The Woods

Plot

Girl with unusual power is sent to odd boarding school intended to be a sacrifice in a bizarre ritual

The Good

Watchability

This is quite the watchable movie (+1) even to the point of not wanting to stop it in the middle (+1).

Story Line

Once you accept the basic premise of the gimmick (that certain girls have some powers relating to the trees), the rest of the story makes sense. With Bruce Campbell as the henpecked father, the distant, self-obsessed mother, the headmistress, the girls' cliques, the clueless police officer, the secluded school, etc., all these and more help the story line (+1) and even engage the viewer to know what happened and what will happen (+1). I would assume that the black blood that is fed to the girls in their milk has some explanation (that probably hit the cutting room floor), but that is one of the few parts of the story line that is never explained. (-1/2) This is not an original story, and adds only a few meagre twists to the creepy stuff happens at boarding school subgenre.

Acting

The acting in this is above average for the horror genre. Hate, distate, anger, fear… they are all there. But, so is intensity, competitiveness, confidence and more. The headmistress, in particular, is spectactularly underplayed. This kind of subtlety is welcome in a genre filled with scenery-eaters. (+1)

The Bad

There were no obvious technical issues with the film. Except for the end, all violence occurs offscreen. With all these young actresses, it must have been tempting to put in a shower or swim scene. Thankfully, the director chose not to.
The Ugly

The Ugly

+4 or +5: Time well spent