The Boonies plays very close to its inspiration. You’ll see bits of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Wrong Turn and even a dash of The Hills Have Eyes. There’s a fine line between paying homage to classics and just creating pale impersonations. Unfortunately, The Boonies falls hard into the latter.

A trio of friends are heading deep into the woods for a weekend of camping and partying. As they stop for a quick bite in a local restaurant, an altercation leads to tensions mounting between them and the locals as well as within the friends. After hiking to their spot, they meet up with the rest of the group. From here, people are picked off one by one leading to fight for survival against a family with unconventional tastes. If that sounds familiar to you, you’re not the only one.

The one of the biggest problems this movie faces are the characters. They are just so insufferable. I mean that almost all of them are so unlikable and/or obnoxious that you’re just hoping for a third act twist that involves everyone dying. From the over-the-top acting to the grating dialog is just too much. I get that some of them are supposed to be “fish out of water” city folks going camping but “wearing flip flops because you can’t be bothered to buy actual shoes for your brothers bachelor party” is not a character trait.

The actors ultimately do what they can with the material but there’s only so much you can do with what is written. With that said, two stand outs are Christine Mancini as Mama and Jess Uhler as Hailey. This is Jess Uhler’s first feature role, and she is able to balance being someone in an awful situation without ever falling into damsel in distress territory and a strong fighter without coming off as a secret MI6 agent. The real star of the show is Christine though. The way she delivers her lines is captivating and while the material isn’t all too strong, she is able to command the performance with ease. All this just leaves me wishing I were watching her in something better.

A lot of this could be overlooked if The Boonies were slick and well made. But it is not. The editing and cinematography are okay. Nothing stands out one way or another. The action is easy to follow, and the scene changes consistent.  The offender here is the sound. The audio levels are all over the place. With screaming sounding like they literally were screaming into the microphone, distortion, and all.  This issue carries all through out the film.

The Boonies is a film made with love for old school slasher/backwater movies. But that admiration can only take you so far. Without adding your own take on the genre, you will end up with a dull copycat instead of something that could be paying tribute. The few bright spots aren’t enough to even recommend this to fans for the horror sub-genre. You would be better of watching any of films that inspired The Boonies or just take your chances in going camping in the backwoods. Even if you do have a run in with cannibal hillbillies, you’ll find them more enjoyable company then any of the characters in the movie.