If a Tree Falls (2010)

Directed by: Gabriel Carrer | 85 minutes | horror, thriller | Actors: Breanne TeBoekhorst, Ryan Barrett, Jennifer De Lucia, Daniel Zuccala, Emily Alatalo, Kevin Lane, Reese Eveneshen, Gerrit Sepers, Jay Justin, Jason Barrett, Erin Stuart, Agnieszka Mlynarz, Paige Albrecht, Ivana Stojanovic, Lauren Garrick, Nathan Hawkins , Jenna Jade Rain, Andrew Seagram

An opening scene can make or break a movie. A good start will get you sucked into a movie and really get excited about it. Conversely, of course, the same is true. When a film starts badly, the tone is often already set and it is difficult to get the viewer into the story. The opening of ‘If a Tree Falls’ fits perfectly into the latter category. The film opens with a man and woman sitting in the car at night discussing their relationship and getting into an argument. Because this scene was filmed much too dark, you as a viewer see little more than a black screen. Then suddenly another car with a few masked men appears and the two are kidnapped. You won’t get to see anything about the fate of the two for the rest of the film. This opening scene is the starting signal for a fairly amateurish horror film.

‘If a Tree Falls’ rattles on all sides. What immediately stands out is the dramatic camera work. The makers seem to have deliberately chosen to portray the whole as poorly as possible. If that was the intent, then it was quite successful. For example, you often only see the characters half in the picture and the camera swings continuously from left to right, as if you are watching a tennis match. The consequence of this is that you can only half follow a number of scenes. It was clearly the intention of the makers with ‘If a Tree Falls’ to pay tribute to the ‘grindhouse’ films from the seventies (reasonably cheap, but at the time extremely popular films that often excelled through a lot of violence or sex, things that was still a taboo at the time). It is certainly a noble aim, but the entire film seems to have used the same (film) technique as in the seventies itself and even for a low budget production that is really below par.

Apart from the camera work, there is also something more to criticize about the film. It’s not just the opening scene that’s filmed way too dark. Later in the film, for example, there is a long scene that takes place at night in a tent and here you as a viewer are again looking at a black screen for a long time. ‘If a Tree Falls’ doesn’t like the story either. Four friends Vanessa (Breanne TeBoekhorst), Brad (Ryan Barrett), Lisa (Jennifer de Lucia) and Will (Daniel Zuccala) head into the Ontario (Canada) wilderness for their annual family reunion. During the first night, however, a group of masked youths disrupt their night’s rest and the foursome are kidnapped. You get to know very little about the motive of the perpetrators in the rest of the film. What follows are some strange torture scenes. For example, one of the boys is tortured by two others who continuously give him slaps with the flat hand and then caress him comfortingly through his hair before handing out corrective taps again. These scenes feel very strange and laughable rather than scary.

A good horror film takes more than a lot of blood and some screaming. Unfortunately, director Gabriel Carrer didn’t learn this lesson. Nowhere in the film will you be really shocked and there is no uneasy or mysterious atmosphere. Because you don’t get to know anything about the background of the characters, you will never really empathize with them. ‘If a Tree Falls’ feels like a very cheap production from the first second and also as a tribute to the films from the seventies it simply falls short. This film is at most worth watching for the absolute horror fan or those who still have nostalgia for the good old days of the past. If you don’t belong here, just ignore ‘If a Tree Falls’.