James Bryan: Behind the Scenes of Don’t Go in the Woods… Alone By Brian Kirst
Director James Bryan is a smart guy. Embracing the counter culture measures of the 1960’s, Bryan was convinced that "Bad" could be "Great". In 1981, in his quest to prove this, Bryan unleashed Don’t Go in the Woods…Alone upon the world and created a modern slasher classic. Talking the standard ‘campers stalked in the woods by a maniac’ tactic, Bryan gloriously twisted its ascetics into an early John Waters type go for it-ness. Alternately, beloved (comedian Sandra Bernhard is supposedly a big fan) and despised (one review calls it a "Crime against Celluloid"), Don’t Go in the Woods does what any important film should do – it makes you take notice. In fact, the film was just re-released on April 29, 2008 for the second time in as many years by Code Red. Can such "respected" films of that era as Network or The China Syndrome make that claim? No.
Most importantly, the outgoing Bryan did not take his bloody opus too seriously (as witnessed by the photo below). Bryan knew exactly what he was creating and the joy he took in that fact is obvious from the production photos he so generously shares below. Heck, even for folks who aren’t a fan of the film, there is a seductive beauty to be found in these photos. In them we witness the wise, anti-establishment creativity of Bryan in his prime.
Ultimately, while these photos take you into the visual heart of its creation, some may wonder about Bryan’s take on Woods’ actual legacy. Twenty seven years later he states, "My feeling about the film is that its like telling a joke where the audience just shrugs and walks out, then thirty years later they stop what they are doing and all start laughing. Was it something I did?" Yep, Jim, probably it was. Probably it was.
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