Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Arbor Demon’

Written by Scott Edwards 

​The thought of growing up can be frightening to many people, myself included. While I have graduated to doing my own laundry and paying all of my bills, I thought that being an adult would be different when all was said and done, but it seems to only be more expensive. Yet there are benefits to being a grown up, besides paying taxes and worrying if you will make next month’s rent, you get to foster stronger relationships. Looking back to your childhood relationships versus the ones you harbor as an adult, you can see that there is a massive change in what they are really all about and that should be nothing to frown upon.
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After her morning workout, Dana (a.k.a. Nails) sees her husband struggling to get out of bed. Telling him to cut it out and actually get up, Dana does not want to see him leave her on tour for six months. But with music being his dream, Charles is happy to be out of the medic role and in a band that will produce much more money for the homestead. Joking about what he will be doing while on the road, he is happy to present his wife a lovely anniversary gift that she can use on their next camping outing. With something special to tell him, Dana is happy to be heading out to the wilderness, away from all of the technology that has impeded their relationship.

While driving out to the forest, Dana wants to know how Charles feels about adding to their little band with a baby rock star. Saying that they are not one of those couples that have kids, Dana has kept this secret much longer than she expected to. Getting into the woods and finding the spot where he proposed to his darling wife, the couple sets up camp and goes to sleep. But they are not alone in the woods as Dana finds out when she hears shots in the middle of the night. Waking up and telling Charles what she heard, she is concerned that there is some bad omen surrounding the trip, but Charles wants to keep on going.

Trekking deeper into the woods, the couple comes across the old campsite of some hunters, and she finds a book about carrying a baby. Hearing strange whispering, she keeps the book hidden from her husband and continues on with the hike. Finding another perfect spot to hold up for the night, the couple is shocked when they are only yards away from the hunting party that is blowing off steam. While listening to the men having a great drunken time, they also find that there is something much more sinister in the woods than just these men. Hearing the call of a strange creature and watching as it tears the group to shreds, Charles spots one survivor and brings him back to the tent. Listening to their new friend Sean re-tell a story that he was told about the woods, Dana and Charles are in for a life changing event in their relationship.

With the common relationship banter to start off the movie, it really takes off when you meet Sean and that is not a bad thing. Trying to find out more and more about the couple, including trying to make a move on the married Dana, he knows what is hunting them in the woods and knows how to escape it, really adding to the tension in the tent. After coming face to face with the wooded creature, Dana has some self-reflecting to do and while she knows that she wants to have the baby, everything becomes clear to her, and she is forced to choose whether or not she will be a wooded person as well. With morning sickness, a clueless husband, a disbanded hunting party, a creepy stranger, a legend of the woods, some gun fire and lost women who love their home, it really is an interesting concept overall. I really wish there was a little more background of the women of the woods, but there was enough to understand why they have become what they have become, because nobody wants to be in loveless marriage. Stay Scared.

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