I think theres someone hanging right there

Horrible ending. All bad

It dragged along with absolutely no suspense.

Pretty freaky. Keeps you watching. Was decent

Natalie Dormer searches for her twin sister who was last scene in one of the deadliest supernatural forests in the world. Had potential, but left me unsatisfied at the end.

Viene preso uno dei luoghi più mistici e folli del pianeta, nella sua maestosità e nella sua oscurità legata alla storia che gli appartiene; e lo si sfrutta per creare un dozzinale e di cattivo gusto horror. Come se non bastasse, la trama e i suoi personaggi odorano di vecchiaia, scelte sbagliate, comportamenti assurdi volti a far tornare anche le situazioni più inconcepibili. Non basta un'attrice a volte sottovalutata come Natalie Dormer e qualche scorcio di interessante fotografia. Certi luoghi andrebbero toccati solo con grande rispetto.

Horrible. It wasn't at all scary. Fake looking and just terrible.

I didn't like this movie. It was like I already knew what was going to happen. I had a feeling that the twin that was looking for her twin would somehow become evil. This movie kind of sucked.

I found this horror film decently made. I thought the tone, pace and acting was all well orchestrated. There wasn't much effort on the script to be original, but at the end of the movie, I felt it fulfilled its points and delivered most of what this interesting twist of a ghost story had to offer. Some of the choices made by the characters seemed reasonable except one decision made by the main character in thr forest to stay over night out and wait for her sister. That was ridculously dumb for the character to do and that decision is probably a good example of why so many did not enjoy this film. It, for me however, I was able to overlook.

As much as I like Natalie Dormer, The Forest is as bland a horror movie as you can get. Set in The Suicide Forest of Japan, Sarah (Dormer) seeks her twin sister who disappeared within the forest just days before--not exactly a unique plot line in the genre, but that is usually OK, as long as the execution of it is well done. In this instance, it is not. As they get deeper and deeper into the forest, one expects the suspense level to heighten accordingly, but it doesn't. Without the suspense, there really can't be any horror. Without horror, don't bother labeling it as such.

Watchable, if you're a fan of horror and willing to watch anything it's decent, but often leaves you expecting more out of the "jump scare" scenes. Slightly cliche with poor supporting cast

A few decent ideas here and there and some head scratchingly idiotic parts make for an overall pile of crap. Not worth your time

If you want to know what REAL white-washing looks like, this film gets that term just right. Forget that it's not scary or even a good film at all. That's pretty much a given for January releases like these. The real problem is how it deliberately took the perfect opportunity to cast a Japanese lead in the role, all for someone that doesn't sell the movie and for someone who is clearly out of place in its Japanese setting. What purpose DO any Japanese characters here serve? Almost nothing. The film almost tries to tell us that the Japanese are immune to the forest's suicidal mystic forces for some reason, and it also doesn't even dive into the history of the Aokigahara forest or give you much Japanese lore. It just gives you a dash of Japanese people, and a pinch of Japanese "culture". Other than that, the film actually forgets it's in the same setting, because I forgot the film was taking place in Japan. It could've given us some amazing monsters and Yurei to work with (since The Grudge seems to be the only crap people know about Japan when it comes to Japanese ghosts), but it doesn't even do that at all. The spirits or ghosts we DO get aren't even creepy, much less interesting to look at. THAT is a perfect example of white-washing in films. It only mentions Japan in setting, but forgets everything else about it.

If you like spending your time watching characters making the wrong decisions in every turn, this movie is for you. Producing movies and acting is a craft, writing a script where the characters make the stupid choices so they can suffer the terrible consequences is just gut wrenching. I began watching this movie in good faith, midway I knew this was going to be a complete disaster, welcome to a disappointing review.

Spoiler (Not really) If you know someone who visits a forest were people go to commit suicide. They probably aren't alive. How does someone cheer for a character or see themselves in one that is so beyond dumb. Again save yourself some time and skip this movie it is so boring its not even good.

It would be a great idea to flush out more about this suicide forest. I mean you can't get creepier than that. Every horror fan knows this Forest book hasn't been used in many movies. I just bought the editing and the acting was horrible. The directing to really. I mean how can you take all that potential horror to make it boring?

The Forest has a creepy enough atmosphere, but it's not enough to make up for the confused plot and lack of scares. I had my eye on this movie since it came out earlier this year. It was a January release so I was in no rush to see it, but it had a genuinely cool premise: looking for someone in the suicide forest, which is an actual place in Japan where people go to commit suicide. It's pretty unsettling. In the movie, it's said that the forest compels people to kill themselves due to supernatural forces or vengeful spirits. The Forest focuses on Sara, whose sister has gone missing in said forest, and Sara's desperate endeavors to find her sister despite the evidence pointing to her being dead. Up until about the 30-minute mark, I was on board. The pieces were set, the exposition was established, and the characters (Sara, her journalist friend Aiden, and a tour guide) were finally heading into the forest. Again, the atmosphere is creepy throughout. The director clearly has a grasp on how to build tension. The problem is that the promising build ups lead to zero payoffs. There are handful of cheap jump scares, a couple of which admittedly shocked me but only momentarily. Once the initial shock wore off seconds later I was in the same state of mind as before. Effective jump scares linger for a while; they imbue dread and usually add something to the narrative. The jump scares here are your typical, "Boo! Something's behind you!", which are easy to shrug off. Also, once they're in the forest, the characters make some decisions that are unfathomably stupid and out-of-character. Like, the main point of the forest is that it makes you think you see things, a psychedelic effect if you will. So after Sara receives this crucial information, she runs after the first thing she sees scurrying around in the forest. While it's pitch black, mind you. It completely takes you out of the movie and makes you lose all empathy for the characters for putting themselves in these avoidable situations. Also, The Forest focuses more on the bond between Sara and her sister than the actual forest. So there are plenty of flashbacks, dream sequences, all that garbage that just muddles the fact that, hey, this forest is really f*cking scary. Why not focus on the forest instead of forcing character development, if you can even call it that? It makes no sense. Also, there's nothing we haven't seen before. People being hung? First scene in Sinister. Claustrophobic underground tunnels? The Descent. The only thing that makes the movie unique is the actual setting which is used as a backdrop more than anything. The acting is good, as is the premise, but the potential littered within this movie is never fully realized. The director can definitely creep you out but he'll need a better script if he wants to make a truly great movie. The Forest just leaves you feeling hollow and disappointed.

I hesitate to even use the word "trope," because a trope can be customized and built on to make something great. This movie was full of clichés. Tired, tired clichés. I should've known when the guide's name was "Michi" (the Japanese word for "path"... because he guided them along the path of the forest...) that there was nothing here, but the name "Hoshiko" ("starchild") appeared I was intrigued. Nah, just another ghost. It's all dumb ghosts, nothing interesting. In fact, the entire ending was just a rip-off of The Grudge. The protagonist flashes back and realizes the truth through the haunting visions she was seeing and then dies. Also, final scene jumpscare. OooOoOOooooOooh~ Yeah, skip this one. Not worth the time. I misread the score on here when I was looking around for something to watch and didn't realize how rotten it was.

Beautiful scenery and top-notch cinematography make this almost worth the watch. The storyline has holes like a sieve, and it never makes any connections to make the plot cohesive. It makes me want to hit my head against a wall when she decides to stay at her sister's campsite when she only came for a day hike. Who needs food or water, anyhow.

It has ghosts, it has atmosphere, it's well-acted and scary. Yes, it tries too hard in some respects, but it's a respectable effort, and it works well enough to be worth watching.