{"id":18507,"date":"2016-01-15T01:58:34","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T06:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=18507"},"modified":"2016-01-15T01:58:34","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T06:58:34","slug":"backcountry-2015-blu-ray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/15\/backcountry-2015-blu-ray\/","title":{"rendered":"Backcountry (2015) [Blu-Ray]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"backcountry\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBackcountry\u201d is not \u201cJaws\u201d so much as it is \u201cOpen Water<\/a>\u201d set in the woods. It\u2019s more of an unsettling survival drama centered on a young couple, both of whom bite off too much when they venture into the wilderness. As with most survival dramas, director Adam MacDonald begins the film on an more serene albeit unsettling note and, much in the vein of \u201cFrozen<\/a>,\u201d begins setting up a lot of mistakes our characters make that will come back to haunt them much later on. Mainly, \u201cBackcountry\u201d is a slow boil where Jenn and Alex find themselves slipping up at every turn and can never seem to take a hint on looming danger.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This also becomes true when Alex is warned by a local guide that the sight he\u2019s intent on seeing has been closed off due to intruders, but takes a chance anyway without informing Jenn of the inherent danger lurking about. Jenn and Alex are set to go on a tour of a local national park for their anniversary. Despite Jenn\u2019s utter reluctance and obvious hinting that she would rather not be in the woods, boyfriend Alex enthusiastically takes her along, insistent on showing her a sight he loved as a teenager. \u201cBackcountry\u201d relies on you really paying close attention to the \u201cWhat not to do\u2019s\u201d Alex and Jenn roll out during the course of their trek through the woods, and it becomes very tense when one slip up decides the fate of both characters. \u201cBackcountry\u201d isn\u2019t perfect, though, as the mistakes made by Jenn and Alex become so obvious, you\u2019ll wonder why common sense never enters their heads once.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a walk on role by Eric Balfour, who seems to be inserted in to the movie to add a red herring to the film. MacDonald almost wants us to think these people are being stalked, and then suddenly abandons all implications. More so, solid as Missy Peregrym\u2019s performance is as Jenn, her character is irredeemable down to the closing scene where an emotional outburst transforms her from heroine to someone we begin to root against almost instantly. Writer MacDonald works hard to back track and redeem her, but the damage is too severe by then. In either case, much of the hopelessness and impending doom works the longer the couple sinks in to the wilderness, and it gives way to a powerful scene of carnage that works on very emotional levels sinking the film in to a soul crushing drama, regardless of the fate of our protagonists.<\/p>\n

\u201cBackcountry\u201d is flawed, but still a compelling survival drama with sharp performances and often great direction from Adam MacDonald. Featured on the Blu-Ray is a seventeen minute Behind the Scenes which garners interesting interviews from the cast. The two minute Bear Shots is a fun extra. There\u2019s also a still gallery, the original trailer for the movie, and finally an audio commentary with Director Adam MacDonald, Jeff Roop and Missy Peregrym.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBackcountry\u201d is not \u201cJaws\u201d so much as it is \u201cOpen Water\u201d set in the woods. It\u2019s more of an unsettling survival drama centered on a young couple, both of whom bite off too much when they venture into the wilderness. As with most survival dramas, director Adam MacDonald begins the film on an more serene […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,12],"tags":[64,120,302,1012,1087],"class_list":["post-18507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collectors-den","category-movie-reviews","tag-adaptation","tag-b","tag-drama","tag-survival","tag-thriller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18509,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18507\/revisions\/18509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}