The Black Forest (aKa El bosque negro & A Mata Negra) is a 2018 independent horror film written, produced, special fx, & directed by Rodrigo Aragão (Mud Zombies, Dark Sea, A Noite do Chupacabras, & The Black Fables). In a forest in the heart of Brazil, a young woman sees her life change as well as the lives of everyone around her when she finds the Lost Book of Cipriano, whose magic, besides granting power and wealth to whoever possesses it, can unleash a terrible Evil on the Earth. When she accidentally unleashes the demonic powers of the book, her world veers into blood-splattered pandemonium as young Clara (played by: Carol Aragão from Dark Sea & Fantastic Women) resorts to casting one Satanic rite after another in her desperation to fix a long corpse-strewn trail of missteps!!!!
Rodrigo Aragão handled everything on this project! When a special fx artist directs a horror film, it’s a good sign for what’s to come & it was true with this feature. I didn’t know what to expect with The Black Forest but I was very impressed by the final product. It kinda reminded me of a Brazilian version of Evil Dead. The true highlight with this production was the special fx from Rodrigo Aragão. He delivered some gruesome visuals, bloody kills, & great looking zombies/monsters in this. It has a very small cast but the lead actress Carol Aragão had a really good performance here while dealing with chaos & some crazy shit because of her curiosity. This one is definitely under the radar but it’s worth hunting down & checking out. It’s very fun & entertaining plus it has strong replay value. I haven’t seen too many Brazilian horror flicks but I liked how it was shot & it had it’s own unique vibe. I love when independent horror is done right, it’s rare these days because it’s all about cashing in on bigger films & doing something fast for cheap. RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation & special features from Darkside Releasing! This 1080p transfer looks fantastic for it’s limited budget on this BD-R. The visual style & cinematography really stands out here. The original Portuguese audio track with English subtitles is provided on this release.The dialogue is very clean, the demonic madness is boosted, & the music is elevated here. As for the extras, it has a 20 minute “Behind the Scenes Documentary”. It has interviews with director Rodrigo Aragão, the cast, & the crew for the production. It has all kinds of behind the scenes footage but it’s actually more of a making of documentary.
Rodrigo chats about his fx work & his love for monsters here. He says that’s why he features so much in his films. They talk about the locations for movie. They bring up the visual style. They mention the cast & crew for The Black Forest. Rodrigo chats about working with lead actress Carol Aragão again. The cast & crew talk about their experience with director Rodrigo Aragão plus working on this. Basically the whole cast is involved with this extra. It has a good amount of the crew. & all of them go over the film. This is a great inside look into this small feature especially for the special fx. It’s in Portuguese with English subtitles. It has a variety of Darkside Releasing “Trailers”. It also includes a limited edition slipcover but that’s only guaranteed through the site & a full color 16 page booklet for this collector’s edition. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
