The Forest Hills, Werewolves, Brain Injuries, and Madness

Admittedly, this will be a difficult one to defend...but I will. Great cast. Dee Wallace! Felissa Rose! Shelley Duvall! Not just cameos, but all significant roles. Ms. Duvall plays her role so well in this brutal horror flick that we wince every time she is on the screen. Gore! A death count that will be astronomical! The most psycho of psychos ever put on the silver screen!  Our feature today is 2023's "The Forest Hills," directed by Scott Goldberg.

Rico (Chiko Mendez). Pure psycho.  Homicidal psycho. Head injuries, demented parents, abuse, and werewolves did not help his upbringing...thus he is insane. As our film begins he gets word that his estranged mother (Duvall) is dying. He returns...and murders her. Not an easy scene to watch. Flashbacks hint at a murderous childhood that riddles him with guilt, trauma, and homicidal tendencies. Now we witness Rico's further descent into madness. He gets back together with his therapy group. Yep, this is a group of insane peeps who suffered head injuries. This group includes Billy (Edward Furlong). Not a healthy group to hang with, I must say. He'll kill most of them. Now Rico believes werewolves stalk the forest around him and are closing in on him. Uh oh...Rico wrestles with a revelation...is he the werewolf?

Rico flashes back about the boss who fired him (Wallace). Yep...poor Dee Wallace. Rico feels compelled to pay her a visit. A massacre in a diner will result. With big knives, guns, or his bare hands, Rico's death count, massacre aside, will be a couple dozen.  Even his very pretty therapist (Caitlyn Classey) will not be deemed too pretty to die horribly. The werewolves converge, at least in his mind.  Now Rico allows his lycanthrope self to emerge and he himself begins to prowl the woods.

Is Rico a werewolf?  Are there really werewolves prowling the woods? Will anyone in this film that Rico comes across survive?  Bloody, thought provoking, and at times hard to watch, "The Forest Hills" is for horror fans who love horror without diversions or humorous sides. Enjoy this journey into mega-madness, and see it if you dare.