by I’ve always been a big fan of the show Survivorman. I actually appreciate the whiny nature of the host as opposed to Man Vs Wild wherein Bear Grylls is always overly enthusiastic. This scenario has always seemed like a perfect fit for a found footage horror film, and I was proven right in this regard with a low budget affair Survive the Hollow Shoals. The thing is I wanted more. This leads me to the topic of today’s review simply titled Man Vs. Versus what, you may ask? Well you’ll have to watch it to find out. Is it worth devoting an hour and a half of your life to? That is the very question I’m here to answer.
Doug Woods is the star in a show called Man Vs. Woods. It’s a modest program wherein he goes out in the wilderness, puts to use his skills as a survivalist for five days and documents. It’s on the cusp of becoming a big hit and with a bigger budget he and his crew are gearing up to start the third season. Doug says goodbye to his family and travels to the Canadian wilderness abandoned by his film crew to, well, survive. His only lifeline is a satellite phone, and he has to keep his bubbly on-screen persona in the spotlight as he gets off to a rough start in the rugged wilderness.
The first night he is abruptly awoken to a thunderous crash. The next day he goes to investigate and finds a line of damage straight through the forest. The lake is full of dead fish, and even a wolf he spots nearby won’t touch what should be a bountiful meal for the canine. Little by little the show begins to unravel as Doug’s satellite phone goes missing, the dead rabbits he has hung for a later meal are taken, and he’s sleep deprived from loud noises in the forest. Doug suspects all this is the work of a pack of wolves, but when he discovers his chess board set up as if a game is being played he realizes something savage and smart is out there.
Unfortunately this isn’t a straight up ‘found footage’ film. It’s more of a cinematic movie with views from the actor’s go-pro thrown in for good measure. I was a little disappointed by this to be honest. Not only would it have been more immersive for the film to go the found footage route, but also easier on their budget so I’m not quite sure why they went halfway. The genre is crazy popular so it doesn’t make much sense to me. Either way, it’s almost sort of a ‘behind the scenes’ look because we see both the real character react to what’s happening, and the reactions of his screen persona as he continues trying to document his stay in the woods.
This is mostly a one man show, and thankfully the character and actor are both likable to carry the story. His reactions are pretty realistic, and you can really sense the frustration as things start to go south. I enjoyed the film before we find out what’s behind all of the chaos. The suspense behind the mystery is well done and drawn out in a compelling way. The pay off however is not good.
The problem is that the assailant is shown way too early on, and it’s a cheap predator knockoff. Instead of using a costume it’s all CG, and that’s the only time I felt the low budget negatively impacted the experience. A more minimalistic approach would have been beneficial instead of having the antagonist front and center. The big ‘twist’ can be seen from a mile away, and it’s cheapened by the second half of the film. Being stalked in the woods is scary, but somehow it just isn’t here.
Man Vs has a promising start with a likable cast, enjoyable scenario, and beautiful landscapes. It’s ruined halfway through by the writers over complicating the story. Once you actually see the alien/predator thing I was almost completely checked out of this one. The end twist is pretty decent but can be seen coming from a mile away. This really should have been entirely found footage instead of the fusion between that and cinematic scenes. It makes the whole thing feel uneven. There are some decent scares in the first half, but somewhere around the halfway mark this one just falls completely apart. If you’re looking for something similar but vastly superior I recommend checking out Survive the Hollow Shoals.
Pros
- Likable protagonist
- Great themes
Cons
- Lame antagonist
- Not particularly scary
