Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight (2020)

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight is a gleefully nasty love letter to old-school slashers, the kind that knows exactly when to tighten the dread and when to wink at the audience without deflating the fear. Setting its tech-addicted teens in a phone-free forest camp is a smart, modern hook, but the movie’s real pleasures are tactile: crunchy practical effects, creature work you can almost feel, and kill scenes staged with brash, high-voltage imagination. The humor is self-aware in a way that makes the characters more fun to hang out with before the night turns ugly, and the pacing keeps the mayhem moving with confidence. It’s not for the squeamish—this one is proudly, graphically bloody—but if you miss slashers that deliver the goods with style and a wicked grin, it’s a great time.

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight is clearly aiming to be a cheeky, throwback slasher with modern “phone addiction” seasoning, and it commits to that B-movie energy without apologizing. The problem is it often feels like it’s borrowing the greatest hits of ’80s horror rather than remixing them, so the characters can come off thin and the tension doesn’t build as much as it splatters. If you want suspense, clever plotting, or anything resembling nuance, this will likely feel loud, familiar, and a bit hammy. If, however, you’re in the mood for a gory, trashy crowd-pleaser with some gnarly set pieces and a brisk pace, it can still scratch that schlocky slasher itch.