The black monk gave this film such a hard time I felt I had to defend it a little. This isn't a great movie it is cheaply made and obviously is low budget but if you don't come to it with too many expectations its actually quite an enjoyable movie.
This movie does look cheap. In fact it looks so cheap that when I watched it I actually thought it was a 70's b-movie, it had that sort of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original version)" look about it. Now I find out its from 1997 I wonder if they set out to make it in the same schlocky horror vein those 70's movies.
The cast do do their best and make what could be just awful quite a fun movie. Their acting isn't great but its also not the worst you'll find either. As the Black Monk says the plot has many holes in it but this didn't ruin my viewing of it and a big budget doesn't necessarily mean no major plot holes or great acting either. The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day, Pearl Harbour all come to mind. You aren't going to sit down to watch this expecting an Oscar winner.
The bank robbery plot is really just a side issue to get into the woods for the slaughter to begin. However it gives the film a slightly different storyline (the cops are after them too) rather than the usual, bunch of kids roaming around in the woods for no particular reason.
The bottom line is that you know whats going to happen from the word go. But the film moves fairly quickly (as it should, there is no need for any major character development in this type of film) and it kept me entertained for the time it lasted.
I watched this late on a Saturday night with a couple of beers and I would suggest that this is the best way to enjoy it. If you want to watch a non taxing but entertaining schlocky horror movie you could do a lot worse than Raven's Ridge.
