**_A hamlet is harassed by a group of sacrificing weirdos_** A detective from the town of Nazareth (Christopher Wolfe) drowns out his tragic past with alcohol while investigating the peculiar murder of a woman tied to a tree, which smacks of an occultic ritual. “The Woodsman” (2020) is a crime drama/thriller with some horror bits. It was helmed by writer/director Paul Leach and only cost $15,000. He also did the well-done score, which is sometimes too loud, but that’s a minor criticism. The crew consisted of two people—the cameraman and one other person (I’m guessing the boom operator). With such a miniscule budget and crew, the movie’s actually pretty impressive. Most of the non-budget was likely spent on the actors and their amenities. I say this because the actors do an effective job compared to the non-actors in other no-budget Indies. Of course the average viewer doesn’t care about a film’s resources or behind-the-scenes details. All they want is a movie that captures their attention and entertains them one way or another for the runtime. This one does so fairly well, but the proceedings aren’t very realistic and the cultists are more eye-rolling in a cartoonish way than threatening. Still, the key cast members are effective, I appreciated the spiritual elements and the film leaves you with a good feeling despite the horrific happenings. The movie runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and, from what I can gather, was shot in the Los Angeles area. GRADE: C

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