ARBOR DEMON (2016)

Studio:       Gravitas Ventures
Director:    Patrick Rea
Writer:       Michelle Davidson, Patrick Rea
Producer:  Marcel Sarmiento, Warren Ostergard
Stars:     Fiona Dourif, Kevin Ryan, Bruce Williamson, Robert Bouton, Jake Busey

Review Score:

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Summary:

Personal conflicts come to light when a couple camping in the woods encounters a mysterious creature and an injured man.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Afraid to reveal she is pregnant due to their conflicting desires to raise children, Dana and her husband Charles go camping for their anniversary. On their second night in the woods, the couple hears sounds of a creature attacking a group of hunters nearby.

While the other hunters are killed or scattered, Charles pulls injured Sean into their tent and removes a creature claw from Sean’s wound. Sean claims he was part of a posse looking for retribution against a creature that killed his brother. The creature slashes at the tent, but does not enter, leading Dana to believe they are safe inside the enclosure.

The next day, the trio sees Sean’s friend Howard crawling outside and crying for help. The creature kills Howard and drops his body on the tent.

Sean tells Dana and Charles what he heard from his grandmother about the creature in the woods. Stories claim that hundreds of years ago, warriors captured a teenage girl from a rival village and offered her as a sacrifice in a bear den. The girl was pregnant, and survived long enough to deliver her baby. Years later, pregnant women from that tribe disappeared. Legend has it that anyone who tries finding the women doesn’t make it back.

Sean tries to get Charles’ handgun and a struggle ensues. Charles is shot in his leg. Sean reveals that the reason the creature is not attacking them is because it knows Dana is pregnant. Sean plans to escape by using Dana as protection.

Dana uses the monster claw to slash Sean’s face and retrieve the gun. Charles has Dana tie Sean to a tree, but he later escapes.

Dana confronts the creature outside the tent. The creature gently touches Dana’s stomach as the two of them cautiously approach one another.

Charles suddenly shoots the creature to Dana’s dismay. Charles insists that Dana run to a four-wheeler left by the hunters and escape. Dana encounters a second creature wearing a ring that beckons to her. Dana runs back to the tent when she hears Charles screaming as a third creature attacks him.

Dana regroups with Charles. They notice that Dana’s pregnancy is suddenly accelerating and her body is transforming.

Sean returns and holds the couple at gunpoint. Dana sees a ring on Sean’s finger that matches the one seen on the creature. Dana realizes that Sean was actually in the woods searching for his pregnant wife, who became one of the tree creatures. Sean admits his wife started hearing voices that called her to the woods when he told her to “take care of” their unborn baby. Sean says he knows Dana hears the voices too.

A creature suddenly attacks Sean and drags him outside the tent. Dana and Charles make it to a four-wheeler, but are surrounded by tree creatures. The creatures insist that Dana kill Sean. Dana and Sean fight until Sean overpowers her and threatens to drive a broken branch into her chest.

Sean demands to see his daughter Clara. His daughter, a tree creature, emerges and approaches Sean. Dana pushes Sean off of her and impales his head on antlers. Sean’s daughter pushes his head further and kills him.

The creatures direct Dana to kill Charles. Charles says, “I love you” before Dana tearfully snaps his neck. The creatures then deliver Dana’s baby as she continues transforming.

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Review:

Dana is supportive, though not necessarily thrilled about her husband Charles leaving to tour with his band.  She is even less enthusiastic about revealing the fact that she is pregnant, because while Dana has a white-hot desire to raise a family, Charles has no desire at all.

Unaddressed conflicts remain tabled for now.  Making the most of their remaining time together, and commemorating their anniversary too, the couple sets out for a “just the two of us” weekend in the woods of hiking, camping, and reconnecting.

Two turns into too many on only their second night when a nearby posse of beer-swilling hunters fires guns in the air with a hearty “yeehaw!”  Charles packs his own pistol in not-so-polite preparation for telling their campfire neighbors to pipe down.  He doesn’t get that far, for an unseen creature unexpectedly attacks the rowdy rednecks, mauling half of them to shreds while the other half flees in fright.

Charles rescues a hunter named Sean and pulls the injured man to safety.  The creature seems reluctant to ravage the newly-formed trio, though it isn’t quite clear why.  Dana thinks their tent somehow protects them.  Sean has a different suspicion, but he leaves this side of his lips zipped when he recounts local legends concerning what lurks in the trees.  Sean’s secret seems as important as Dana’s, and outing them both might be the only way for anyone to escape alive.

“Arbor Demon,” formerly titled “Enclosure,” is predominantly a three-person play in a single setting.  Its strong suit is its intimate acting, boasting capable and then some performances from Fiona Dourif as Dana and Kevin Ryan as Charles.  Jake Busey holds his own as sneering Sean too, though that’s to be expected for a role that was either written with Busey in mind, or fits him to a T anyway.

What stands out are the subtleties in dialogue delivery that establish a rhythmic chemistry between Dourif and Ryan.  They aren’t simply reciting a script.  There are ticks, glances, and nuances in their movements that make real people out of fiction.

The screenplay doesn’t put complete confidence in their performances to get exposition across, however.  One moment sees Dana staring longingly at a photograph of kids.  Another has Dana smiling at a young girl holding hands with her mother.  Still another finds the woman snickering curiously upon discovering a baby book discarded in the woods.  It’s a simple concept to grasp that Dana desperately wants a child, yet the film is hell-bent on repeatedly punching its audience in the face about it.

Charles and Dana’s relationship reads as organic and authentic.  The hiccup is that it is bland as entertainment, particularly in the frame of a horror film.

Once Sean enters the picture, drama development ceases almost entirely between the main duo.  The altered dynamic doesn’t spark the suspense it is supposed to either, and the monster mania everything builds toward doesn’t have heat for a fire of its own.

Good glimpses of the titular beast don’t arrive until the runtime passes its midpoint, which is a long time to stall.  Restraint is a tried and true tactic for creature features building anticipation and letting imaginations fill in the blanks.  But “Arbor Demon” can’t quite create enough intrigue to carry its people-powered plot all the way through to the reveal.

The strong cast comes close to picking up the material and pushing it as far as they are able.  The final 15 minutes has some bang, but by then, attention spans are likely to have checked out of any emotional investment or significant care about how the story might conclude.  “Arbor Demon” is simply too sparse in both setup and staging to widen eyes, perk up ears, or make a mark in the memory as a thriller whose teeth have bite.

Review Score:  45

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