Rootwood – Yeti

                Rootwood tells the story of the hosts of a paranormal podcast called The Spooky Hour who get recruited by a Hollywood producer to make a documentary about the Wooden Devil. Apparently there is some kind of big scary monster that lives in the forest outside Hollywood that talks people into hanging themselves. The hosts, William and Jessica, team up with their frenemy Erin to go out to the woods, do some camping, shoot the movie, and get some answers. It doesn’t take long for them to get all the answers they could ever want and then some.

                This was a fun watch.  The setup was a little slow but it doesn’t take long for things to pick up and start moving along. The main trio is pretty decent and the sexual tension that is at the center of the trio’s strained relationship is pretty well played. Rootwood does, however, give you a character to really dislike and then kills them off. I love when movies do that. It’s like a gift.  A murder present, if you will.  The overall story is pretty interesting and the twists in the plot are well placed and handled correctly.

                There ‘s really only one real complaint I have about  Rootwood: the lack of onscreen kills. You get some corpses and some blood and guts on screen but no kills. You’ve got this big ass monster who could either tear you apart or talk you into taking a quick drop on a short rope and we get corpses.  I totally get that it was probably a budget thing. Hell, it might’ve been an artistic thing. I don’t know. It’s not enough to be a deal breaker but I really would have loved to see the Wooden Devil put in some work. Honestly, this wouldn’t have bothered me if I hadn’t wanted to watch Erin die so much. It was like they built me up for murder presents and gave me socks.

                There’s plenty of stuff to like in this movie, though. Felissa Rose is, as always, incredibly entertaining. She plays the devious evil bitch role super well and she’s always so fun to watch. The atmosphere and aesthetic of Rootwood is really cool. It feels like a haunting movie up until the Wooden Devil is revealed. I can dig it.

                All in all, would I recommend this movie? Yeah man! It’s a fun watch, there are some good story elements, Felissa Rose is awesome, and it’s October; even normies are out there watching horror flicks. You might as well watch something new.