Four friends, an isolated cottage, and a host of sinister locals. When a dismembered body is found in the woods, Kelly (Kelly Kay) and her friends face a desperate fight for survival in the bitter Canadian wilderness. Or do they? With Kelly suffering terrible nightmares and hallucinations, can she separate fantasy and reality for long enough to lead her friends to safety? It’s your typical cabin-in-the-woods horror film, but this time: Canada.
If a little novelty goes a long way, director James Watts’s micro budget Indie makes the most of its chilly winter environment. For a film of this budget and scale, Death Trip looks great, like a really cheap Fargo. It sounds solid too, with a suitably jangly and discomforting soundtrack setting an effective mood. Even the cast are a cut above the usual super low-budget lot, making this death trip a more tolerable experience than most.
Still, its limitations are there, and most noticeable in the languid pacing, overly talky script and lengthy runtime. Watts disguises the fact that not much happens for the first hour with nightmare sequences, a house party and the odd creepy non-sequitur, but it’s not enough. Most of it is just the friends – and their extra friends – either talking in circles or running around in circles. At 100 minutes, it’s kind of a slog. In this respect, Death Trip perfectly encapsulates the experience of being stuck at a tiresome house party, just wanting to leave.
