ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Exploitation-film historian A.C. Nicholas, who has a sketchy background and hails from parts unknown in Western Pennsylvania, was once a drive-in theater projectionist and disk jockey. In addition to being a writer, editor, podcaster, voice-over artist, and stand-up comedian, he’s a regular guest co-host on the streaming Drive-In Asylum Double Feature and has been a guest on Making Tarantino: The Podcast. He also contributes to the Drive-In Asylum fanzine and the Horror and Sons website. His most recent essay, “Of Punks and Stains and Student Films: A Tribute to Night Flight, the 80s Late-Night Cult Sensation,” appeared in Drive-In Asylum #26.

I enjoy regional horror films. Indeed, the modern age of horror films was kicked off in 1968 with the release of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, which was filmed in Pittsburgh. I’ve been watching a lot of Dixieland microbudget films lately. They often share cast and crew members, and while some are better than others, the biggest thing that they have in common is moxie. Their filmmakers each had a dream of making a film and not only hustled up the money (usually under $100,000), but also finished their films and secured distribution. To that, they have my sincerest congratulations on completing these Herculean tasks. Today, we look at the first film of Arkansas writer/producer/director Jason Pitts, The Forest Through the Trees.

Pitts has fashioned a satanic cult film where a young woman (Annie Sullivan), along with her lover (Alivea Disney) and her stepfather (James Stokes), runs afoul of a demon cult in that forest through the trees. Daughter and stepfather have not been on good terms, especially since the disappearance of the daughter’s mother (Anna Hardwick), who suddenly returned to the cult that controlled her as a young woman. Evincing some larger notes, the film progresses as an existential story of personal sacrifice for each of the main characters, with gory make-up effects and plot twists along the way.

At the screening I attended at the promising new Columbia, South Carolina venue The Babylon Kino, Pitts cited films like Hereditary, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, and Rosemary’s Baby and the TV show Lucifer as influences. While I get those references—particularly the homage to Julian Kane, the creepy preacher with the hat from Poltergeist II—I noticed touches reminding me of Enter the Devil (1972), a regional horror film about a satanic cult in the desert; Ti West’s much-loved 70s throwback film, The House of the Devil (2009); and The Prophecy (1995), with Christopher Walken as the Angel Gabriel on Earth.

Overall, this is an above-average film from a filmmaker whose previous effort was the well-received fan film Vorhees Night of the Beast (2021), where Friday the 13th’s Jason (Stokes) fought Bigfoot (professional wrestler Jacob Southwick). Low budget doesn’t necessarily mean low quality, and Pitts gets strong performances from Stokes, Disney, and Scott Doss, who, with hat, bolo tie, and malevolent cackle, does a grand job channeling the late actor Julian Beck from Poltergeist II. Pitts is a natural with casting and directing actors, and his dialogue generally sounds authentic. 

That said, my biggest issues with the film are pacing and consistency of style. The film runs 107 minutes, which is about 25 minutes too long. (Apart from saving money on shipping film canisters, Roger Corman knew that 82-minute films didn’t usually outstay their welcome.) Now, understandably, a microbudget doesn’t lend itself to big set pieces, and while Pitts does well with his violence and gore, some of which is unsettling, the film is a lot of talk before its neat hellzapoppin’ third act. Doss is so good doing his “we are here for the final sacrifice in three parts” (almost underscoring the padding), but he would have been even more effective with less speechifying.

The film’s technical credits are generally pro throughout—a shout-out to Italian composer Simone Cilio’s effective score—but I wish the film, especially some of the nighttime shots, looked a little more balanced. Though not a hindrance to enjoying it, skin tones, for example, shouldn’t look good in some scenes and like the actors had jaundice in others.

At the end of the day, Jason Pitts and his cast and crew should be proud of what they accomplished for so little money. I wish them well and look forward to their future film projects. 

The Forest Through the Trees from BayView Entertainment, the New Jersey distributor friendly to microbudget filmmakers, will soon be available on streaming services. Support regional filmmaking and check it out.