In the Earth

 

Ben Wheatley's In the Earth is a "heart of darkness" horror flick that doesn't wander far from the genre's well-trodden path. It's a grisly and creepy and gruesome and bloody tale of science being baffled by nature, with a bit of witchy hoodoo thrown in for spice. (Any comparisons to our current pandemic are purely intentional.) The supernatural aspects of the film are accompanied by mind-bending-visual and ear-numbing-sound effects that will probably qualify this flick for midnight showings, if and when those crank back up. (Those triggered by strobe lights should stay away.) Joel Fry and Ellora Torchia lead the zoned-out cast as two scientists on a mission to reconnect with an intrepid botanist (Hayley Squires) who has dropped off the grid in the heart of a mysterious forest, only to run into a crazed woodsman (Reece Shearsmith) on a mission of his own.