IMDb RATING
5.7/10
5.9K
YOUR RATING
An English couple's holiday in Spain is interrupted when they discover a girl imprisoned in a cabin.An English couple's holiday in Spain is interrupted when they discover a girl imprisoned in a cabin.An English couple's holiday in Spain is interrupted when they discover a girl imprisoned in a cabin.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
- Isabel
- (as Aitana Sánchez Gijón)
Kandido Uranga
- Miguel
- (as Kándido Uranga)
Andrés Gertrúdix
- Antonio
- (as Andrés Gertrudix)
José Andrés Zalduegui
- Bartender
- (as José A. Zalduegui)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGary Oldman, Paddy Considine and Virginie Ledoyen were dubbed for the Spanish version of the film. The scenes where the characters had whole scenes with English dialog were all dubbed. Only when the characters spoke in English with the Spanish characters, the dubbing actors said their lines in English. 'Aitana Sánchez-Gijon' dubbed herself.
- GoofsWhen Paul is out with the villagers, back at the house Norman, Lucy and Isabel do not hear the practice shots Paul and the others take on a clear day. Yet later in a torrential downpour, having walked miles farther towards the nearest town, the trio hear the distant single shot when Paco kills Paul.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Nubes y claros - Rodando 'Bosque de sombras' (2007)
- SoundtracksThere is a war
Written and Performed by Leonard Cohen
Taken from the Album 'New Skin for the old Ceremony'
Courtesy of Sony HNG Music, Canada
Featured review
Lost in Spain
I'm seriously confused about how to properly write a critique on "The Backwoods" without being either overly negative or positive, but nevertheless express my respect to the cast and crew for the film they intended to make. This is a genuine throwback to the era of 70's exploitation film-making, with a truly grim atmosphere and uncompromising violence, but at the same time it's completely unoriginal and derivative. I've read an extended interview with writer/director Koldo Serra, in which he declares that he doesn't understand why so many horror movies are being remade nowadays even though the originals aren't open for any kind of improvement. That might very well be true, and Lord knows I wholeheartedly agree with such a statement, but Serra goes so far in 'bringing homage' to the original classics that he practically copies them as well. "The Backwoods" isn't a remake of any existing 70's flick, but it easily could have been, since it bluntly borrows elements from "Deliverance", "Straw Dogs" and "The Wild Bunch".
Cleverly set in the year 1978, so that the script at least didn't had to take into account malfunctioning mobile phones and navigation systems losing their signal, "The Backwoods" revolves on two couples spending a little vacation deep in nearly impenetrable woods of the Spanish Basque region. Paul, the oldest and wisest of the four, bought the old house of his grandmother there and wants to show the beautiful region to his wife and friends. After some very unfriendly welcoming vibes in the local bar already, the quartet faces the ultimate confrontation with the primitive backwoods community when Paul and Norman discover a neglected young girl chained up in a hidden cabin. The girl is the outgrowth of a humiliating family scandal, and the local patriarch Paco so desperately want to keep her existence secret that he mobilizes the rest of the locals for an old-fashioned manhunt. "The Backwoods" is an uneven mishmash of a film in which downright powerful sequences are altered with dreadful clichés and predictable plot twists. The gritty and relentless atmosphere of 70's survival flicks is marvelously re-created, but the script doesn't have the courage to genuinely shock the audience with twisted little details or perverted undertones like they did in the old days. The filming locations are stupendous and the producers managed to attract a fantastic cast (including the brilliant Gary Oldman and Virginie Ledoyen). It's really a shame this film doesn't feature anything truly unique, because I really wanted to like and recommend it.
Cleverly set in the year 1978, so that the script at least didn't had to take into account malfunctioning mobile phones and navigation systems losing their signal, "The Backwoods" revolves on two couples spending a little vacation deep in nearly impenetrable woods of the Spanish Basque region. Paul, the oldest and wisest of the four, bought the old house of his grandmother there and wants to show the beautiful region to his wife and friends. After some very unfriendly welcoming vibes in the local bar already, the quartet faces the ultimate confrontation with the primitive backwoods community when Paul and Norman discover a neglected young girl chained up in a hidden cabin. The girl is the outgrowth of a humiliating family scandal, and the local patriarch Paco so desperately want to keep her existence secret that he mobilizes the rest of the locals for an old-fashioned manhunt. "The Backwoods" is an uneven mishmash of a film in which downright powerful sequences are altered with dreadful clichés and predictable plot twists. The gritty and relentless atmosphere of 70's survival flicks is marvelously re-created, but the script doesn't have the courage to genuinely shock the audience with twisted little details or perverted undertones like they did in the old days. The filming locations are stupendous and the producers managed to attract a fantastic cast (including the brilliant Gary Oldman and Virginie Ledoyen). It's really a shame this film doesn't feature anything truly unique, because I really wanted to like and recommend it.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- €3,600,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $123,913
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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