Forest Primeval
Directed by The Polonia Brothers
Tempe DVD

Forest Primeval is a movie that manages to be entertaining yet at the same time somewhat misses the mark. The Evil Dead meets monster movie feel is cool, but there really isn't much to the film story wise. Basically this is far from perfect, but it will keep your attention throughout.

An earthquake releases a demon trapped in Skull Mountain, who quickly begins offing hunters and hikers. A woman has visions of the murders and after numerous visions decides to go to Skull Mountain to investigate. At the same time, two treasure hunters travel to Skull Mountain in search of you guessed it, treasure. There really isn't much to the plot as most of the film is spent showing the demon killing and the treasure hunters bumbling. The ending is predictable albeit fitting ending that sets up a sequel if the directors chose to make one.

While the prosthetic head and fake arms used for the demon add to the campy fun of the film, the gore is quite disappointing. Aside from an early decapitation, the deaths are by the books and lack in the bloodletting department. There are even a few odd animated blood squirts thrown in during the deaths, but a bit more inventive gore would have definitely helped the movie have a bit more steam.

Despite being full frame the film has a clean look and is shot well. The filter used to represent the demons vision is a bit cheesy but adds to the Evil Dead influence of the film. There's no getting around the fact that this is a low budget film and it certainly looks the part. That said, the audio and video are both clear and don't hamper the film in any way.

My main problem with Forest Primeval is that is somewhat feels slapped together. The actining wouldn't be bad except there isn't much gusto to a lot of the acting. The two treasure hunters are an exception but the rest of the cast doesn't seem all that motivated.

Forest Primeval isn't a terrible film. It is lacking in a lot of ways, but it manages to be entertaining. With a bit more TLC and gore this probably would have had a bit more impact. Grab a snack, have a few laughs and enjoy Forest Primeval for what it is; a campy low budget monster film that is far from perfect but still fun.

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