 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 2019 independent no-budget film Gray Woods plot. Yes every now and then I get someone who reaches out to me a filmmaker who's independent It's usually a no-budget film and they say hey, can you review this for me? Check it out do a review That was the case with this one Josh sorry Josh stifter want to make sure I got the last name right reached out to me He's with flush studios and he said would you be able to or he asked would you be able to? Review this film check it out see what you think and I was like yeah because I want to help out with Independent filmmakers now that said there's no bias here But that also said I'm not gonna do like a star rating for any of these reviews because it's impossible to compare a no-budget film To a film with an actual budget So like in the past that I've done with these no-budget films There will be no star rating at the end, but I will tell you the good and what you know Not so good that I saw in the film, which I will say off the bat. There's a lot of good with this film There's very little bad with this film, especially considering how low the budget is This is one. I'm going to highly highly highly recommend especially for people who are deep into horror and Also people who are into filmmaking in particular because I feel like you'll connect to it on some level because of that So here we go directed by Josh stifter who also directed films feature length films He's done some shorts as well the good exorcist and he's working on one called scumbag at the moment Written by stifter and Daniel Degnan Who also wrote the script for the good exorcist or worked on the script for that? Like I said no budget independent film and when I say no budget I say there was no budget the estimation on IMDB for the actual budget was about four thousand dollars, so no budget and Honestly, what was achieved here with no budget is kind of ridiculous It really for being a no-budget independent film is way better than it has any right to be and That's way better looking way better edited way better music to it way better story to it All aspects pretty much. I To be honest kind of blown away by how good this film is as an independent no-budget film. I mean It's great. So you got to check it out if for nothing other than to Support independent filmmakers. So anyway a very quick little synopsis It's about two friends one of which is a filmmaker and it's kind of you know Bringing his friend along with him trying to talk him into doing all sorts of films and stuff with him And he gets a video of a creature so he basically goes looking for this creature kind of like, you know, some sort of cryptid like a big foot or Mothman or Jersey Devil or anything like that and It's about that adventure basically and that's all I want to say about it because I don't want to give Too much away, but the film It changes Throughout the runtime and it's about I think with credits. It's like an hour and 22 minutes. So it's not a long film It's not a huge commitment time-wise to check out now One thing you do need to know about it is it's in black and white now I know some people don't really like watching films that are in black and white, but It's not a big deal and this film I think actually there's a lot of good in the black and white with it and I say that from the Perspective of it being a no-budget independent film because there are things that work better because of that In particular lighting is is better and easier because you don't have to get all the colors right CGI which there is some CGI used in this It is easier to pull that off and make it look decent or really good So yeah black and white was a good choice plus it looks classy I think it looks good and One of the things that did occur to me initially at like as soon as I started the film is it looks really really good The directing the cinematography looks really awesome. There are a lot of very interesting and inspired Camera shots that are in this film Directing wise I was kind of blown away that this was an independent no-budget film Because I've seen plenty of them and the directing is usually nowhere near as polished as this one is so pretty Pretty impressed with what stifter is able to do There's a creepy setup with ominous music in this But then a voiceover comes in and that's when things kind of shift a little bit So you learn that there is a comedic aspect to it, which I did not expect initially But it's very welcome because I will say that the comedy or the comedic aspects. It's not throughout Well, actually a little it is it's just it's more so in the beginning than it is in the end There's still some comedic stuff in the end, but it's heavier in the beginning which is fine with me But it's hard to get a good mixture of kind of comedic stuff with horror But I think it's done pretty well here and it also feels like it's natural for what the story is who the characters are And what the dialogue between those characters are so it really does work well I actually found myself laughing out loud a few times which I've said that before on reviews It is not easy to get me to do that because when I'm by myself I don't really laugh that much. I am the one of those people who like I'll laugh with other people when something's funny But I don't laugh by myself. So if I laugh by myself, it's actually funny. It's pretty funny So I really did enjoy the comedic aspect of it Stifter does a solid job with this acting in general the acting's kind of you know, it hits a range because it's a very low-budget film You know, I assume a bunch of people who acted in it were friends of stifter Which you know, I know from experience like that's what I had to do when I was doing short films You just had to see who's willing to work for free and just try and have some fun Maybe I'll buy you lunch that type of thing. So yeah So you get some not-so-great acting you get some decent acting and you get some better than you would think acting in this And I think stifter does quite a good job All things considered and there are some other people who you know end up having some solid performances as well So that's very welcome At times the dialogue does sound a little bit too clean for the environment. That is one of my small things But I will say that the that the dubbing over of the voices Does it like it is synced well, you know, sometimes with trying to do it in post and put the the audio back over It's a little bit tough to get it synced properly, but it's synced. Well My only small issue is there's one scene in particular that just came up where they're in a restaurant and the server Like they're their delivery of how their voice sounds with their lines. It's way too clean. It's too crisp It wouldn't be for that environment. So that's just a very small thing and it's very brief. So But I said I would present everything, you know, good and not so good that I noticed The music is very well matched with this Like I said, the music in this is better than you would expect for a no-budget in a pennant film and It's match. Well, you know all the scenes that it's used. They're matching the mood They're pushing the scene forward and complimenting the scene with the music that's used and it's good music It just sounds good Once again, the CGI gets some good help from the black and white usage a fan of that also their their instances where there's some CGI that you know If you take the time to like really stop and focus on it, it's not looking the best But that's part of the smarts with someone like stifter who knows that you can't you know Let people focus on things like that like super hard, you know You need to move the camera away from it or just have it kind of go on camera real quick You know things like it happens in a lot of films like CGI blood is one of the things which they use not CGI blood in this Most of the time. I think there was like there were like one or two moments I noticed in this film that they did use CGI blood But it is one of those things where it's just quick like you just kind of see it like fly and then it's done That's good because people can't focus on it and see that it it probably would look pretty wonky It wouldn't look like it's actually there so Done smartly The story alone can't actually fill the runtime. So there are scenes of the friends searching You know going through the woods and looking for this creature But the good thing is it's filled with comedic dialogue between the two now Not only is this time for the relationship to be fleshed out a little bit more between these characters But it's very good because of the comedic dialogue. It keeps you entertained So while it's trying to kind of stretch the runtime in a sense It doesn't feel like it's trying to stretch the runtime like you're getting actual entertainment out of it You're getting some good comedic moments. You're getting good banter. So I like that. I'm I'm all for it There are some animation segments that are worked into this and the reason for that being Stifter actually went to school for animation, which is cool And the animation in this looks really good once again much better than you would think From a no-budget independent film and the reason for that obviously being the filmmaker himself Can do animation. So usually you're not gonna get this quality level of animation for a film like this So yeah, it's just one of these instances where he happens to have a lot of skills and It makes a film that would be really hard to pull off easier to pull off Because of all of his skills Easier to pull off for him not other people The film takes an interesting turn that I actually wasn't expecting But it actually does make sense when you kind of you know, think back to some things that were already presented in the film So I like that a good twist. I'm always down for a twist You can see a lot of influence from older horror films and that influence influence is played in kind of two ways It's played as parody, but it's also played as homage at the same time, which I quite enjoy. I love that I love someone who can make fun of something But at the same time let you know that in the same breath that you love it that that you're trying to pay homage to it So that's that's well done In the end this hits as a range of atmosphere It goes from funny to creepy to disturbing and it truly is a progression I mean the whole film is a real progression and it does get crazier as it goes on It goes from being lighter to being much darker. I literally felt Disturbed at times towards the end, which I usually don't feel all that often with films. So Well done. That speaks to his ability to kind of weave a really good atmosphere Not only through the cinematography and the directing and the acting but also through the music So yeah, and the writing obviously I Do think the end drags at certain points? So I would recommend considering cutting the end down a little bit There's there's some long port longer portions of some dialogue at the end that They just seem to go on a little bit too long and don't add enough in my opinion So I would see that as a place to kind of cut down on some of the runtime I know it's tough like when you're making a film you kind of want to get as close to an hour and a half as possible But you know what if the the smash success host has taught us anything That was like 58 minutes or something. You don't really have to hold to these runtimes nowadays. So Don't be afraid to kind of cut things down a little bit more make it a little bit tighter And for the most part like I was saying it doesn't feel like times being wasted except a little bit at the end It's just it just goes on a little too a little too long some of those scenes Directing the cinematography super polished big achievement big achievement. I want to nail that home a Lot about this film reminds me of my days making short films with my buddies And that's one of the reasons I said that if you're you know, if you've done filmmaking or you do independent filmmaking This is a great one to watch because you will be able to relate with some stuff Like there are some things you'll see only be like. Ah, yeah, that reminds me of myself Joe Bob Briggs, okay I'm gonna bring this up because I know some people who see this will be big last drive-in Joe Bob Briggs fans Joe Bob Briggs had a long speech About creativity making film and making things happen during one of his episodes this past season I believe that was the one with one cut of the dead This film is the example of that and the reason I'm saying this is because we should support People like this people who are obviously driven who have the skills But don't have the support yet and don't have the budget to do bigger and better things and go further when they should be able to I want to see what Josh stifter and his crew can do with an actual budget if he can do this Greywoods plot with around four thousand dollars. What can he do with a six-figure budget? I can't even imagine the skills are there and I want to see what could come next So for that reason I'm gonna kind of send out a call Retweet this review or even if you don't want or retweet it post on social media throw it out wherever or if you don't want to Support me in that way. That's fine. I'm mainly just calling for you to support Josh stifter and Flush studios and this film Greywoods plot because I really do believe in it I think it's outstanding and you should see it Put it out there get as much traction as you can for it I would be grateful for that because these are the types of people We should be raising up and trying to get to the upper echelons where they can create even better stuff Even bigger stuff. I'm all about it So one of the things you can do also is you can follow flush studios on social media And you can check out the website Josh stifter.com. That's Josh J. O. S. H. Stifter S T I F T E R com And also if you want to see the film now You can do that by becoming a patron on their patreon page and their patreon page is patreon.com Slash flush studios flushes and flushing a toilet. So flush studios. Also, you can probably just google flush studios just so you know And my last my last thing I put down on here was somebody give this dude a budget I need to see what he can do. We all do and Wholeheartedly, I grew with that. So like I said Not gonna give a star rating on this or anything, but obviously I really enjoyed this film It was a huge awesome surprise and I would love honestly If this would get picked up by shutter as one of their shutter exclusives I know that Josh had informed me that this film is gonna be hitting the festival circuit soon So hey, if you want to get ahead of that if you want to get ahead of the hype go to the patreon page pledge a Certain amount of money and you will be able to do that I think the the memberships are $1 a month five and ten So nothing crazy expensive if you can spare some cash Do it because it's definitely for a good cause. So anyway quite enjoyed this. This was awesome Let's put some comments down here If you've seen the film or if you end up seeing the film and you want to come back to this We can comment. We can do spoilers down in the comments. I'm I'm good with that Unless Josh comments down there and says no, don't do spoilers That's up to him, but great film. Definitely check it out Do me a quick favor though hit that subscribe button If you want to support me if you like this video if you like any video I've ever done that is your way to repay me no money or anything like that Just become a subscriber become a part of this horror nerd group that I call my channel Also hit the notification bell because then you'll know when I'm posting other movie reviews or haul videos or unboxings Or any of that jazz, but regardless I really do appreciate you taking the time to check this video out and until next time Keep it brutal