The Oregonian Review (2011) Worth Watching?

It's about a woman who wakes up in some kind of psychedelic fever dream after getting into a car accident in rural Oregon.

The Oregonian was directed by Calvin Lee Reeder (who also directed The Field Guide to Evil) and stars Lindsay Pulsipher (from The Fair Haired Child), Robert Longstreet (from Mohawk, Show Yourself) and Matt Olsen.

I was recently passing through Oregon en route to Seattle when I found myself with some free time to catch a flick. I had always seen The Oregonian floating around on lists of disturbing horror movies, but it just never really grabbed me enough to actually sit down and watch it. But what better time than now, being in Oregon and all. So I fired up Shudder to give it a go.

The Oregonian turned out to be more of an experimental arthouse horror movie than anything remotely extreme or disturbing. Some plot details are disturbing, but in concept only, not visually. There are some freaky scenes, but they're accompanied with a lot of sporadic zooming and re-focusing, jarring sound design and very little dialog.

I personally found both the story and style intriguing (the acting, not so much). The story and the way it's told really pulls you in. You find yourself wandering around this bizarre world along with this woman trying to figure it all out as she's stumbling around. Despite the experimental nature of the movie, I couldn't have shut if off if I wanted to, the mystery of why everything is happening and what it means is too much to walk away from.

The only other movie I've seen that's similar is Tetsuo. Only in Tetsuo, the how, why and wtf were less important. The point of Tetsuo was just to watch madness unfold while listening to insane music. The Oregonian was much more story-driven which I liked, it gave it a purpose.

Worth Watching?

The Oregonian is definitely one of those love it or hate it horrors. But I do think it's worth watching because you'll know within the first 10 minutes if it's for you or not. If it's not, no sweat, what's 10 minutes? But if it is, it could be a new surreal favorite with scenes that will stick with you for days.