Shudder Day: The Final Terror (1983)

 Aw, can't we just have a little bit more Terror before bedtime?!?

I've been too busy for this Segment, so let's go back to the '80s.

In the Cold Open, a couple get in a very avoidable motorcycle accident on a Forest Path.

The lady goes for help and finds her boyfriend dead!

She's killed by a DIY trap...and only mentioned in passing once.

A group of Forest Workers go out on a trip and bring some ladies along.

It's ostensibly for work, but, I was 18 once, so I know why they're really going.

By the way, one of the girls is Daryll Hannah!

All is going well.
Bonding, jokes, smoking pot and all that.

At night, they hear a story of a crazy woman who escaped from a nearby Asylum (which they passed on the road) and how her Son was hiding her.

Well, that won't matter.

Things take a turn for the worse when one of the group- Adrian Zmed- goes missing and is presumed dead (by the audience).

The slightly older Leaders (Boyfriend and Girlfriend) go looking and... you guessed it, have sex in the Forest.

He dies.

She's now held by the mysterious stranger!

Can the rest of the group escape the Forest?

Who will be killed?

Will Joe Pantoliano somehow be more hateable in this Film than in The Matrix?

To find out, stream it now!

In all honesty, I was expecting a far worse and far schlockier Film.

This one sounds like Stock Movie Plot #15 and the kind of thing parodied by Weird Al in 'Nature Trail to Hell in 3-D.'

Here's the thing- it's not.  At all.

It's a Film about people taunted and targeted by a killer in the Woods- granted.  I've seen plenty.  It's such a cliche that there's literally a Film called Don't F**k in the Woods.

This one doesn't work like those, however, as it is far more about the group dynamic and how they must work together.

I kept expecting them to be picked off one-by-one in every other Scene.
The Film is surprisingly light on kills, however, and really nails the tension.

It's not The Burning.  It's not Friday the 13th either.  It's much more like Deliverance with a bunch of young people and a stalker/killer.  I'm all for it.

Want more proof of how different this one is than you think?  They dared to put Daryll Hannah in this helmet!

A fun surprise from Shudder and proof that I've still got lots of hidden gems to mine for.  Thanks, Shudder.