10 Horror Movies One Step From Perfection
3. Boys In The Trees
Released in 2015, the underrated Boys in the Trees is an Australian indie which comes close to perfection, but at least manages to be a memorable piece of fantasy horror.
A dark story which dances on the line between comedy and tragedy in its creepy coming of age tale, the film follows a pair of former friends who have grown apart over the years as one leads the other on an unsettling scavenger hunt throughout their small hometown.
Everything is a little off in this magical realist flick, where local bullies are transformed into shadowy werewolves by the shared imagination of the boys and a string of strange sequences hints at a dark ending to their long night together.
It's a poignant tale carried by a set of superb performances from its young stars, all of whom excel in grounding a script rife with fantastical flourishes.
It's just a shame, then, that the film opts to throw in a needlessly dark and arguably exploitative molestation subplot right at the end immediately before its harrowing twist, overplaying its hand with too much bleak real-life resonance and rendering the preceding film too uncomfortably heavy for its colourful tone.