Rafe Oman
If you go out in the woods today… you’ll likely spot a smorgasbord of cabins surrounded by every and any which creature or supernatural force you can think of. From Deadites to Jason Voorhees, Black goo, the Blair Witch and werewolves, there’s enough characters there to fill Hall H at the San Diego Convention Center.
Clever then of director Richard ‘Rick’ Greenwood Jr (The Wretched Prologue, Engrossed) to do something different with his ‘cabin horror’ movie – making political divide the coming horror out to get our victims.
Here, a couple of families – both who’ve lead very eventful lives, we discover – find themselves having to share their rustic holiday cabin after a significantly unappreciated double booking. There’s no getting past their differences though, particularly when it comes to their stance on politics – with conversations ultimately reaching boiling point at times. When both families discover they’re about to be potential victims of a nutty gang sacrificing them for a ritual, they band together to horde them off and survive.. Assault on Precinct 13-style. What’s more important now folks? Yup, that’s what they’re getting at here.
In short, low-budget social commentary piece turned survival thriller This Land is a very effective film for a certain audience, in that won’t necessarily work on your ‘beer and pizza’ crowd – looking for a chop ‘em up, bloody slasher film on a Saturday night. Those beseeching more admirable and unique genre pictures, need seek it out. It might even give you something to think about.
