Darren Lynn Bousman has been busy man over the last year, as he had four films come out in one year’s time. It’s much unheard these days for one director to come out with four credible first run horror films on DVD or Blu-Ray. First you had “11-11-11”, then the remake of Troma’s “Mother’s Day”, then his short film “The Devil’s Carnival”, which was released in limited release and his mostly recent wide released film “The Barrens”.
The film follows Richard Vineyard, who decides to take his family to New Jersey for a weekend camping trip to help ease the tension in the household. He begins to lose his sanity on the trip, while searching for the perfect campsite to scatter the ashes of his father. Richard begins to think that the local legend of the Jersey Devil is real and its out to get him. The family around him begins to think that he’s going insane. As victims begin to pile up, is Richard going insane or is there truth that the Jersey Devil stalking him. Mia Kirshner (The Vampire Diaries), Allie MacDonald (House at the End of the Street) and Shawn Ashmore(X2: X-Men United) co-stars in this film.
What attracted me to this film was the fact it was it was directed Darren Lynn Bousman. I’ve always liked his films from his Saw films to “Repo: The Genetic Opera to two of the three most recent films “11-11-11” and “The Devil’s Carnival”. His films have always been entertaining. But after watching “The Barrens”, this might be the best film of his to be released this year.
One of the things that I liked about Bousman’s direction, he does a very good job keeping atmosphere very dark and eerie. It definitely shows in the scenery and in the way the film was shot. Bousman along with cinematographer Joseph White did a very good job capturing the film’s dark scenery, as it gave the film a level of darkness that was needed to effectively achieve its dark tone. The other thing that I liked about the direction was the acting. Bousman does a great job getting the cast to be engaged in their performances. For films like this, you need the cast to be engaged in their performances. If the performances are not engaging, then the film becomes a completely boring film. Thankfully, he uses his talents to get the cast to perform well.
Speaking of the cast, they did a very good job. Stephen Moyer did an excellent job with the way that he made his character very dark and demented. It truly keeps your interest in the character and the family that he’s tormenting as he spirals into madness. Also, the supporting cast was very good. Mia Kirshner and Allie MacDonald did a very good job with their characters, as the mother and daughter of the family. The performances had depth to them that it helped you very sorry for those characters, as they’re caught in middle of the main character’s madness.
Brousman’s screenplay was also very good. He does a good job using the mythology of the Jersey Devil. It doesn’t feel like something that you would see in a SyFy movie of the week. He’s able to avoid that by making the main character’s state of mind one of the film’s main focal points. It gives a perception that is he’s either going really insane or there’s truth to the fears of the Jersey Devil trying to get him. The other thing that this screenplay does very well, it keeps its dark and gloomy tone throughout the film. Bousman does a very good job making sure that the tone stays that way, so you care about the family that is affected by the main character’s emotional state.
“The Barrens” is not your normal SyFy movie of the week, as it’s a very dark and twisted film that keeps you on the edge of your seat through Bousman’s director and very good performances from the film’s main cast.
Review Rating: Five Stars
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