Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Actors: Stephen Moyer, Mia Kirshner, Erik Knudsen, Allie MacDonald, Shawn Ashmore
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: ANCHOR BAY
DVD Release Date: October 9, 2012
Run Time: 97 minutes
Film: 3 out of 5 stars
Extras: 2 out of 5 stars
Writer/director Darren Lynn Bousman is known best for this work “Saw II-IV”. I am not sure why his films seem to get no respect. “Repo! The Genetic Opera” tanked in theaters, but is now a cult classic. “Mother’s Day” was also great and never even made it to theaters. “The Devil Carnival” was only in theaters since it was completely self-funded. You would think that “The Barrens” would be different especially with a cast like Stephen Moyer (“True Blood” and Mia Kirshner (“The Vampire Diaries”). The film focuses on the legend of the Jersey Devil and does take a while to get started but once it does it delivers in terms of horror.
Official Premise: It’s known as the Jersey Devil, the winged beast spawned 400 years ago by Satan himself. Some say this creature still inhabits the dense pine forests of southern New Jersey, where Richard Vineyard (Stephen Moyer, True Blood) takes his family for a rustic weekend camping trip. As the Vineyard family ventures further into the woods in search of the perfect campsite, Richard teeters on the edge of sanity. And it seems that the blood-crazed demon called The Jersey Devil may no longer be just a myth.
This release comes in a combo pack with a Blu-ray and DVD disc. The 1080p transfer doesn’t really break the barriers of the format but did look sharp and clear. The audio track works well with its Dolby TrueHD 5.1. The special features are nothing special either. There is a decent audio commentary with Writer/Director Darren Lynn Bousman and Director of Photography Joseph White. Besides that there is only a deleted scene left for the extras.
