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The Forest (2016) - Jason Zada


For some reason I had a real strong desire to see this movie. It just seemed like it would be something interesting and entertaining. However, I couldn't figure out why. The promotion and presentation isn't that amazing. In fact it looks cheap. But something just peaks my interest. Perhaps it's the whole haunted forest thing. 

 The film is about Sara, a girl that travels to Japan to save her identical twin sister Jess. Jess apparently had some issues and wandered into the famous Aokigahara forest. Otherwise known as The Suicide Forest. Sara knows that Jess is still alive. She just seems to know it. She meets Aiden, an American that is living in Tokyo. He is actually going into the forest to write about it. Aiden says he is pretty familiar but still doesn't go without a guide. Sara manages to tag along and they all trek into the haunted forest together. It doesn't take long for things to degrade. The terror starts almost instantly as they enter the forest. Will they make it out again? 

The film is full of jump scares. Pretty cheap ones too. The problem is that they start to become obvious and boring. The movie can drag and the storyline is pretty shotty too. The only reason we are even on this adventure into the Suicide Forest is because of this supposed psychic link that Sara has with her sister. It's lame. Also, while this movie takes place in Japan, we seem to have a great shortage of Japanese people. Weird. It's like this western mainstream horror movie is exploiting the Japanese culture, badly. 

 Overall, this movie is pretty horrible. It is boring and starts to wander on its own plot! The characters are frustrating to watch and make it almost unbearable. I am happy that I watched this finally, but it sucks that it was so bad. Looking back, it's pretty terrible to use the Suicide Forest as a prop. Japan is trying to rehash it. 
Directed by: Jason Zada
Produced by: Tory Metzger, David S. Goyer, David Linde
Written by: Ben Ketai, Sarah Cornwell, Nick Antosca
Starring: Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney, Yukiyoshi Ozawa, Eoin Macken
Screenplay: Nick Antosca, Ben Ketai, Sarah Cornwell
Initial release: January 7, 2016
Did you know: Natalie Dormer actually went to the Suicide Forest with her Japanese driver for research. She ventured five meters off the path to take photos and her Japanese driver would not step half an inch over the path. 


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