Long Dark Trail — Long Dark Trail (Blu Ray)

Written and directed by Kevin Ignatius (My Best Friend’s Famous, Hook Man and King Bachelor’s Pad), and Nick Psinakis (J, King Bachelor’s Pad and Ganz Girls) 2022s Long Dark Trail is an eerily unsettling movie about two brothers (Carter O’Donnel as Henry and Brady O’Donnel as Jacob) attempting to escape a life of physical abuse with their father in exchange for a chance to be reunited with their estranged mother, who ran out on the family when the boys were younger. The brothers head off into a dark and dangerous forest in North-western Pennsylvania in search of the reunion they hope will provide them with the security often associated with family, however things turn out differently, their mother has been indoctrinated into a violent and sadistic cult.

After they tie their father to his bed with cable ties the pair escape on their bikes into the wilds of the Northwest Pennsylvania forest, a darkly foreboding place that seems to stretch for miles. The movie is then broken up into chapters, the first, Absconded, follows the two young men as they experience freedom from their father’s abuse for the first time and attempt to locate their mother. The second chapter, Provisions, shows the pair gathering supplies and equipment in order that they are prepared for their journey into the unknown. Once the pair get out into the forest what has up to now been a straightforward coming-of-age movie starts to take a darker turn as we become aware that the brothers are being watched. As they descend deeper into the forest, they start to notice unusual things, Henry receives a wound to his neck and becomes increasingly unwell, eventually passing out after having visions of his father and the abuse he used to inflict upon the boys. Several more twists and turns take effect before the boys are able to track down their mother, who is now a member of a sadistic forest-dwelling cult. The movie’s finale sees the boys lives placed in grave jeopardy, whilst their mother weighs up the emotions that she feels for her sons and the cult she is a part of, and is there yet something even more sinister at play? Another twist of fate, still to come, perhaps?

Beautifully shot, Long Dark Trail is a solid movie that deserves a better rating than its measly 2.9 on IMDB. I would urge viewers not to let that put them off. Whilst it’s far from perfect, at its best, it’s a creepy and effective chiller and whilst the relative inexperience of the two brothers in the lead roles tells at some points, they do a better job than some more experienced actors in other movies of this ilk. The film has an eerie and effective electronic score that really adds to the tension, creating a darkly atmospheric sense of dread. Ignatius and Psinakis have created a movie rich in tone through the use of colour, light and sound. It almost feels unreal, and one has the sensation throughout of being in a part of the forest where no birds sing, nothing grows, and what little light there is, is darkly filtered through the dense canopy above. 

This new blu-ray from Cleopatra/MVD contains a handful of bonus featurettes, there’s a blooper reel, a short film about graphic artist R.L. Stine who turned the script into a comic book, a slideshow, and a trailer reel for other Cleopatra Entertainment releases. 

Overall, this is an enjoyable release, a creepy atmospheric coming-of-age chiller that looks beautiful and never outstays its welcome. Proof that you don’t need to have a massive amount of money or experience within the movie industry to make a good horror movie.