The Forest Hills Review Revisited
The Forest Hills Review Revisited

The Forest Hills Review Revisited

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Just over a year ago I was a brand-new culture writer doing interviews with film directors, writing movie, music, and art reviews and after much hand-wringing, I wrote my first somewhat negative film review. It was about a horror film that had screened at the Salem Horror Fest called The Forest Hills which was written, directed, and produced by Scott Goldberg.

The Forest Hills has the distinction of being Shelley Duvall’s final film. As politely as I knew how to be, I said that the film was a hot mess with potential. A final edit of the movie was just released in a limited screening at a few theaters across the country and I had the distinct pleasure of seeing it on the big screen once again. I was curious as to what changes had been made and whether it would make the film any easier to watch.

Happily, there were some massive changes to the film including new scenes, some new characters, and the scenes with Shelley Duvall as Mama were greatly expanded. The resulting product is, as I said before “bizarre, uncomfortable to watch—in the best way possible.” I truly felt like I was going insane as I watched this film.

As someone who has struggled with the effects of psychosis and has gone through countless new psych medications and med changes, I really identified with the struggles of Rico (Chiko Mendez) in his search for reality. When Rico says he feels like his “brain is scattered” the audience of The Forest Hills can relate because the film they are watching is so delightfully scattered.

Rico is haunted by memories, real or imagined, and stalked by what may be a supernatural creature. But the question is, is there a monster stalking Rico, or is the monster within him? The ground is constantly shifting in this film, Rico is an unreliable narrator, there is no character who serves to anchor the audience to reality leaving the audience to be washed along by the waters of the film, unable to get a firm grasp on reality.

Through it all, Rico’s humanity shines through, even when he’s on his hands and knees howling at the moon. The Forest Hills really leaned into the horror of Rico not knowing what was real or imagined.

Mendez is brilliant as Rico, his mood swings from sincere, to terrified, to hysterical and back are played to perfection. He carries the film beautifully and engenders a sympathy for Rico that other actors might not have managed to obtain. Duvall was powerful as the cruel and unstable, terminally ill, Mama. Edward Furlong (Terminator 2: Judgement Day) played Rico’s friend, Billy and did so with an underlying sense of humor that was exactly what the film needed.

Dee Wallace (E.T.) made a short, but memorable cameo as Rico’s boss. Added to this version of the film were some flashback scenes with a Duvall look alike playing the young Mama. This was a clever device and really tied the film together giving it some needed backstory.

The film wasn’t perfect, there were some issues such as scenes near the end that cut between wet blood, to dried blood, and then back to wet blood. There was some stilted acting. There were some continuity issues with where and when certain things were taking place.

At times it felt like the plots to 4 or 5 horror movies had been thrown into a blender and the resulting concoction splattered onto the screen. But this version of the film was a marked improvement over the Director’s Cut and a remarkable new film to add to the horror genre.

There were some genuine flashes of brilliance such as a de facto shot of a bucket of smoked cigarette butts outside of a lung cancer patient’s house, some excellent use of black and white video, and some gorgeous shots of Rico running in the dark with only a torch to provide light.

This is the kind of movie that sticks with you long after you’ve watched it. Coming to mind at odd moments in a slow burn. It’s a movie that you want to watch multiple times to look for clues as to what is really happening. The Forest Hills is a perfect weekend afternoon movie.

I wouldn’t recommend watching it after dark because some of the disturbing imagery has the capability of lingering in the back of your mind as you try to fall asleep. This movie might not have received a lot of attention if it hadn’t been Duvall’s final movie, but her passing and the attention that engenders means more people will be exposed to this remarkable horror film with its powerful message.


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