“My humor is a bit abstract.”
— Victor Browning (Bill Oberst, Jr.)
“He’s a very strange guy.”
— Edith (Laura Ellen Wilson)
A Stranger In The Woods opens with a car driving into the woods. The skies are cloudy. The road is isolated. It’s unsettling because, other than the driver of the car, there aren’t any other people around. Other than the road, there are no signs of civilization. It’s the type of image that causes the viewer to consider just how much we take for granted the idea of interacting with other people and living in a world where our needs are taken care of. Today, we view anyone who would separate themselves from civilization as being an eccentric. In the past, though, that was how most people lived. They lived alone in home that they built for themselves and visitors and strangers were viewed with suspicion. It’s a way of life that many people had forced upon them from 2020 to 2021 and it led to the anger and societal anxiety that is still shaking the world today. Living in isolation is not easy for most people in the modern world, which is perhaps why we are so fascinated with people who can actually handle it.
Driving the car is Edith (Laura Ellen Wilson), a 20-something film student who has been given a tip by one of her professors. There is a man named Victor Browning (Bill Oberst, Jr.) who lives by himself in the woods. He’s known for being a bit off-key but he is considered to be generally harmless. He lives in a cabin, spending his time in what appears to be self-imposed exile from the world. He only occasionally leaves his cabin so he can get supplies. Victor has agreed to be interviewed by Edith for a student documentary.
The first meeting with Victor is a bit awkward but he soon starts to open up to Edith. Victor seems to be friendly and polite, even if he does appear to be a bit haunted by things that happened in the past. Then again, Edith has things in her past that haunt her as well. However, as Edith’s stay with Victor continues, she starts to notice some odd and eventually disturbing things about Victor and his isolated existence….
A Stranger In The Woods is a found footage film, playing out as a combination of the footage that Edith shot for her documentary and audio recordings of phone calls that she placed to various people. As a result, we learn about Victor’s secrets along with Edith. Like Edith, we start the film liking Victor for his shy manners and his seemingly gentle sense of humor and, just like Edith, we are shocked to witness his sudden changes in mood and his seeming reluctance to discuss certain aspects of his life. Bill Oberst, Jr. gives a performance that keeps you guessing about just who Victor is and what he’s doing out in the woods. Oberst is sometimes likable and sometimes frightening and he always keeps the audience from getting too complacent while watching the story unfold. Victor Browning’s name brings to mind such Universal horror icons as Victor Frankenstein and director Tod Browning and, like the characters who appeared in those classic horror films, he is compelling even when we’re not sure what’s going on inside his head.
A Stranger In The Woods is an atmospheric film, one that understands that there’s nothing scarier than being alone in the middle of nowhere in the dark. Victor is a fascinating character and fans of 70s horror will want to watch for Lynn Lowry’s cameo during the second half of the film. A Stranger In The Woods is an effectively creepy portrait of a very strange guy.
Through the Shattered Lens