The Woods is a short film by the YouTube channel Sugar Pine 7, arguably one the best channels out there. They make vlogs in a mockumentary-like way, which tend to reach some hilarious and creative peaks very often, putting them over many of the other vlogs or sketch focused channels.
With that said, I was really interested and excited when I heard that SP7 were making a short film, noting the creativity that they had displayed on their regular YouTube content and also on their more serious stuff on the same medium (for example the end of season one "Akrasia" and the sort-of short film "Death Of A Water Warrior"), showing that the team had/has some notable skills at compelling acting, writing and directing in a more dramatic manner, plus pulling off some amazing cinematography along the way.
With that being said, The Woods is, overall, what I expected. Letting me down in some aspects and really amazing me in others.
The film revolves around a couple of friends who are about to spend the weekend at a cabin in the hoods, thing that ends up being, let's say, pretty deadly.
I won't delve much into the plot, but it's a pretty standard slasher film, following quite firmly the genre tropes and mannerisms.
So, some of the problems that this films faces I'd say are purely related to the writing and some of the acting (there are also some noticeable flaws with the sound mixing and editing, but minor nonetheless). Because of it being a short film, there's obviously no way to fit in characters backstories in a deep way, but for some reason they try to do this with some characters (for example Suptic's character relation with his dad and also the relationship of Mimi and Elliott; on both instances you never quite get how the characters "feel" towards the problems that the film shows us).
In regards to the acting, James DeAngelis is pretty much the weakest (which is quite disappointing taking note of how compelling he was on the earlier mentioned Water Warriors video) along with some of Suptic scenes, with the most notable example being a scene were they're talking at a balcony, which just comes out as really awkward instead of emotional. But also on the note of acting, the absolute highlight is Mimi Torres, who despite having a not so well written character, she's emotionally compelling in every one of her scenes.
Now on to the positives, the production design of the film is brilliant, along with the cinematography and the special effects work done on some scenes. If it wasn't for some clunky sound design, this would've been a pretty masterful short film on a technical level.
In conclusion, this a really great first effort from Sugar Pine 7 on a production of this type, and I'm pumped to see what they can make in the future. Despite its flaws, this is a really enjoyable short and you should go and watch it.
6,5/10 - Now being honest, the only problem of the film was its lack of Autumn. I love you Autumn.
