Movie Review: Wellwood

Watching low budget horror movies is a very hit or miss proposition, as anyone who’s ever casually turned on the SyFy channel can attest. It’s nice then to put one on and discover that it is at least competently made and has some interesting things to say, like Wellwood, the feature debut of director Eliza Hooper and writer Reid Collums (who also costars). It’s obvious that a lot of love and craft was put into this little film, but unfortunately some pacing issues drag it down.

Laura (Camille Balsamo-Gillis) and Nick (screenwriter Collums) are spending their vacation in a well-appointed but isolated cottage in the woods. Laura has been diagnosed with a terminal disease and so the couple are hoping to enjoy a romantic trip together, cut off from the worries of the outside world. The first night there, Laura announces that she no longer wishes to continue her course of treatment, as it only seems to be making the time she has left worse, and Nick does not take it well leading to a minor argument. Laura heads to bed alone and Nick passes out on the front porch after finishing off a bottle of liquor.

He is awakened in the night by a loud noise and sees bright lights emanating from the nearby trees and, of course, decides to investigate. He is shocked to find what appears to be a crashed alien craft, with an injured lifeform nearby that appears to be healing itself with its blood. Instantly wondering if this discovery could be used to cure his wife, he carries the lifeless body back to the rental and ties it up in the toolshed out back.

Over the next day, his wife notices his suddenly cagey demeanor and frequent absences as he pops into the shed to experiment with the alien’s blood, much to the now-awake being’s audible displeasure, and sets about trying to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, local deputy Gracie Marsh (Keisha Castle-Hughes) is trying to convince the Sheriff (Lance E. Nichols) that someone should head out to the woods around the couple’s rental to investigate the strange events of the previous night.

It’s an interesting way to reflect on the grief of losing a loved one before your eyes while probing the lengths that we might go to try and prevent it from happening, but too much time is spent in somewhat repetitive discussions at the cost of suspense. The alien creature looks better than its low budget would lead one to believe and goes through some interesting transformations on its way to becoming a genuine threat, but by the time that happens the movie is nearly over. If you happen to stumble upon this movie it’s worth a watch just to see how much the filmmakers are able to achieve with so little, but only die-hard genre aficionados will want to actively seek it out. ★★