Feral (2018)

A wild animal attacks six medical students on a weekend hike in the woods. One by one, they become infected with a "feral disease", turning them into rabid, bloodthirsty creatures, and the vacation becomes a nightmare as they fight to survive each other.Although Mark Young may not be a big name in genre film, he has been a constant presence for well over a decade, more often than not directing his own scripts. Young first came to my attention with "Tooth & Nail" (2007), quite possibly my favorite entry in that year's 8 Films to Die For. He followed that up with the action film "The Killing Jar" (2010), which saw "Tooth" alumnus Michael Madsen return, as well as Danny Trejo, Lew Temple and Amber Benson (among others). For "Feral", Young returns to the independent horror genre and has brought Lew Temple with him. Receiving top billing is the beloved Scout Taylor-Compton, who first came to my attention with "Wicked Little Things" (2006), though she remains best known for playing the leading both Rob Zombie "Halloween" films. Rounding out the cast is Olivia Luccardi, who will be recognized from "It Follows", if not her recurring role on "Orange is the New Black".

Was drawn into seeing 'Feral', with a cool poster/cover, a promising trailer, an intriguing premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive. It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws are here present in those films, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'Feral' is weak, with so many huge flaws and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is very little to recommend in 'Feral'.Lets start with the positives.. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky, and is surprisingly well shot. 'Feral' also starts off promisingly, it does intrigue and it does have creepiness.Going on to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it comes over as vague and under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates. Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and all of the acting is lacking severely, Scout Taylor Compton's performance will make one not stop cringing. Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace and film drags on forever after such an intriguing start and doesn't recover. Even the ending however is botched, due to being so afterthought-like and with no sense of how to end it. Found too many of the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. A lot of 'Feral' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsettling. There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, while the horror elements are unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of horror. Some badly sagging momentum too and a lot of weirdness. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music is ill-fitting.Concluding, weak with no substance or entertainment value. 3/10 Bethany Cox

The trailer and cast brought me to see this one, I really enjoyed it. The cast together was great then came the writing and then that was great, All the things you look for was there for the taking, Writing, acting, effects, make-up all great, I recommend you see it yourself to judge it on your own.My two friends and I had a great talk after seeing it and agree it's not going to get an Oscar but this is one good film.

Feral is not a good movie. I wasn't that impressed with the ads and mostly just saw it because of the leading ladies. Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie's Halloween films), Renee Olstead (Unfriended), and Olivia Luccardi (Channel Zero) are the leads who, along with a couple of lame guys, go on a camping trip after finishing college then run across werewolves er, ferals. This movie starts with a gore soaked cold open in which special guest star Lew Temple (The Devil's Rejects, 31, The Walking Dead) seemingly tortures a monsterous female to death. While watching this, I had two thoughts. The first was that this is a pretty cool start to the movie. The second was this terrible feeling that this was probably the best part of the movie. And, aside from endless cleavage shots of its lead actresses, it is. And yes, this movie is so bad that the cheap, juvenile thrill of pretty girls in tank tops ends up being a major highlight and that is a majorly bad thing. The five kids on the camping trip are boring and annoying AT THE SAME TIME. There's a sort of vague, millenial SJW vibe to these kids that made me think I wasn't even supposed to like them. There's a listless, bored quality to the most of the actors, who never seem that worried about what is going on, to the characters, that are lucky to have one trait a piece, and to the pace, which is just slow and dull. This movie could REALLLY have benefited from a sense of humor, some gratuitous sex and violence, dumb humor, anything! It's just so boring. By the end I was checking emails and just waiting for it to be over. I like Scout Taylor-Compton but her character is such a Mary Sue. She kind of reminded me of the ridiculously capable gal from You're Next but lacked even that character's charm. She's really just too capable too early and the character has nowhere to go. Lew Temple is equally one note and Renee Olstead isn't even in it that much. Olivia Luccardi is the only one that manages to develop much personality and I had the impression that was mostly because of quirks the actress threw in herself, like flipping a character the bird behind his back because he's being a jealous prick to her.The only memorable thing here, if you can call it that, is that the lead couple is two girls instead of a hetero normative couple. The movie doesn't do anything with them though so, really, instead of getting a bland, underwritten romance between a man and a woman, we get a bland, underwritten romance between a woman and a woman. The creature effects are okay but that's about it. I didn't like this movie and only gave it a 4 because I had the impression that at least some people involved were trying. The DP shoots the film well, the makeup effects are solid, and Scout and Olivia Luccardi do what they can with their roles. Still don't recommend spending money on it though.In short, as I said at the beginning, Feral is just not a good movie.