There’s Nothing Out There
Director: Rolfe Kanefsky
Writer: Rolfe Kanefsky
Cast: Craig Peck, Wendy Bednarz, Mark Collver, Bonnie Bowers, John Carhart III, Claudia Flores, Jeff Dachis, Lisa Grant
Seen on: 27./28.9.2024

Plot:
A group of friends want to spend a weekend in a cabin in the woods, but strange things start happening. Those things give Mike (Craig Peck) pause. Being a horror movie buff, he has seen all of this before, and knows just what will happen when you behave a certain way. The problem is: the others won’t believe him.

There’s Nothing Out There might be the first self-referential horror movie, coming a few years before the Scream series (that might have stolen the idea from this film). It’s very obviously a no-budget film and not everything about it is as charming as it should be, but it certainly deserves its place in horror genre history.

In the past 30 years, there have been plenty of horror movies that have acknowledged the existence of horror movies in the world and how they might change our reaction to and perception of certain events. There’s Nothing Out There is certainly an early example of that, claiming to be the very first movie that is built entirely on that premise (it might be, I don’t have any other examples, but I am always careful with such claims). And it is a strong premise that has gained a strong hold on our collective imagination for a reason.

The execution here doesn’t always work, though. I was more troubled by Mike, I have to say. His antagonism was really off-putting and come too strong, too fast. And I always felt that there was a touch of misogyny there that irritated me. I can’t really pinpoint it, but it seemed to me like the women just got it worse in their treatment from Mike and from the film overall.

The effects are fun, albeit obviously done without a budget. But the beauty of practical effects make that fact seem less ridiculous and more charming – I really enjoyed that aspect. For the most part, though, the film reproduces the schlocky horror it tries to comment on. Self-awareness alone only gets you so far. To become really great, the film would have somehow needed to transcend simple awareness. It doesn’t manage to do that. But it is entertaining enough while it lasts.

Summarizing: a horror milestone, but not necessarly a great one.