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Cast: Zachary Soetenga, Lindsey McKeon, Sofia Pernas, Pierson Fode, Jamie Anderson
A group of five young friends travel from Los Angeles to exotic Panama for a week of partying in lush tropical paradise. Befriending a beautiful local woman in their hotel bar, they learn of a secret jungle hike to a pristine waterfall nearby. The woman cautions them strongly against the hike, warning that other gringos in search of the legendary waterfall had mysteriously disappeared into the jungle, never to be seen or heard from again.
Ignoring her warnings, the group convinces the woman to guide them to the picturesque waterfall, thinking that they have nothing to fear with a local as their guide. What begins as a fun outing quickly turns terrifying when their guide mysteriously vanishes after a romantic tryst at the falls. As night closes in, the friends realize too late the truth behind her warnings - horrific, bloodthirsty, flesh-eating creatures are now stalking them. The mangled survivors rush to jungle caves for shelter, only to realize they’ve entered the monsters’ lair!
"Indigenous" follows five friends as they vacation in Panama. During a conversation with a few locals they find out that there is a patch of jungle that houses a waterfall. Ignoring the story that other tourists who traveled into the jungle never returned they talk one of the locals into taking them to this waterfall.
After arriving they cannot believe their eyes, they have never witnessed such beauty but it isn't long before they realize they are not alone and then their little hike turns into a nightmare as they try to stay clear of some creatures that are out for blood.
To be honest I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this, it seemed similar to another film called, "The Descent." The film starts off slow as it introduces us to the five friends and the few locals who will play a part in the story. The film then takes longer as the friends drink and splash around on the beach and in the pools. It also sets up the story of the Darien Gap, a small patch of jungle that is forbidden to visit.
Once the group makes it to the waterfall things begin to pick up and it is a very enjoyable film after that. There is a lot to like here, for starters everyone in the film did a good job playing their characters and the scenery was simply beautiful. Once the action starts the film begins to slowly build on tension and suspense, most of the tension is between the characters as they begin arguing over being lost in the jungle with these bloodthirsty creatures and the suspense builds slowly but increases as the story moves along and the group begins to get picked off one by one.
The film also creates a number of very scary situations and even a few jump scares as well. Once the action starts it never really stops until the very end, there is also a little twist tossed in that I will not disclose here. I cannot forget to mention that the creatures are very well done and although there is not a lot of blood and gore but when there is some it is very realistic. I highly recommend checking out this entertaining horror flick, like I stated before it starts off a bit slow but stick with it and you will be rewarded in the end. "Indigenous" is available on VOD so now is your chance to see it.
Released by Momentum Pictures
*** 3/4 Out Of *****