Enclosure Review | Road Rash Reviews

3 stars of thriller/creature feature.

Enclosure (also known as Arbor Demon) is written by Michelle Davidson (Lucky, Boss) and Patrick Rea (House Mother, Nailbiter), who also directed.

“Nails suits you. Mummy doesn’t…”

Dana (Fiona Dourif – Manhattan, Curse of Chucky), or Nails as she’s known by her husband Charles (Kevin Ryan – Laredo, Copper) is an adventurous would-be photographer. Charles is a paramedic who is about to give it all up to pursue his lifelong dream of touring with his band.

Dana has recently become broody, despite the couple having agreed that they wouldn’t have children, so tensions are running somewhat high. They decide to head off to do some camping in the woods where Charles proposed to her, to celebrate their anniversary before he leaves on tour.

As soon as they arrive on the island they realise they might not get the peace and quiet they were hoping for, as they hear a rowdy group of hunters, shouting and firing guns into the air. Things go further downhill as they make camp within sight of theirs and any hope of a good night’s sleep goes out of the window.

Things change however, the shouting turns to screaming and practically the entire hunters camp is wiped out by an unseen creature, leaving the couple trapped in their tent. Charles manages to rescue a badly injured hunter, Sean (Jake Busey – Enemy of the State, Starship Troopers) although he doesn’t seem as grateful as you would expect and it soon becomes unclear where the greater threat lies.

Enclosure is a strange film. It starts out as the standard “camping in the woods with no contact with the outside world” and the tension is well developed and the acting good. Then all of a sudden it turns into a creature feature, which is unexpected and not necessarily a good thing. The creatures aren’t particularly scary and neither are their motives really explained outside of a vague folklore, which almost, but not quite, makes sense.

The appearance of the creatures effectively removes any suspense that had previously been created, which is a shame, although it’s still an enjoyable watch. Not a classic, but worth a look.

“I’m sorry, but you don’t have what it takes. No-one does.”