American Backwoods: Slew Hampshire (2015)

If you're into seizures & anal male rape, then this is for you. The premise of mythological, cannibalistic vikings still alive to this day, waiting to take down hunters in the woods,that sounds like a great concept, if done right. The premise of four "friends" going on a road trip up to Canada to a strip club, but along the way, become victims in a group of hunters' twisted little game, has been seen before. If done right, the film can work. Create a film where vikings must battle a horrific creature...sounds OK. Now what happens when you put all of it together, you have a cluster f**k premise. Flood Reed, writer & director created a film that some call "what independent horror is meant to be". All I see is a waste of $300,000 & the fact editors can make or break your film. There's apparently gory scenes in this film, but you can't see them, because they're on the screen for half a second & it's flashed away. A lot of the scenes have a shaky cam feel, with a color depletion to them and this is when the characters are just talking. The major problem with the movie is Flood Reed, himself. There's a part of the film where his character & Bro (even the name is bad) are tied to trees and discussing their woes & disdains. That was actually an impressive conversation they had, because it didn't suck. Speaking of suck, there is a massive male gay rape aspect in this film. Flood may have done this for the "shock" value, but it just came off as a concern as to how he feels in real life. A true waste of time.

Review-American Backwoods has the honor of being the first film I have ever witnessed that made me feel like I was using drugs when I was not. One thing for sure, director Floor Reed is a much messed up individual but my god is he very creative and genius. This film has some of the most insane dialogue I have heard in a horror film; let me rephrase that, in any film this year. There is a scene in the film when the radio is playing a "sexy song", and that song is so absurd that you feel obligated to join in the catchy feel of it. You would never guess from the opening sequence this is a low budget film. Mixing a genre like horror with comical elements is always a hard pill for most horror fans to swallow. The results and reactions are usually mixed at best. I feel this film that film in the early stages had a direction, but as the film was filming that direction went out the window in favor of making the viewer guess where the film is heading.This film revolves around the simplest premise, the premise of four college students making their way to a strip club. We learn as this film starts going, that the group has a past together. Bro it seems was injured one time when they were on snowmobiles. There is really not much in terms of substance and character development when we see the college guys interact, but this is horror and we sort of expect it. The film finds itself when it comes to both the horror element and also the humor element. What shocked me the most was as bloody and disgusting this film gets, you always feel like they are winking at you. Well our college boys find a bunch of redneck hillbilly types who seem to enjoy hunting for human beings. Well, they also practice the lost arts of raping and killing as well. As we think the hillbillies and being raped could be our worst hope in this side of the world, there is something out there as well that seems to be a bigger threat.The one word that stuck out to me the most in this film was "unique". This film really does not mind taking gambles and hoping people can follow. This film is not afraid to test boundaries. This film gives you plenty of sick and disturbing moments that fans watch a film like this for. The pacing in this film was a small issue I had, it seemed that as the hour mark hit, the film lost some of its humor flare and felt a little too similar to other films like a Chainsaw Massacre or a Wrong Turn. I really liked the last ten minutes of this film, and felt that it made a good statement about what we just witnessed. This film to me was a great welcome to a director I feel has his head in the right place, and his heart firmly in this genre. This is a horror film that can only be pulled off by a true fan of the genre. While this film is far from perfect, it does deliver in good doses what we watch these little films for. With any justice, this film will get some good word of mouth from both buyers and critics. Slew Hampshire is a odd place but boy was it fun to visit.

So let me start by saying that if you look at the breakdown of the high rating, over half gave it an eight, nine or ten, which it obviously is not. And, obviously, those artificially high numbers are from people who are most likely associated with the production. About the production- bad camera work, bad lighting (night scenes are barely discernible). No drama builds in this movie, poorly acted (for the most part), what little pre-violence plot setup there is drags on forever. I stopped watching (even after it got a tad interesting) because the low production values, etc just made it too painful to watch. Don't waste your time

That time all the horrors of a road trip gone wrong met in the woods and ran some cannibal crazed evil up your a**, "American Backwoods: Slew Hampshire" is the terror that unfolded. The film is written and directed by Flood Reed, a man whose lumberjack stature and woodsman appearance is as sexy as it is intimidating. Qualities that are only outweighed by his insanity and talent for creating a "mind-f**k, cluster nut" explosion of entertainment.The story follows some friends out to complete a rite of passage styled road trip to get laid and bond. What happens in "Slew Hampshire" takes that desire and twists it into a perversion of exploitation, and backwood horror that is literally dumbfounding. Seriously there is so many elements of the horror genre colliding in this film that I was delightfully, jaw drop, amazed. Usually films that go for this amount of fast-paced complexity fails big time. "American Backwoods" is not that film. Things hit the g-spot from all angles-g as in gore, gratuity, and greatness. Let me just say that somewhere between "Brokeback Mountain" and "I Spit On Your Grave" permeates a nightmare so insane that only Hell could handle its girth.This is that nightmare. The special effects and gore are visceral, blood-soaked moments of grue that will delight any splatter film horror fan. The cinematography is a blend of campfire horror suspense mixed with grindhouse torture-porn realness. And as if that wasn't enough to pull from Flood Reed brings in some perfectly timed and tuned dark humor that plays with horror comedy, but this film is by no means to be confused with anything currently out there in horror comedy. Whatever crazy that possesses Reed's mind is a beautiful damnation of artistry and madness. "American Backwoods: Slew Hampshire" is an onslaught of gory awesomeness. Overall "American Backwoods: Slew Hampshire" is a fun, twisted blend of Darwinian horror and a hunger games of "Deliverance" inspired terror that should make you second guess that road trip to North America's hidden gems and honey spots. The story is elevated, next level insanity, the characters are dark and evolved. The special effects and atmosphere is exciting and full of classic horror energy placed in a truly modern piece of entertaining terror. A must for any horror fan regardless of which subgenre gets you off!