Kids Go to the Woods… starts off not with the movie, but with an enchanting host, Candy Adams (Carly Goodspeed). Candy is hanging out in a bar introducing the movie, almost like Elvira, but with a more 50’s look. Candy actually reminds me very much of Karen (Megan Mullally) from Will and Grace; She just has the same silliness and attitude. Anyway, you will get to see Candy at regular intervals throughout the movie, which makes for a nice and entertaining break.
To start the movie, we meet Casey (Leah Rudick) and her brother, Scott (Andrew Waffenschmidt). It's Casey's birthday, so she is going camping with several friends and wants her brother to come along, as well. Scott is your stereotypical nerd and would normally never hang out with these people, but he takes his book (entitled "Kids Go to the Woods… Kids Get Dead") and goes camping in the woods with the 6 other kids. Along with Casey, there is the guy she's seeing, Derrick (Eric Carpenter), Tom (Seth Stephens), Tom’s girlfriend Heather (Meghan Miller), Robin (Kristen Adele), and Robin's girlfriend Jill (Amanda Rising). These 7 pile in the car and head to Tom's uncle's cabin in Beaver Dam Woods. On the way, they stop at a gas station for beer and meet Lloyd (Kevin Shea), who tells them to stay away from the woods. Derrick has told Casey that Uncle Bill (Mike Hall Sr.) will be staying with them as well, which is the only reason she agrees to go. Casey is a bit of a prude, but Derrick is determined he can get in her pants. Tom and Heather and Robin and Jill are quite horny and together all the time, while poor Scott is left to read his book alone. At some point in the evening, the group finds a Ouija board and contacts a spirit named Dugan who tells them that this will be a birthday that Casey will never forget. Sure enough, when a killer in a gas mask finally shows up and starts making short work of the kids, no one who survives will forget this trip.
If my description seems a bit disjointed, that’s because the movie jumps around a bit. For a first film, the acting is pretty good. For the most part, we decided that the dialogue is realistic, as are the characters. Unfortunately, however, it seemed like there was just a bit lacking in the plot. Basically, the story is very similar to Friday the 13th, except without any explanation of why the killer is the way he is. There are some hints of more of a backstory in the movie, which I really can’t tell you about without spoiling things, but nothing that I could put together as a full story. I was hoping that some of the special features would explain a bit more but, while they were interesting, they really didn’t expand on any of the movie plot. I did really like the Behind the Scenes featurette, as it's always fun to see how these things are filmed, and they went over a lot of the effects. I was quite impressed with the quality of the film and the production of the DVD. I am interested to see Michael Hall’s next film, as I can see some real potential in his work. If you happen to catch Kids Go to the Woods… Kids Get Dead on TV, it’s not a bad movie, but I can’t really recommend buying it.
