When I see a line that says “one of the most controversial horror films to ever emerge from Latin America” in the film’s synopsis there is no way in hell I’m not going to watch that movie. In fact, I stopped reading the synopsis and just popped the film into my DVD player, for I wanted to watch Patricio Valladares’ Hidden in the Woods without knowing anything other than the fact that I was in for something brutal.
Very much an exploitation film and surprisingly based on a true story (70% of the film is real), Hidden in the Woods is set in the Chilean countryside where daughters Ana and Anny live with their deformed brother Manuel and their sadistic red-neck father who does dirty things to them. When an altercation with the police who are following up on a domestic dispute turns bloody, the three children flee their home and take refuge in a cabin in the woods. While in hiding and with their father in jail, an overzealous crime lord named Costello sends his violent thugs out to hunt down the children since he is convinced they stole the drugs that their father had been hiding for him.
So what makes this movie so controversial you ask? Well my sick and twisted horror friends, Hidden in the Woods has just about everything you’d expect in a twisted foreign film, namely incest, lots of rape, cannibalism, prostitution and a few dashes of pedophilia for good measure. Naturally, there is also a lot of murder, various types of assaults and graphic gore, but that’s a given in any film that supposedly spurs any sort of controversy and contains any of the other aforementioned nastiness.
On another note, if I had a daughter and I saw this film I would never allow her to enter the country of Chile…ever. Excluding Manuel, every guy in the movie, even if they had a woman with them or not, is a rapist or willing to make aggressive advances and offer any woman money for sex. It doesn’t paint a good picture for the guys living in that country and I would be terrified as a woman entering it.
I have to give director Valladares credit because there never seems to be any sort of downtime during the 98 minute duration of the feature. There is something horrific or perverse going on in every scene and when there is nothing going on you easily get distracted by Ana’s amazing cleavage. Basically, people are either getting raped, performing some sort of sexual act, murdering someone, threatening someone, eating someone, taunting someone or hunting someone at any given moment. It’s this constant barrage of intensity and fight for survival that makes Hidden in the Woods a ridiculous watch regardless if you think it’s fun, perverse or stupid..
The movie itself, along with the acting and script, definitely falls into the B grade category but the brutality and intense nature of the film allows it to sneak into the A class of hardcore exploitative/grindhouse horror. It’s a film that’s relentless in its pursuit to disgust and offend you but if you’re like me and go in expecting and craving something brutal and unforgiving then you’ll be pretty satisfied regardless of that the fact that there are some confusing moments and a couple lingering plot related questions one of which is “how the hell is the father still alive and how did he manage to escape prison?!”
Overall, Hidden in the Woods is a refreshing throw back to seriously fucked up and gritty exploitative horror. Its aim is to make you uncomfortable, the director could care less what you think and all you need to know is that you’re in for a sick ride.
Movie Rating: The farthest thing from a date movie, this “every man is a rapist” film is an intense and brutal B-rated endeavor made for the blood and boob craving horror fans out there (5/10)
Special Features:
The DVD comes with 25 minutes worth of special features which include the following:
Interview with director Patricio Valladares at Fantasia 2012 (3:46) – Patricio discusses the origins of the film, the plot, the intensity of the film, getting accepted into Fantasia and finding out that Michael Biehn wants to remake it in English.
The original trailer for the film
Clap clip (3:06) – basically a pointless video showing every clapperboard clap for each take in the film
Behind-the-scenes featurette (21:04) – A making of segment which features mostly generic behind the scenes footage with a few cool shots at some of the gore effects.
Four Artsploitation trailers
Additionally, the packages comes with a reversible cover and an eight page collector’s book that contains some background information on the film and the controversy it stirred along with a brief interview with the director.
DVD rating: 4.5/10
Hidden in the Woods will be available on DVD, VOD and digital platforms (Amazon Instant and VHX) from Artsploitation Films on September 17th.
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