Wellwood is a sci-fi horror film that was directed by Eliza Hooper, written by Reid Collums and that successfully gets by with a minimal cast. There are moments of horror, definite moments of sci-fi, but with a low-key localised story that is more about the acceptance of death than anything else.
Nick (Collums) has gone away with his terminally ill wife Laura (Camille Balsamo) to stay at a secluded woodland property near a remote American town. With Laura weak, the couple have decided to take their honeymoon in the country, rather than travelling abroad. While Laura has come to terms with the fact that she is dying, Nick remains ever optimistic, still researching possible new treatments for her tumour. When a U.F.O unexpectedly crash lands near their cabin, Nick discovers a badly injured alien creature (performed by Adam Dougherty). Initially he tries to care for the alien, but once he discovers it has the ability to self heal from seemingly any wound, Nick becomes obsessed with finding a way to harvest its blood in order to use it to try and save his wife.
With a small cast of characters you would need to have some protagonists that would be worth rooting for. With Nick however, you have a bit of a bumbling idiot. Kudos to him for trying to at first heal the creature he finds, but then that is ruined by his constant torturing of it, to selfishly try and use its healing ability on Laura. This short-sightedness makes him into a very flawed character, and Laura unfortunately joins Team Torture when she too begins to hope it will be able to heal her. The creature is more deadly than initially expected, but I have to say, I was kind of on its side when the only experience it has with humans is them trying to hurt it! There are a small number of supporting cast members, favourite of which was Sheriff Bradley (Lance E. Nichols - Before I Wake), the only half decent person to be found in the whole film, certainly better than his irritating busy-body Deputy Gracie Marsh (Keisha Castle-Hughes - Game of Thrones TV series).
The special effects were not bad, I especially liked the bioluminescent look of the bright blue alien blood. The creature was mostly wonderfully designed, the only complaint I had were the alien's overly large eyes, which gave it a bit of a cartoon look. Over the course of the movie it has a bit of a transformation, I did like its later form more, seemed to feel a tiny bit more realistic than the small and gangly initial look. There isn't much horror until the third act, with that having a gradual ramp up of threat. Through it all though are the annoying protagonists, and Laura having arthouse style dream sequences where she is underwater surrounded by decaying jellyfish creatures. I can't say I ever really got what those scenes were going for. What could have been a bitter sweet story about dealing with loss is lost a bit with characters who seem all too eager to treat an alien creature as if it is a tool, rather than a living being.
This indie movie worked well, the small cast didn't feel too small, and the general outline of the story wasn't bad. Letting it down were the unlikeable leads, who do make some baffling decisions over the course of the hour and a half runtime. For those interested, there is a mid-credit sequence that gives a tiny bit more detailing of the sort of abrupt ending. Wellwood wasn't a bad sci-fi horror, I did enjoy the creature effects, but it didn't do enough to really make me care about anything that was going on.
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