'The Barrens' DVD Review

A promising but unfulfilling psychological thriller-meets-monster movie.

When suburban dad Richard Vineyard's father dies, he decides to pay tribute to his old man by laying his ashes to rest at the camping ground where he often took Richard as a child. The Vineyards -- Richard, his wife Cynthia, his teen daughter Sadie and younger son Danny -- head to the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey, the rumored stomping grounds of the legendary Jersey Devil. The Devil supposedly is a winged, animalistic spawn of Satan and an 18th century woman who has been roaming the area for more than 200 years. Richard has memories of an encounter with the creature when he was a boy, and the longer he stays in the Barrens, the more he becomes convinced that the Devil is still stalking the woods. His theory is aided by a recent rash of unsolved animal attacks, but as his paranoia increases, so does his erratic behavior, and those around him -- including his own family -- begin to wonder if he's responsible for the rising body count.

Darren Lynn Bousman seems to be a master at creating "almost-good" movies, ones that are technically proficient but lack the soul, the scares and the emotional or narrative heft required to make them truly enjoyable. The Barrens falls squarely in line with his Saw films, Repo! The Genetic Opera, 11-11-11 and Mother's Day as yet another near miss for the director. It feels unambitious compared to his previous films, amounting to one long, drawn out is-it-or-isn't-it-in-his-mind trip that isn't as shocking as it thinks it is, given there are only two ways it can end. It lacks scares -- Stephen Moyer isn't particularly menacing as Richard -- and the script leaves issues up in the air such as the sudden increase in attacks and why Richard would return if he believed the Devil exists.

The movie is aided by well-done gore and makeup effects and by the compelling real-life legend itself, which lends a supernatural air to what is for 90% of the running time a pedestrian wannabe Shining thriller.

The DVD

Special features include commentary and a deleted scene.

Movie: C
DVD: C