Film
The Forest, a place where the old and sickly were taken and left in ancient Japan. Now, it is Japan’s suicide forest, said to prey on your sadness, and use it against you, pushing you to a point where the only way you see as out, is to take your own life.
A woman, Sara (Natalie Dormer – Rush, The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 1), travels to Japan to find her twin sister, Jess (also played by Natalie Dormer). Local residents and police fear Jess is dead, having gone in to Aokigahara, the forest people go in to when they plan to commit suicide.
Sara, however, believes her sister is alive, saying she can feel their connection, as twins. In the local town, she meets Aiden (Taylor Kinney), who organises that she join him and a guide on a “suicide watch” the following day. It is on this walk that Sara now needs to face her own inner-demons, as events from her childhood surface, and she must now fight to not only figure out what is real, and what is merely a figment of her imagination, brought on by the dark, foreboding forest, but she must fight for her very survival.
The Forest is not just a horror, although the requisite jump-scares are included, but it is a dark, psychological thriller that temps the viewer with thoughts, pitting their imagination against them. The tension builds as it is more what can not be seen, and what is expected, than what is actually present on screen, that plays with one’s senses, especially in darker scenes, deep in Aokigahara.
The film is a thrilling escape down a psychological path, laced with Japanese superstitions and beliefs, and set in a place that would test most persons. A thrilling, fear inducing tale, with a plot that is not the run-of-the-mill scary story that one can predict from the outset. A chilling ride, that horror fans are sure to enjoy.
Disc
The Forest is available now, to purchase on disc, in South Africa.
Overall, the disc is a good quality product technically, with decent sound and image. It is lacking on the bonus material side, with just one short feature, and not even a trailer to speak of. The main feature is a good film though.
Video
Video is encoded at a high bitrate, and there are no visible artefacts on screen. Viewers with the relevant hardware or software could scale up to a larger or higher resolution screen, if desired.
Colours are vibrant, with no colour bleed. Blacks are dark, although a bit on the dark grey side in some scenes. However, with the many darker scenes, detail is still good.
Audio
Audio is presented via a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and makes subtle yet extensive use of the surrounds, to further draw the viewer in to the on-screen action, and make the a part of the story.
Dialogue is crisp and clear via the centre channel.
Navigation
Navigation is basic, and easy to follow. Menu screens are static images from the film, with some background music.
Bonus Features
There is one short featurette included in the DVD, Exploring The Forest.
Presented by director Jason Zada, he explains some of the inspiration behind the films setting, his journey to that location, and some of the sets and make-up effects used in the film.
While short, this featurette does provide some interesting insight to the film, if not also adding a little bit to the psychological fear the film evokes, knowing much of the story is based on real world places and events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDs_DYow7xA
