Deathwoods (2026) Review – Throwback 80s-Style Slasher is Quite Fun

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are taking a look at a proper throwback slasher in the form of Deathwoods (2026). This movie is a love letter to the 80s masked killer, b-movie trend in just about every way possible…. and that is for better or for worse depending on your perspective. Let’s take a look.

A Real 80s Throwback Slasher

If the front cover isn’t enough to clue you in on just what directors Jake Kopronica and Deryk Wehrley are going for with Deathwoods, the first ten minutes of the film should leave you in no doubt.

“The directive was pretty simple: bring horror fans a grindhouse style slasher reminiscent of the classics we all grew up with.”

The movie kicks off with a properly camp, properly old fashioned, grainy slasher sequence featuring everything that made this era of horror so instantly recognisable. It’s cheesy, it’s poorly acted, and it’s all a bit farcical.

That’s merely to set the scene, however, and introduce you to our masked killer. While the aesthetic will stick around, the story will expand quite a bit.

Instead of the small group we meet early on, we will be following the recently dumped, and rather depressed, Scott (Anthony Dain) and his friends as they head out on a camping trip to try and lift his spirits.

I’m sure you know what to expect, here. It’s a bunch of friends having a good time until they are eventually picked off by an unknown assailant. Slashers are simple and Deathwoods is not about to let the viewer get lost in the reeds when it comes to narrative. Well, not until later on, anyway.

A Commitment to the form

Deathwoods was actually a crowdfunded, Indiegogo project launched by writer Scott Conner. It managed to hit its $10,000 goal, though it fell short of the $30,000 stretch.

The directive was pretty simple: bring horror fans a grindhouse style slasher reminiscent of the “classics we all grew up with”. The team has obviously tried to stay true to that mission goal. This has all the hallmarks of the era that inspired it.

Deathwoods features a deliberately camp tone, a ton of practical based kills, an utterly ridiculous plot, a sizeable dose of titillation, and more boob references than you can shake a bloody knife at. From that perspective, it’s safe to say mission accomplished.

The aesthetics are a little strange, though. I believe this is digitally filmed in an ultra-modern feeling, super-widescreen 2.35:1 aspect with artificial grain and film-noise added in post.

There’s a bit of a contrast between the modern aesthetics and the noisy picture that doesn’t quite work. It doesn’t feel authentic and, at times, it even feels a bit confused. The very modern, washed-out colour grading doesn’t help.

I feel like a 1.85:1 aspect would have been a bit more fitting for that low-budget, grindhouse effect, as well as upping the yellow tone and varying the colour-grading quite a lot between shots. Make it look like it was actually produced on old bits of mismatched film.

I think those changes would have pushed the modern aesthetic to the background a little, as well, and made the noise and grain look a little more fitting.

Some things work quite well

Highlighting the good stuff, first… Deathwoods does a nice job of capturing that fun 80s slasher vibe. The kills are loads of fun, the practical effects are full of character and well executed, and the action goes at a pretty nice clip, once it gets going.

The story is simple enough to just exist without being too obstructive and the plot does a pretty nice job of getting out of the way once the pace picks up in the last third.

It’s a fun flick to just switch off your brain, chill-out and enjoy.

Coming in at 83 minutes, it’s the ideal length for a slasher. Acting performances are generally fine, as well. I especially enjoyed MacKenzie Lee, as Jessica, and Celeste Blandon, as Tiffany. Gotta give a big shout out to the Felissa Rose and Jessa Flux cameos, as well.

I think everyone here knew exactly what the directive was and hammed it up in the best way possible.

“It’s a fun flick to just switch off your brain, chill-out and enjoy.”

Cinematography is very restrained and avoids the usual low-budget pitfalls of spasmodic, overly excited movement. Weirdly enough, however, I think that contrasts against the intended grindhouse style. A little more of a kinetic approach would have probably been quite welcome, here.

Other things, not so much

There are some fairly noteworthy issues that we should talk about, however.

Deathwoods spends far too long trying to be a teen-comedy about friends camping together in the woods. We are at the 45+ minute mark before the killings really get going. That’s just ridiculous and the lackadaisical script has nowhere near enough zingers to keep it interesting.

There isn’t even any tension or threat to keep the preamble engaging. It’s just extremely rote comedy-drama through the lens of a fairly obnoxious group of people.

There’s a lot of relationship drama, too, that will probably have you rolling your eyes wondering why the script focuses so heavily on that rather than eliminating the problem by butchering the parties involved.

A small cast of side characters makes an appearance purely to be murdered off one by one, but even they spend an inordinate amount of time rambling before biting the bullet. It gets boring pretty quickly and lots of viewers will check out before they ever get to the action.

Flashback scenes hint at the big reveal later in the film but the context kind of evaporates due to the protracted camping shenanigans. Said big reveal doesn’t particularly land, either, though it does set up a potential sequel.

It seems unfair to criticise this movie for being formulaic because, in a way, that’s what it is going for, but it does have to be said. Kills aren’t at all surprising and you will see almost every plot beat coming.

“We are at the 45+ minute mark before the killings really get going. That’s just ridiculous”

With all of that having been said, I did still enjoy Deathwoods quite a lot. I think its audience is limited just by the nature of the film, the low-budget, and that rather dull middle section but if you are looking for retro kills, there’s still a watchable movie, here. It’s on Screambox right now.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.