He's Out There (2018)

An attempt was made.

Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.

Cabin-in-the-woods flick involving a mother & two little daughters

A woman (Yvonne Strahovski) goes out to a vacation home in the backwoods of Virginia with her two little girls, but their retreat takes a horrifying turn.

“He’s Out There” (2018) is cabin-in-the-woods horror influenced by the Friday the 13th flicks, but more mundane and modern. The technical filmmaking is impressive, such as the locations, cinematography, score/soundtrack, mysterious ambiance and Yvonne as the protagonist.

The set-up is good and the climax is engaging enough but, speaking as a fan of this subgenre, the middle hour is dreadfully dull because the social dynamics are limited to the mother & two daughters, which doesn’t cut it. Yvonne is fine with what’s she’s given, but the lil’ girls are uninteresting (and unsurprisingly so). The scenario needed one or two additional characters to stir up the dynamics and engage the viewer. Either that or exchange the dull kids for a couple of teen girls, SOMETHING.

The film runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot at Lost River, Quebec, which is about an hour’s drive northwest of Montreal.

GRADE: C- (while my wife gives it a C)