Don't Go in the Woods Alone (1980)

continued...

... fathom the fervent following this film garnered since its release. Director James Bryan confesses that it's supposed to by somewhat comedic, but the humor is found for all the wrong reasons. Gags are relegated to the suggestively named characters ("Dick" and "Cherry," are two incredibly homely newlyweds that face Maniac's wrath), and the exaggerated mannerisms of the victims-to-be ( see the muu-muu lady listed above).

The real laughs come from the astounding ineptitude on almost every level. From the Casio-keyboard created synthesizer sound track (which provides the films only jolts), to the illogical slaying setups (a van that is pushed down a mountainside immediately bursts into flames from the inside, as though it was carting a cargo of propane).

Most laughable is the film's antagonist, played by Tom Drury), a cross between Buddy Hackett and the Bridgekeeper from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Sporting various pelts and beads that cover his sizable girth, Maniac must at least be given credit for setting up shop where such a high volume of inept victims would traverse, as his body does not appear to be built for traveling too far for fresh meat.

With no rhyme, reason or rhythm it goes. It does boast a surprisingly high body count (14 before the first hour), bu they are so awkwardly staged, lit and executed that there is little to satiate gore hounds.
It's also surprisingly chaste for a slasher flick of that era. In a time where bare boobies were a staple of the genre, a wet T-shirt is as nasty as it gets for fans of the flesh, which is particularly ironic considering the director's porn past.

I have revisited many a slasher flick fondly remembered from my youth ( "Sigh. Oh, Jason. I remember when you were but a young, lake-dwelling mongoloid child!"), and I vaguely recall the infamy "Don't Go In the Woods ... Alone!" garnered back in the day. But while some of the horror flicks of yesteryear still carry with it random thrills and inventive kills, "Don't Go In the Woods ... Alone!" carries only the stench of its too-numerous rotting corpses left strewn across its tree-lined mountainside.

* It should be noted that the 'Torture' rating is for the viewer, not what transpires on screen, and the 'Humor' is purely unintentional.

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