The Legend of Sorrow Creek and Your Last Trip to the Woods: A Movie Review

*This title has been reviewed by 28DLA writer Ed Sum.

**Full disclosure: a screener of this title was provided by Gravitas Ventures.

Director/writer: Michael Penning.

Distributor/production: Gravitas Ventures, Brain Damage Films.

*Available as a Video on Demand through AT&T and Time Warner (check cable provider).

The lonely cabin in the woods is often the inspiration for many tales from the crypt. Add in a couple of urban legends that’s been said about the area where it lay, and that’s the Legend of Sorrow Creek.

The New England setting is very apt, and there’s plenty of folklore to go with the region. If it’s not the Mothman, then maybe it’s the Jersey Devil to be found. But here, it’s just good ol’ Nick that’s said to have come through the area. But wait, there’s another tale, a back-story about the ghost of Isabelle Carter that’s said to be haunting the woods. Little is known about her, but audiences are teased by seeing her mortal form quickly die by her own hands.

There are plenty of characters to choose from and to know who is important in this film would spoil the kicker at the end. But to drive the tale along, it seems the bunch of young adults also know very little about the Sorrow Creek’s origins. Kyla (Freya Ravensbergen) and Jessie (Christina Caron) are simply taking their new boyfriends to their summer home, and while there, what they get is more than just some sweet loving.

The acting is a tad weak at the scenes that matter. Instead, the cheap thrills that work are the use of loud bangs. But for those without a handle on the volume button, the audio mixing is very uneven. Sometimes the effects track overshadows the actor’s own voice.

This film is not made to be perfect. With unfamiliar actors in the role and a setup that’s far more interesting than the people, this movie is mostly an experiment in understanding what terror is all about.

For effort, this film deserves special mention because it gets a few things right. If some details were just fleshed out more than being cut apart, it’d certainly be worth watching again.

The film is available below in a video-on-demand format:



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