This outrageously over-the-top spectacle began with an incredibly memorable opening sequence, complete with the requisite musical montage:

"This ground is soft, soft for digging!
We're diggin' a hole, we're diggin' a hole right here!
This ground is soft, so soft for digging!
We're diggin' a hole, all the way down, to H-E-double-hockey-sticks..."

Well, actually that didn't happen, much to everyone's relief. In reality, Soft for Digging is a stark, minimalist horror film directed by youngster J.T. Petty. Completely devoid of exposition, action or special-effects, the film eschews modern film-making conventions in order to craft a fresh type of terror-in-the-woods atmosphere.

A reclusive elderly man, Virgil Manoven, finds himself venturing through the woods one morning in search of his runaway cat. He quietly stumbles upon a man and a little girl carrying what appears to be a body wrapped in a white sheet. Following them further, Virgil witnesses the man choking the girl to death, then burying her. He flees the scene in terror, but he cannot escape the increasingly disturbing visions of the girl's murder that plague his dreams. The film progresses with virtually no dialogue, instead relying on its actors to provide physical explanation of the action. The inventive use of sound effects carries the film much of the way, as muddy footsteps, boiling water and crumpling leaves lend tension to an already unsettling situation.

It's strange that in a film with next to no dialogue the speaking parts would be the weak link, but there you have it. "What happened here... was... very bad. The little girl... was bad." Ugh. The film would have done better to completely eliminate speaking, as the actors do a fine job of telling this tale solely through their actions. Text placards announce the beginning of each "chapter", revealing (sometimes humorously) what's going to happen next. Of course this doesn't serve to diminish the experience, because as Petty explained afterwards "it's a horror movie, you already know what's going to happen". That may be true, but I still couldn't have predicted the baffling climax.

I give Petty high marks for what he's trying to accomplish with Soft for Digging. The idea is intriguing, and while visually and aurally appealing, the execution left something to be desired. But J.T. Petty is just getting started, and there's always "Soft for Digging 2: The Diggening" to look forward to. Just kidding, J.T.

You can learn more at the suitably understated Official Website.

Thumbs sideways.