Die Hard in the Woods: The Golden Years
A woman on a hike in the remote hills of northern Georgia (Jaime King) witnesses something that brings in the authorities (Lala Kent, Tyler Jon Olson & Michael Sirow) and the help of a retired cop from up north (Bruce Willis).
“Out of Death” (2021) is a sylvan crime thriller that only took nine days to shoot with Willis only working one day of filming, incredibly, which has drawn a feeding frenzy from armchair critics. Expecting the worst, I was amazed at what a decent flick can be made on such a short schedule and shoestring budget. It all comes down to the foundation of having a worthwhile story and a director & crew who know what they’re doing and how to efficiently pull it off, which Bill Lawrence (writer), Mike Burns (director) & team do.
Sure, you could nitpick things like the CGI rain but, beyond such trivial qualms, it delivers the goods for this genre with quality themes and a dash of human interest. The flick effectively touches on things like grief/healing, avarice, political corruption & hypocrisy, injustice, nepotism, incompetence, survival, overcoming weaknesses, personal nobility, retirement, refreshing in the wilderness and the warmth of new relationships. It even throws in some sly amusement.
Some complain about the music, but it’s an homage to “Deliverance” (1972) and well edited into the proceedings. Others nag about the supposedly lame title, but its meaning is obvious: Out of death something good can come. Willis’ character is understandably in the doldrums and suddenly finds himself thrust into a life-or-death situation where he rises to the challenge, which ironically pulls him out of the pit of melancholy and grief. It’s a similar scenario with Jaime’s character.
Maybe I liked it more than others because I favor survival movies that take place in the woods, like “First Blood” (1982). While it’s not on that level, it should be enjoyed by viewers who appreciate modest-budget survival thrillers, such as “Nightmare at Bittercreek” (1988), “Transit” (2012), "Rust Creek" (2018), “Black Rock” (2012) and “Reclaim” (2014). Keep in mind that shooting in the forest ain’t easy to pull off.
Honestly, “Out of Death” gave me increased respect for Bruce who, four months shy of 66 during filming, gave his best for a one-day shoot.
The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in Puerto Rico.
GRADE: B