The Forest (PG-13)

My Rating: 60%

The Rotten Tomatoes: 12%

Audience Rating: 30%

To be honest, I probably should have learned my lesson of watching PG-13 rated horror movies after the absolutely horrid review I gave The Visit. Wow, that movie was unbelievably bad. But actually this one... was alright. I came into the movie with extremely low expectations, because I saw the review that The Rotten Tomatoes gave it, and I just thought: If this review is even worse than the review for The Visit, this movie has to be absolutely terrible. I almost didn't go. Of course though, I was dragged by one of my friends who is a horror fanatic, and I ended up going to see it with her. We both had very low expectations, and we were both very surprised with the result. This movie wasn't half bad, even though The Rotten Tomatoes said it was terrible, and also considering the fact that this was a January release. Believe me, all January release horror movies are absolutely terrible. But I guess that isn't true for all of them, because this one was... pretty okay.

I will give a quick spoiler-free summary of the movie: When Sara's twin sister who is visiting a forest in Japan disappears, she becomes determined to travel to the forest in Japan to find her. The forest where her twin became lost in is called the Aokigahara Forest, and just in case you're curious, yes, it is a real place that people have nicknamed, "the suicide forest." Anyways, Sara enters the forest with the help of a guide named Aiden, who continuously warned her to "stay on the path." Her investigation in the forest shows her a dark world where angry and tormented souls of the dead prey on those who dare to explore the forest.

Photo courtesy of ibtimes.com

One thing I really liked about this movie was there was a twist ending, which was awesome. Other then the ending though, you could kinda expect what was going to happen next. A character would say a classic horror movie line, and then something totally expected would happen next. But once again, quite impressive for being a January release movie. One thing I should mention to those planning on seeing it. If you read my review of The Visit, you know I disliked that movie for so many reasons, but the main reason was because it wasn't scary, and that was extremely disappointing. That movie was my first PG-13 rated horror movie, and I just got the impression that they were all like that. Well... I was definitely wrong. This movie was scary. I will even go to the lengths of saying that it was REALLY scary at some points. Which for me, was awesome. If you don't like that kind of stuff though and get scared easily... DON'T watch this movie. But if you're like me, and just want a good scare without feeling it's overdone... this movie is definitely for you. I know the reviews may look bad, but I gave it a chance, and it turned out to be worth the risk.

The Visit (PG-13)

My Rating: 35%

The Rotten Tomatoes: 62%

Audience Rating: 57%

This movie could be summed up in one word. Disappointing. This movie was described as a Thriller/Horror. If this movie is an example of Thriller/Horror, then the whole world must have gone soft. When I first heard of the movie, I basically heard it was about kids visiting their creepy grandparents. The idea around it sounded good, but the overall concept wasn't delivered well in the film.

I'm going to give a brief description of the movie, without spoilers. Two children, brother and sister, leave their mom so they can spend a week at their grandparents house, who've they never met or seen before. All is well for them until they notice strange things happening to their grandparents as night falls. Upon closer examination of the issue, the two of them learn a dangerous secret that may not let them leave alive.

To be honest, I was never a fan of Thriller/Horror movies, and really the only reason I went to this one was because my friend desperately wanted to see it, and none of her friends wanted to go. So yes, I decided to go with her. (After much persuasion) Also, the movie was only rated PG-13, so I thought it wouldn't be that scary. And man, was I right. The entire movie you expect something scary to happen, and it really never does. They set it up so you think you know it's coming, and nothing comes. I would have preferred the movie to at least live up to it's title of a Thriller/Horror movie. At the end of the film, you just have a feeling of disappointment, because nothing memorable happened.

This movie is the type of movie that you forget about in a couple days. There were not really any plot twits, and the movie itself just dragged on. I always thought: Ok, nothing happened on this day, but it has to happen tomorrow, or tonight. Nope. Never happened. Like I said, disappointing. To be fair, I should have known from the start it wasn't going to be this hardcore horror movie. It's only rated PG-13 and many people also describe it as a Horror/Comedy. Why is that even a thing??? Comedy does not have any place in a horror movie! It just... doesn't work!

I do have one positive-ish thing to say. If you are someone who doesn't really know if watching a horror movie is a good idea (based on personal preference) then this movie is definitely one I would recommend. The fact that nothing scary really ever happens (even though it kind of happens... occasionally) can help you compare to other horror movies. You can see the difference between a horror movie rated PG-13, and one rated R. As i found out, it's quite the leap.

Overall, I must say that this movie was just... boring. And of course, disappointing. People watch these movies to be scared, and it just didn't deliver that. And let me remind you that I'm not into scary movies in the first place. So if I think it's not that bad, then you DEFINITELY know it's not that bad. Also I do want to add that I know there was an original movie, made a while ago. I have not watched that one, and I don't know how it compares to this one. Honestly, after this experience, I don't think I ever want to find out.

Watch the trailer for this movie here.
(By personal opinion, the trailer was scarier than the movie. That's right.)

The photo ad for the movie. Found it here.