‘This Land’ VOD Review
Stars: Natalie Whittle, Adam Burch, John J. Pistone, Mindy Montavon, Herod Powers, Taylor Gore Scorse, Garret Camilleri, Shaun Boylan | Written by Leon Langford, Collin Watts | Directed by Richard Greenwood Jr.
After a violent home invasion cost her a child a year ago, traumatized mother Ava agrees to a rustic getaway on the 4th of July with her husband Neil and son Dakota in hopes of putting back the pieces of their lives and, more importantly, being away from any memories, any reminders about what happened a year ago. However, after arriving at the cabin rental they realize they’re double booked with a family with very different political beliefs. As tensions boil over the weekend as they confront grief, race, and the divide within the country – they soon realize there’s something else out here trying to drive them apart. They must band together to drive off a sinister group of elites with unknown intentions in an isolated cabin…
Politics and horror have often gone hand in hand – be they political or sociopolitical – but today, with nations divided by differences, be it political, social or economic, films like This Land really touch a nerve. This Land gets even more close to the bone with its group of outsiders, the elites, who attack our already divided families. Sounds familiar? It should. Today’s politics is all about the elites, the rich, getting richer and living more lavish lifestyles and the expense of the everyman – no matter three politics, faith or beliefs.
The fact that writers Leon Langford and Collin Watts frame this discourse about politics within the confines of the horror genre, in particular the “city folk go backwoods” and home invasion makes it all the more powerful. Though some of the impact is lost by making the film’s villains part of a Mayan sacrificial cult – surely the film would be better served if it was just the powerful exerting control over those beneath them? That would resonate more with today’s political climate – though I’m sure it would also have people screaming that This Land was just a riff on the The Purge franchise!
Forgetting the political aspect of This Land for a moment, Richard Greenwood Jr. certainly knows how to make a film look good, with the film belying what is obviously a low budget and crafting a terror tale that rivals even the bigger-budget horrors of Blumhouse and A24 – it’s certainly one of the most effective of the us versus them, locals versus city folk horror movies I’ve seen in quite some time – with a cast that makes the script work, even when the story trips of cliches and repeat tropes we’ve seen a myriad of times before… But then cliches, stereotypes and familiar tropes are what makes horror movies work, we know what to expect but we also want to see how they’re executed and everyone involved with This Land executes things brilliantly.
This Land also executes its cast brilliantly too, with some great and gruesome effects work that kick in once our cultists finally do invade our holidaymaker’s cabin. The only issue is just how long it takes to get to that point, especially given that the audience is made to sit through some heavy-handed political commentary as our two families fight. But it’s a small price to pay for such a well-told, well-performed and well-made film. Kudos to Greenwood Jr. and co for pulling off such an impressive, and politically complex, feat.
****½ 4.5/5
This Land is out now on digital platforms from Terror Films.
