The Forest (2016)

Natalie Dormer in "The Forest."

Haunted forests have suddenly become a regular subject for horror movies. Last time, we looked at “The Hallow,” a darkly atmospheric tale about an army of malevolent gremlins guarding an Irish forest from tree-cutting developers. Now, in “The Forest,” the setting shifts to Japan, where the dense woods underneath Mount Fuji come eerily shrouded in fog, madness and death.

Natalie Dormer plays Sara, a young American summoned to the far east when she learns that her twin sister Jess (also played by Dormer) went into the woods and didn't come out. It is assumed that Jess committed suicide, as this particular destination is known for such things. But Sara, insisting to have some kind of psychic connection to her sibling, believes her twin is indeed alive.

Once she arrives at the notorious forest, Sara resolves to begin searching for Jess, even against ominous warnings from locals that sinister spirits deep in the forest cause erratic behavior, possibly making her believe and see things that aren't there. Meanwhile, Taylor Kinney plays a seemingly innocuous journalist tagging along for a story, only to have his motives eventually called into question when Sara’s visions and suspicions unravel in a violent panic.

Directed by Jason Zada, the most effective scenes in “The Forest” take place during the few night scenes, when the screen is drenched in blackness and the action becomes increasingly claustrophobic. As Sara tries to find her way using a small cellphone light and Zada’s jittery camera bounces nervously, the movie evokes “The Blair Witch Project,” the indie shocker from the 90s known for achieving scares using striking minimalism.

The Aokigahara Forest, where the movie is filmed, is reportedly Japan’s most popular destination for suicides—a place where vengeful ghosts seek angry retribution on the living as payback for their own violent death. The premise seems ripe for a crackling ghost story, but “The Forest” is too caught up in its own silly narrative to be serious about either ghosts or suicide. It’s a missed opportunity.

A better story about Japanese ghosts, or yurei, can be found in Takashi Shimizu’s “Ju-on” and its American remake, “The Grudge,” which was visually scarier and had a dark subtext about the twisted consequences of raging anger and domestic violence. The biggest problem with “The Forest” is that it never feels half as haunting or disturbing as a documentary might be about the same subject.