‘Don’t breathe’
Arbor Demon is a 2016 American horror film about an adventurous woman with a secret from her husband insists they go camping to reconnect. Something in the woods wipes out a group of hunters nearby, preventing the couple from leaving their tent. Secrets and supernatural stories come to light, and they must determine if the real threat is inside or outside their enclosure. Also known as Enclosure
Directed by Patrick Rea (Fun Size Horror: Volume Two; The Invoking 2; Nailbiter) from a screenplay co-written with Michelle Davidson.
Plot:
A couple’s romantic camping trip is cut short after a group of nearby hunters are brutally killed by a mysterious creature. As the creature turns its focus on the couple, they must fight for their survival while their shelter is destroyed…
The movie stars Jake Busey (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series; Most Likely to Die; Nazis at the Center of the Earth), Fiona Dourif (The Medium; Fear Clinic; Curse of Chucky), Kevin Ryan, Michelle Mills
Reviews [may contain spoilers]:
“Just seeing Fiona Dourif may inspire a return to Curse of Chucky, and you’ll likely find her performance to be well-rounded and refined. The same can be said for Kevin Ryan. The flick moves at a fine clip, and Patrick Rea keeps it simple enough to freely climb onboard. All in all, this one has a heart despite having a few flaws…”Addicted to Horror Movies
“Director Patrick Rea builds a great little horror film that relies on simplicity and builds some remarkable tension and mounting terror. Rea’s production is tight and he brings the best out of his cast, including Jake Busey who is deliciously slimy. The film’s villain is absolutely creepy, especially when you glimpse at the utterly unnerving make up effects.” Cinema Crazed
“Good glimpses of the titular beast don’t arrive until the runtime passes its midpoint, which is a long time to stall. Restraint is a tried and true tactic for creature features building anticipation and letting imaginations fill in the blanks. But Arbor Demon can’t quite create enough intrigue to carry its people-powered plot all the way through to the reveal.” Culture Crypt
“Patrick Rea’s extensive experience in making short films informs the stripped down structure of this rather odd creature feature, which like a lot of monster movies these days can’t decide whether it’s a proper adult drama or full on horror flick. This does neither particularly well…” Dark Eyes of London
“Some cartoonish effects and digital compositing do let the side down, robbing chunks of fear factor from the tense, siege-like tent sequences and leaving the monsters lacking, but the dramatic threads playing out remain consistently compelling…” Dread Central
“Rea’s script, co-written with Michelle Davidson, begins with a familiar setup before opening the story up with an interesting and fresh reveal. No spoilers here, but it’s a mythology with purpose and potential that I wouldn’t mind seeing more of… if only the 80+ minutes that come before it weren’t so damn obnoxious.” Film School Rejects
“A frightening and fraught story elevated by strong performances and some intense creature designs. Predator meets The Descent by way of The Hallow.” The Hollywood News
” …Rea hasn’t taken an easy route, and there’s at least as much going on inside the tent as the city folks do their best to help the shifty, perhaps dangerous Sean as there is out in the woods, where there are occasional bursts of gory action.” The Kim Newman Web Site
“Patrick Rea makes a solid film. One has no particular complaints about his handling, except that you could say that he never pushes the tension of the unseen creatures lurking outside the tent and attacking the hunters for as much as you feel like he could have done. That said, he does build things quite effectively once he has the three principal cast inside the tent…” Moria
“If Dana comes from a patriarchal tradition where her husband calls the shots, she finishes up in a place closer to (her) nature. And so what starts as a bog-standard creature feature gestates into a hybrid feminist horror whose many trees have no place for wood.” Projected Figures
“Anyone with a low tolerance threshold for one location based movies will likely find Enclosure a slog, which is a pity, as it’s an atmospheric slice of backwoods folklore that has many more facets to it than simply ‘two people in a tent’ […] Patrick Rea has taken us down to the woods and delivered a big surprise.” The Schlock Pit
“Patrick Rea’s Enclosure is a solid if not perfect supernatural allegory about motherhood that boasts a well-written script and a few genuinely creepy moments. It’s well worth the effort of a bag of microwaved popcorn and an hour-and-a-half on the couch.” Tom Holland’s Terror Time
“By the end, Enclosure has far outstayed its welcome, lumbered with a decent concept that is neither fully developed, nor has enough scare potential to properly sell it. Among all of the other forest-based horror movies, this is tame, and often quite boring stuff.” Wicked Horror
Filming locations:
Charleston, South Carolina
Technical details:
1 hour 32 minutes
Aspect ratio: 1.78: 1
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