American Backwoods: Slew Hampshire (2015)
In June of 1994, one of the most brutal mass slaughters in history occurred in the backwoods of northern New England. Four months later, history is about to repeat itself. The end of summer signals the brink of manhood for a group of lifelong friends who proudly call New Hampshire their home. But when they embark upon a local rite of passage - traveling north for one final weekend of debauchery together - it just might prove to be their final weekend PERIOD, as this rite is doomed to go frightfully wrong. When they find themselves ensnared in a struggle for survival amongst a sinister hunting party, a bloodthirsty tribe AND a mythical beast, what began as a comedy of errors devolves into an all-out Darwinian duel to the death, and less than 24 hours will pass before a slew of lives have been claimed and the last of the living remains.
Watch Trailer
Free Trial Channels
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Highly Overrated But Still Good
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Review-American Backwoods has the honor of being the first film I have ever witnessed that made me feel like I was using drugs when I was not. One thing for sure, director Floor Reed is a much messed up individual but my god is he very creative and genius. This film has some of the most insane dialogue I have heard in a horror film; let me rephrase that, in any film this year. There is a scene in the film when the radio is playing a "sexy song", and that song is so absurd that you feel obligated to join in the catchy feel of it. You would never guess from the opening sequence this is a low budget film. Mixing a genre like horror with comical elements is always a hard pill for most horror fans to swallow. The results and reactions are usually mixed at best. I feel this film that film in the early stages had a direction, but as the film was filming that direction went out the window in favor of making the viewer guess where the film is heading.This film revolves around the simplest premise, the premise of four college students making their way to a strip club. We learn as this film starts going, that the group has a past together. Bro it seems was injured one time when they were on snowmobiles. There is really not much in terms of substance and character development when we see the college guys interact, but this is horror and we sort of expect it. The film finds itself when it comes to both the horror element and also the humor element. What shocked me the most was as bloody and disgusting this film gets, you always feel like they are winking at you. Well our college boys find a bunch of redneck hillbilly types who seem to enjoy hunting for human beings. Well, they also practice the lost arts of raping and killing as well. As we think the hillbillies and being raped could be our worst hope in this side of the world, there is something out there as well that seems to be a bigger threat.The one word that stuck out to me the most in this film was "unique". This film really does not mind taking gambles and hoping people can follow. This film is not afraid to test boundaries. This film gives you plenty of sick and disturbing moments that fans watch a film like this for. The pacing in this film was a small issue I had, it seemed that as the hour mark hit, the film lost some of its humor flare and felt a little too similar to other films like a Chainsaw Massacre or a Wrong Turn. I really liked the last ten minutes of this film, and felt that it made a good statement about what we just witnessed. This film to me was a great welcome to a director I feel has his head in the right place, and his heart firmly in this genre. This is a horror film that can only be pulled off by a true fan of the genre. While this film is far from perfect, it does deliver in good doses what we watch these little films for. With any justice, this film will get some good word of mouth from both buyers and critics. Slew Hampshire is a odd place but boy was it fun to visit.
As a hardcore horror fan when you see that a film was awarded "Goriest Scene of the Year" by Rue Morgue images of classic Cannibal Holocaust or the works of the "Godfather of Gore" himself, Herschell Gordon Lewis, immediately flash through your brain. Cult is the real gore hound between the two us but it's not like I shy away from it so since Cult was on vacation traipsing all around these Western United States the task of watching this gore fest fell to me. Hopefully he'll be able to watch it soon since he made the connection that enabled us to receive the screener from writer/director Flood Reed in the first place. American Backwoods: Slew Hampshire was also nominated for Best Feature, Best Actor and Best Editing at the 8th Annual Shockfest Film Festival of Hollywood. So let's see what all the fuss is about...For the full review please visit Thy Demons Be Scribblin (thydemonsbescribblin.com)
I'm just going to come out and say this right now, no hyperbole – American Backwoods: Slew Hampshire is the kind of indie horror movie every filmmaker should aspire to make. It is such a well put together production, with a great story, incredible acting, and some extremely brutal practical gore effects, you'll almost forget that you're watching an indie, but without getting the feeling of watching a glossed-over Hollywood schlock-fest, either.The dialog in the film comes across very naturally, and I think that is a good mix of both the very creative, very well-written story, and the superb acting. The film itself starts out almost as a comedy with some hilarious one-liners, but delves quickly into very dark and straight-up horror, featuring some extremely grisly, practical special FX. Stand-out performances by all of the cast, most of whom have no major titles under their belts, and especially true of Dayo Okeniyi, who plays one of the lead characters, Bro, and is an excellent actor. Since the movie was shot, Okeniyi has gone on to several major films, including a part in Runner Runner with Ben Affleck, and the upcoming Terminator: Genisys with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also, I have to mention a fantastic performance by relative newcomer Tyler Rice as Dude-Guy, who was extremely funny throughout. The entire cast, though, deserves applause, as they were all fantastic. Flood Reed has said that this is his love letter to the state of New Hampshire, and as someone who spent most of my life there and is a born-and-raised New Englander, I can honestly say that I don't think there would be a better way to sign a love letter to the Granite State than with a slew of blood, gore, and even some great laughs.
That time all the horrors of a road trip gone wrong met in the woods and ran some cannibal crazed evil up your a**, "American Backwoods: Slew Hampshire" is the terror that unfolded. The film is written and directed by Flood Reed, a man whose lumberjack stature and woodsman appearance is as sexy as it is intimidating. Qualities that are only outweighed by his insanity and talent for creating a "mind-f**k, cluster nut" explosion of entertainment.The story follows some friends out to complete a rite of passage styled road trip to get laid and bond. What happens in "Slew Hampshire" takes that desire and twists it into a perversion of exploitation, and backwood horror that is literally dumbfounding. Seriously there is so many elements of the horror genre colliding in this film that I was delightfully, jaw drop, amazed. Usually films that go for this amount of fast-paced complexity fails big time. "American Backwoods" is not that film. Things hit the g-spot from all angles-g as in gore, gratuity, and greatness. Let me just say that somewhere between "Brokeback Mountain" and "I Spit On Your Grave" permeates a nightmare so insane that only Hell could handle its girth.This is that nightmare. The special effects and gore are visceral, blood-soaked moments of grue that will delight any splatter film horror fan. The cinematography is a blend of campfire horror suspense mixed with grindhouse torture-porn realness. And as if that wasn't enough to pull from Flood Reed brings in some perfectly timed and tuned dark humor that plays with horror comedy, but this film is by no means to be confused with anything currently out there in horror comedy. Whatever crazy that possesses Reed's mind is a beautiful damnation of artistry and madness. "American Backwoods: Slew Hampshire" is an onslaught of gory awesomeness. Overall "American Backwoods: Slew Hampshire" is a fun, twisted blend of Darwinian horror and a hunger games of "Deliverance" inspired terror that should make you second guess that road trip to North America's hidden gems and honey spots. The story is elevated, next level insanity, the characters are dark and evolved. The special effects and atmosphere is exciting and full of classic horror energy placed in a truly modern piece of entertaining terror. A must for any horror fan regardless of which subgenre gets you off!