Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight – Netflix Review (4/5)

NOBODY SLEEPS IN THE WOODS TONIGHT is a Netflix horror movie from Poland. However, the best way to describe it is that this is a Polish love letter to the classic American slasher movies. And not as a silly spoof. Read our full Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight review here!

NOBODY SLEEPS IN THE WOODS TONIGHT is a new Netflix horror movie with all the awesome slasher elements from iconic horror movies. And no, not as a spoof that makes fun of the genre, but in a meta way that appreciates the classic characters and plot elements.

Also, you will get so many references, you’ll hardly be able to keep up. In a really good way!

Continue reading our Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight review below and check it out on Netflix.

A love letter to American slasher movies

While watching Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight, I found myself thinking that this is a very honest tribute to American slasher films as well as other iconic genre movies.

From the setting at a camp (Friday the 13th) to the huge beast of a man slaughtering people (Texas Chainsaw Massacre). We also get a nice nod to Scream by having a character listing all of the horror movie rules – and pointing out how they are breaking them.

The runtime may seem a bit long at 1 hour and 42 minutes. However, this is mostly because we also get a full backstory on the “Leatherface”-inspired character.

Also, I loved the fact that most of this movie plays out in the daytime. That means we can actually see what’s happening. The production quality and special effects team also have to work harder to make everything look really good. There’s no hiding a shabby effect in the dark.

And yes, in classic slasher style, we are dealing with practical effects in this movie!

Watch Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight on Netflix now!

Director and co-writer of Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight (with the original title W lesie dzis nie zasnie nikt) is Bartosz M. Kowalski. He’s from 1984 which explains exactly how he’s able to both be old enough to honor the movies from this era and want to point out current issues.

The movie has a rather low IMDb rating of 4.9 (as of writing this review), but you really should not be fooled by this. It was released in Poland in March of 2020 and does point out several core problems in Poland right now. Obviously, this will make it unpopular with many in its native country, but horror movies have often done this.

Basically, it’s just yet another way that this movie is sticking with the tradition of horror and slasher productions. If you enjoy watching horror movies where you can trace back the roots of plot development and characters to classic horror movies, then please check out Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight. Also, stick around for the early end credit scene!

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight is out on Netflix worldwide from October 28, 2020.

Details

Director: Bartosz M. Kowalski
Writers: Bartosz M. Kowalski, Jan Kwiecinski, Mirella Zaradkiewicz
Stars: Julia Wieniawa-Narkiewicz, Michal Lupa, Wiktoria Gasiewska, Stanislaw Cywka, Sebastian Dela, Gabriela Muskala, Michal Zbroja, Malgorzata Szczerbowska