a psychopathic killer.

In relation to ‘The Backwoods’ the film opens with a familiar ‘slasher’ sequence of two cars driving through an unfamiliar environment – immediately setting up the notion of isolation (think of the opening montage in ‘The Shinning’ (1980)). During this sequence we learn of the two couples and their motives for taking this particular trip (one couple’s secure in their relationship and own a nearby property, the other – slightly younger, are going through a rough patch and hope the peace and quiet will improve their state of affairs). After a while, the two cars pull up to a local Spanish bar where Paul (Oldman) and Norman (Considine) enter to the amusement of the locals. The fact Considine’s character is named Norman might be a nod to Norman Bates – quite possible. As the two women Lucy and Isabel, (played by Virginie Ledoyen and Aitana Sanchez-Gijon respectively) stay in the cars, Paul and Norman order some drinks. Here they are heckled for being British but surprise the locals when Paul answers back in fluent Spanish – stating his grandmother came from these parts. Meanwhile outside, Lucy gets out of her car to cool down at a nearby fountain. As she baths herself, a shape emerges behind her. She turns round to see this unusual figure starring back at her (a Spanish-type hillbilly would be the best way to describe him). Clearly turned on due to the fact Lucy’s top is now wet through, he smiles and enters the bar to sit down with the other locals who continue with their dislike for Paul and Norman.

This whole opening sequence is a pastiche of many a ‘teen-slasher movie.’ Everything from an isolated setting populated by strange locals, to sexually-charged aggression which equates to hostility – all has been seen many times previously. The main difference is the aesthetic nature of our characters. With Paul and Isabel being well into their late thirties – and the fact that he speaks a fluent Basque dialect, it is obvious that this couple are neither as stupid nor naive as your average teenager. Also, the fact that the four of them are indeed not lost is another ‘adult’ difference. As so often is the case, many of the characters who find themselves at the mercy of a killer are usually lost or have stumbled into foreign territory. In ‘The Backwoods’, Paul is clearly at ease with the surroundings and its history. He, unlike Norman, is calm, straight-talking and at home amongst the terrain – it is only when he discovers the imprisoned girl that things turn for the worst.

After the four have settled in Paul’s cabin, he and Norman decide to go hunting. On discovering the abandon house and the chained-up girl, they make their way back to cabin where the women attempt to feed and bath her. Clearly unfamiliar to the surroundings, the girl struggles and lashes out to which the group learn of her claw-like hands. Now, with an increasingly tense atmosphere, the group decide to get her to the police. Attempts are made but due to the harsh weather conditions and the inevitability of their car breaking down, they must turn back. Suddenly there is a knock at their door. Over the threshold stand the group of locals from the bar – all clutching hunting rifles. Suspiciously, they’re looking for the girl as well – asking the group if they have seen her to which they deny. Something doesn’t quite seem right. It is fairly obvious that the locals have indeed kept the girl locked up – but we never find out why. What develops is a steady race through the pouring rain to get the girl to safety. All this leads up to the group arguing then splitting up resulting in Paul being killed by the leader of the local gang. Then shockingly, Lucy has to endure a sexual attack from one of the locals to which Norman aggressively goes on a killing spree where he loses all sense of reality.

From this sequence of events there are more ‘adult’ themes emanating from the ‘teenage-slasher’ plot on show. The rape scene however is the most noticeable as it shatters all sexual tension lying just beneath the surface which breaks through forcing the audience to partake in this act of brutality. In a typical ‘slasher movie’ where sexual aggression is the norm, we would never see an actual rape on screen. We might, for example, hear from a police detective the gruesome nature of a killer’s crimes … ‘he raped and killed her…’ – but the film would never portray a rape scene as graphic as in ‘The Backwoods.’ Rape is clearly an ‘adult’ theme, one which is rarely seen in films of any genre let alone horror. A horror audience doesn’t want to see sexual brutality on screen they want to experience cheap thrills and lashes of gore to quench their harmless fantasies. Portraying this type of scene separates ‘The Backwoods’ and almost places it in the same bracket as John Boorman’s shockingly brutal ‘Deliverance’ (1972). Both films tread on similar grounds in terms of the ‘teen-slasher movie’ approach, however, both are best remembered for their dealings with ‘adult’ material and not their respective body counts.

In terms of spectacle and scariness, ‘The Backwoods’ does not quite stand up to the likes of sub-genre classics ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and the original ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ (1977) – or ‘Deliverance’ for that matter. However, what it does do is offer a new and improved – and more importantly, a mature take on a narrative so simple and effective which, since the turn of the century, has been spoiled by un-original, mediocre films.

Watch

Country: UK/Spanish
Budget:
Length: 90mins

Filmography:
Psycho, 1960, Alfred Hitchcock, Shamley Productions
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, 1974, Tobe Hooper, Vortex
Halloween, 1978, John Carpenter, Compass International Pictures
A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984, Wes Craven, New Line Cinema
Scream, 1996, Wes Craven, Dimension Films
Wrong Turn, 2003, Rob Schmidt, Summit Entertainment
Cabin Fever, 2002, Eli Roth, Black Sky Entertainment
Hostel, 2005, Eli Roth, Hostel LLC
Wolf Creek, 2005, Greg Mclean, The Australian Film Finance Corporation
The Shining, 1980, Stanley Kubrick, Warner Bros. Pictures
Deliverance, 1972, John Boorman, Warner Bros. Pictures
The Hills Have Eyes, 1977, Wes Craven, Blood Relations Co.

Pub/2008

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