BLOODWOOD CANNIBALS is once again another dull indie horror flick set in the local woods. A couple of extremely lame Bigfoot hunters head off on a hunt for a remarkable creature, but instead find a random cannibal tribe with a penchant for human flesh. What follows is an odyssey of wooden acting, terrible costumes, cheap gore effects, and very bad action scenes, although not until the very end. It's lame and inane.

The crew of the reality TV series "Hunting the Unknown" venture into the remote wilderness to film a segment on Bigfoot. Instead they stumble across a lethal clan of ferocious feral cannibals. Writer/director Joshua A. Siegel relates the entertaining story at a brisk pace, delivers a handy helping of gruesome gore, makes good use of the isolated sylvan setting, develops a reasonable amount of tension, and tops everything off with an amusing sense of lowbrow humor. Moreover, it's acted with zest by an enthusiastic cast, with especially commendable work from Nathan Anthony Carter as pompous charlatan show host Nigel Thorne, Kate Forsyth Corey as spunky long-suffering producer Lindsey Amos, Matthew Corbett Davis as rugged guide Roy Henderson, Siegel as obnoxious jerk Dave Nelson, Darren Courtney as amiable cameraman Mark Cavanaugh, and Cori Jenab as eager rookie TJ Lane. The flesh-eating freaks are pretty frightening: Joe Calavita makes a strong impression as fearsome leader Big Papa and Steve I. Everson is quite unnerving as the maniacal Hyena. The grim tone gets more progressively bleak and upsetting as the plot unfolds. Everson's crisp cinematography provides a pleasing polished look. The lively primal score by Brent Walsh and Martijn de Man does the rousing trick. A solid little shocker.

At first, I thought this movie was going to be so low budget that it'd be unwatchable, but I overcame the impulse to turn it off and soldiered on. Am I glad that I did? I suppose so. Some of the special effects were laughably bad (which kind of kills the appeal of watching a splatter movie), the acting was atrocious in a few scenes (I suppose they didn't have enough money to reshoot those scenes, unfortunately), and the whole virus/cannibal thing was pretty old ten years ago, but -- and here's the thing that saved the movie for me -- it was done with such enthusiasm, I couldn't help but like it. I can't really recommend this movie to anyone except Troma fans, who are likely to forgive the flaws in any movie that has nudity and gore. Just be forewarned that the nudity is fleeting and the gore very cheaply done.I hope that if the director does more movies, they won't be as stereotypical and uncreative, but, as a first effort, this really isn't so bad. Even James Cameron had to start with Piranha 2.

This movie will not get an Oscar. But, I absolutely loved watching it. Three times so far. It's a wonderful, absolutely perfect B-Movie, independent horror movie. Great, bloody gore, boobies, and above all, an enthusiasm by the actors and film makers that makes it incredible. Yes, it's not as fast paced as today's MTV audience would like, but I was never bored. This movie made me happy, happy, happy. Happy that people are out there making crazy, crappy, fun, gory, B-Horror films. Loved it. Apparently this is one of the film makers earlier films, and I understand it is not perfect, but, wow, it was truly fun to watch. The editing in the final portion of the film was great. I cannot wait to see more from this filmmaker. Why do people make movies that are so serious and "real' all the time. Make 'em FUN. This is one of those! Popcorn deliciousness.