Everyone has nightmares about the ugliest way to die

Since released in 1982, Don't go in the woods ( aka The Forest 2, which it shares nothing in common with the first Forest film) has become a cult classic to slasher fans everywhere. This film also ended up on the video nasty list of the early eighties, banning it for years to come in the Uk. It was finally passed fully uncut by the BBFC and released in 2007. James Bryan directed this low-budget splatter flick and Garth Eliassen was the writer.
The film opens with a group of hikers out for a relaxing weekend of camping and hiking in the wilderness when soon they are stalked and picked off one by one by a crazy mountain man living deep in the woods. Peter (played by actor Jack McClelland with this film being his only appearance) tries to lead the group out of the wilderness before they all meet their end. Mary Gail Artz who plays Ingrid in this film actually later ended up being in some decent horror films including Halloween II, The Gate and Needful Things. Everyone else in the film are no-names and it shows, most of them being just friends of the film makers, the acting is absolutely atrocious.
The film gets the ball rolling pretty fast and jumps right into the slashing without wasting any time and follows the "kill scene every 5 minutes rule", which actually keeps it entertaining all the way through and never boring the viewer. Don't go in the woods knows what kind of film it is and exploits the slasher theme to it's fullest extent never wasting time building character development or adding a dull sub-story, it's slashing for slashing's sake, pure and simple.
The dementedly cheesy song during the credits at the end of the movie was created by H. Kingsley Thurber as a joke but when James Bryan heard it he loved it so much he decided to put it in the film. The Lyrics go "Don't go out in the woods tonight or you will probably be thrilled
Don't go out in the woods tonight or you will probably be killed. There's a friendly beast who lurks about, and likes to feast. You won't get out!(without being killed and chopped into lttle pieces)"
Tom Durry who played the deranged back woods maniac was also a singer and one of his songs can be heard in the film.
The main keyboard music the plays through out the film is great and at times nerve wracking, making each kill scene that much more intense. You almost always know when someone is about to be killed due to the music building to a frightening level.
Don't go in the woods is a low-budget, trashy splatter flick that is both nasty and very tongue-in-cheek. It is unknown how much of the film was suppose to be humorous but it defiantly plays out that way making it an extremely fun watch for any slasher fan who enjoys films of it's ilk. In the early eighties there was a countless number of slashers released due to the recent success of Friday and many, many others, and the film makers of Don't were riding the wave of the latest craze. Don't go in the woods is everything I want out of a good slasher and scores high on all marks.
Code Red released a superb DVD of Don't that not only looks great with it's director supervised full frame transfer, but comes stacked with extras including a 15 minute talk show appearance, an hour long featurette, and two audio commentary's with the director, star Mary Gail Artz and Derron Miller.
To get straight to the point this is a must watch for all slasher fans and a definite purchase, just don't take the film too seriously.

Rating: C +
Reviewed by Jason