As the Vineyards head to their campsite in the Barrens, there's a disturbing animal encounter that sets Richard on edge. Soon he's experiencing visions and flashbacks, and there are hints of a traumatizing event that befell him in the woods as a boy. The family camps near a group of rowdy teenagers, and at that night's campfire, someone tells the eerie legend of the Jersey Devil: it's supposedly a horrible creature born as the thirteenth child of a pioneer woman who lived in the woods. The storytelling puts Richard further off kilter, and he packs up the family and drags them deeper into the woods, off the path and into disaster.
"The Barrens" is the latest film from writer/director Darren Lynn Bousman. It's something of a departure for the director who's known for helming three chapters of the lucrative and showy "Saw" franchise. However, "The Barrens" is in keeping with the director's overall body of work, which demonstrates an inspired interest in exploring different approaches to visual and aural storytelling. After finishing the "Saw" followups, Mr. Bousman directed "Repo! The Genetic Opera", an honest-to-goodness rock opera about futuristic organ repossession, and earlier this year he toured the country to promote another musical, the experimental short, "The Devil's Carnival". "The Barrens" takes a different turn, stripping storytelling down to the basics and putting the focus squarely on the actors.
The centerpiece of the film is the performance from Stephen Moyer, best known for playing brooding but courtly vampire Bill Compton on HBO's "True Blood". Mr. Moyer is fascinating to watch as he shows Richard's small signs of distress that gradually deepen into something truly frightening. The drama of "The Barrens" is built on the uncertainty of whether the greatest threat to the Vineyard family is external or internal. Is there really something sinister out there in the woods, as the increasingly paranoid Richard keeps insisting, or is the family falling victim to his deadly madness? It isn't clear until the very end, and by the time we learn whether or not Richard is exonerated, it's already too late.
Be forewarned: fans heading into "The Barrens" looking for a flashy, grossout horror movie aren't going to find it. "The Barrens" is primarily character focused, and the filmmaking is almost documentary in style. There are scenes where the camera circles Richard almost as though he's a study subject and we need a full 360-degree view of his emotional disintegration. We do get to see the mythical Jersey Devil, and regardless of whether it's in flashback, fever dream, or full-on attack mode, the creature is ghastly. Mr. Bousman and his crew have imagined the Devil less as a fully supernatural creature and more as an abomination of nature. The results are horrific – and very much in keeping with purported witness descriptions of the creature.
"The Barrens" isn't a must-see, but it is very well crafted, and fans of Mr. Moyer will enjoy seeing another facet of his work. And for those of you who have been following Mr. Bousman's career, the film is more evidence of the director's passionate, creative, and thoughtful approach to filmmaking. Given his interest in exploring the medium, it will be a treat to see where he goes next.
| Movie title | The Barrens |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2012 |
| MPAA Rating | R |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | Stripped-down psychological thriller about a family camping trip to the New Jersey Pine Barrens that becomes a descent into madness. |
