Horror Movie Review: Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight (2020)

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight (W lesie dziś nie zaśnie nikt) is a 2020 Polish supernatural horror slasher film. Directed by Bartosz M. Kowalski.

The story begins with an old lady washing blood-soaked clothing in a tub full of water. A postman who just arrived notices noises coming from the house’s cellar. Thinking someone is trapped down there, he rips off a board barring the entrance. He says he will go for help but is dragged by an unseen force into the basement and disappears.

Thirty years later, a phone-free camp for teenagers starts with all the teens arriving and surrendering their phones to the camp leaders. The teens are placed into groups. The main protagonists all end up in a group together and head off into the woods with counsellor, Iza, for a three-day hike. As they go trekking through the forest they come across a dead, rotting deer. Iza notices that the deer was not killed by a predator. But ignores that and orders everyone to keep going into the woods.

They stop by a lake to spend the night. That night they hear a noise in the woods. Iza searches but finds a little fox. That night, Daniel is accompanied at the lake by Aniela. After having sex with Daniel, Aniela then goes back to her tent. Soon afterwards Daniel is beaten to death by a gigantic man by banging his body against a tree. In the morning, everyone searches for Daniel. Iza disregards the “rules of horror” that Julek warns the group about, and they split up in groups. Half of them search for Daniel with the coach, and the rest waiting by the lake in case Daniel comes back.

Is Julek right? Should they follow the basic slasher movie rules to survive? Watch and find out.

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight is advertised as Poland’s first slasher film. So, because of that I’ll try forgive it for how many homages it pays to the old classics. Naturally in cinema this is done repeatedly and it makes me question when do we stop saying it’s a homage and just simply say it’s a boring repeat. From Jason’s first kill, to Terminator and Alien quotes to a clear Texas Chainsaw Massacre inspiration, it follows beats we’re all familiar with.

There are some great original elements too. I enjoyed the idea behind our duo monsters, being supernaturally transformed by a meteor is a much more interesting idea than a simple deformation. The effects are fantastic, very nasty looking gore also. And, the kills will certainly take you by surprise.

Despite the characters being very one note, they’re well acted. I’m not sure I cared about anyone’s survival but Michal Lupa acted the shit out of his last scene, so well done on that.

Overall, Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight is a fine horror film. It has everything you need to be entertained and you can tell the actors are really giving their all. Despite this there are problems I can’t ignore but, I look forward to watching the sequel and seeing where the story leads.