Are you one of the many horror fans who long for the 'old-school' films of the genre, before CGI-Freddys, 'Space' Jasons, and films that build 'suspense' by cutting the scene every three seconds? Well, put on your pith helmet and waders, because Brian Sykes latest flick, WITHIN THE WOODS, is a throwback to those great original "Friday the 13th"-type slasher movies.

So...it's a dark and spooky night deep in the woods, where college kids Ron and Cindy are gettin' it on! (always a prelude to disaster). Sure enough, there's a noise in the forest, so Ron investigates. Cindy is very anxious - there have been rumors about these woods, y'know - but Ron uses the incident to sneak up behind his woman. Laugh it up, big boy. The sinister Clown who appears behind him doesn't think it's funny, and he slices Ron from ear to ear. Cindy can do nothing but scream....

Everyone's favorite TV producer Tony is excited about his latest idea to cash in on the 'reality television' market - get a group of five 'twenty-somethings' to spend 24 hours in 'Camp Blood' - the survivors split a cool million. He's got the cast hired and the whole place wired with cameras. His assistant Ingrid isn't convinced it's gonna work, even if the camp was the scene of the Clown atrocities. Sure enough, the homicidal jester pops up and stabs Tony! Wait...its just part of Tony's plan. He's hired Griff to play the Clown, so the contestants will be scared away (and save Tony some cash). Ingrid still isn't persuaded, so Tony sends her off to set up the caches for the cast to find. What she finds is the real Clown...

As Tony frets over the missing Ingrid, the kids arrive at the camp. Dropped off at the entrance with only the clothes on their backs, the first four contestants manage to find each other. Confident and cocky personal trainer Russ takes the lead, hooking up with would-be diva Kat. They're joined by paranoid rich kid Nolan and 'the girl next door' Jessica. Tony broadcasts the rules - they must remain 'within the woods' for 24 hours, or they lose. The gang searches for the hidden caches, eventually finding both them and the late-arriving "tough-chick" Mel. They pitch camp as night falls. The group talks about the various reasons they agreed to do the show. Nolan has studied the legends and tells them of the legend of the Clown. Meanwhile, Tony is pissed that "nothing's happening" and radios Griff to do something about it. But Tony's clown has already met his lethal namesake... and with a homicidal harlequin on the loose, how many of the cast are gonna make it out of the woods, or even through the night, alive?

WITHIN THE WOODS is old school horror, shooting on location with in-camera effects instead of today's computer-aided generated gore-fests. So today's kids might find the chase scenes to be 'boring' and the murders 'lame", but it's a refreshing change for those of us who are tired of effects making the movie, not story or God forbid characters. Writer/director Sykes takes the basic slasher storyline and adds modern touches like the reality show angle, but the film is essentially a '70's indie drive-in flick. While the main characters plug into the usual stereotypes, they're all given interesting nuances to make them unique and interesting. I actually wish the script had included more about the characters - their potential feels like its barely tapped. The story does have a nice twist at the end, though. Sykes real ace on WITHIN THE WOODS is his creative use of camera. The film's scenes are well thought out and composed to maximize their effectiveness - and the editing keeps the pace moving right along. The constant changing of camera angles keeps your eyes focused on the screen - and on what will happen next. The score is effective and haunting, and Kat's song is used well as a musical theme and film metaphor - 'Whatever It Takes..."

Production-wise WITHIN THE WOODS is a great example of people with a love of the genre doing things right. The energetic cast really gets into their parts, which transfers well onto the screen, and the crew makes very tough location shoots look good. The picture quality over-all is very nice - the night shots work pretty well with real firelight (except I really dislike cuts to the 'flashlight POV' shots). Audio is usually good on location, but sometimes the mix seems a little off; the audio in the studio scenes has even more inconsistencies in levels. Hmm....

WITHIN THE WOODS comes with a couple of extras for your DVD dollar. There are a trailer and a short 'making of ' feature, which has plenty of interesting stories of the shoot as well as advice for would-be low budget filmmakers. Sykes and his wife (and producer) Josephina also provide a full-length commentary, with more interesting production tales. (Bear in mind, however, I write these reviews before I listen to the commentary tracks. You'll understand when you hear it)

Who needs a thousand alien spaceships blowing up cities or surfer dudes trapped in a computer world when you have a clown with a big knife? WITHIN THE WOODS is old school horror - kids trapped with an indestructible monster and no way out.... except by dieing. No fancy SFX, just blood, baby - just blood. WITHIN THE WOODS may seem like 'slasher light' in these days of gonzo extreme horror films, but it's good to get back to the basics once in awhile.