Forests of Mystery: A hidden Gem?

So today I was on Facebook and I saw an ad for Forests of Mystery which mentioned something about mysterious happenings in forests near Tillimook, this intrigued me and I clicked on it. It led me to a web based series called Forests of Mystery.

Done in a Blair Witch pseudodocumentary form this show really took me by suprise.  It is done by amateurs and the acting and production values obviously reflect that, however the writing is actually pretty good, So far what seems to unfold is a mystery regarding malevolent and somewhat lovecraftian forces in a specific area in the tillimook forest that two young research assistants are trying to investigate.  So far there are 5 webisodes online. The first one had me instantly hooked as soon as I saw it.  The following 4 webisodes are more of a build up to some sort of revelation that we will have to wait for.  What also makes this interesting is that forests of mystery's facebook and webpage are designed in a way that presents the story as a true documentary, complete with interviews with experts that seem to be both real and fake, and even a link to a fake website purportedly run by the crazy man that they interview in episode 4.  It is this format with both facebook, the webpage, and the show itself all informing each other and all being completely devoted to portraying this as "truth" which really breaks new ground with me.  Another thing to note is that the camera work is actually done pretty damn well, the camera shakes and doesn't always capture what is going on completely, however this is only done enough to aid in the plot and to really help drive home the "real" feeling of the series.  There is a nice little jab at Cloverfield in the first episode when Dewey tells cameraman Jeff to hold the camera still so people don't puke. 

Of course the show could benefit with better actors in the supporting roles. However the two main characters do their job solidly and the writing is pretty damn good if you like lovecraft-esqe weird fiction, some people may be frustrated with this because it really just creates more questions than it answers.  I am impatiently waiting for the next webisodes to be posted. If I were you I would be watching these guys because they really may go somewhere with this. 

www.forestsofmystery.com



Edit: visit the links on their webpages to get the whole experience.