Every year there seems to be one horror film that can rise above the endless stream of low budget, middle of the road, run of the mill horror flicks that studios push out constantly and this year, Adam Wingard’sThe Woodslooks to be that film, and the first teaser trailer for the film has dropped, and it is promising “a new beginning for horror films.” A bold statement, sure. But the critical praise for the film that the first half of thetrailerfocuses on seems to back that up.
Though details of the film have largely been kept under wrap, theLionsgateproduction is said to feature a group of college students who go out camping in the wilderness and discover that they aren’t alone, which is what the trailer heavily teases. Wingard has already made a name for himself in thehorrorgenre in recent years, directing critical successesYou’re NextandThe Guest, as well as segments on the very well regarded horror anthology filmsV/H/SandV/H/S 2.
Though Wingard is best known for his work in the horror genre, he took to Twitter just after the trailer dropped to clarify that this is his “first full on ‘sh*t your pants’ horror film.”
With all of the hype behind the film, with some calling it “one of thescariest horror moviesever made” it can be hard to imagine how something with such a seemingly simple premise will live up, but the best and most critically acclaimed horror films in recent years didn’t always have the most original premise, it was all in the execution.Paranormal Activitydid found footage on a shoestring budget that wound up being one of the most financially successful movies of all time and James Wan took the concept of a family being haunted byevil spiritsto an entirely new level withThe Conjuring, so there is nothing that saysThe Woodscan’t do the same for young people being terrorized in isolation.
James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Brandon Scott, Valorie Curry, Corbin Reid, and Wes Robinson star in the film that was written by Simon Barrett, who has collaborated with Wingard previously on You’re Next and both V/H/S films. The film is set for a release on September 16 and is being produced by Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Keith Calder and Jessica Wu.
