CorblimeyGuvnors
The town of Hazelville is besieged by a great white pine in this spoof on Jaws.From the outset this film lays down it roots (sorry) with a title card stating that in 1975 Jaws broke all box office records and this film is a 25th anniversary homage to that film. A lot of the scenes from Jaws are replicated with substituting the shark with a tree. A dumb idea that kinda works and your enjoyment factor for this film will depend on your knowledge of Jaws, as you will have a greater understanding of what the filmmakers were trying to achieve. Yes it's low budget, but the film is quite well made and there is a great deal to see and it appears the budget was used well. The film appears to be shot on woodland locations, with a lot of actors and props to add to the look of the film. For example in one scene there is a number of real fire engines attending a incident. Most low budget films could not stretch to such extravagance. My fairly low rating for this film is due to not having a great knowledge of Jaws, so some of the "homages" may have been lost on me and I did find my mind wandering from time to time. However I can appreciate that this is a film that tries it's best and has good intentions. This film "branched" out (Sorry again) and spawned a sequel Trees 2, The root of all evil
alkylemo
You can't get a better tribute to jaws, this movie had me laughing so hard. First lets look at the characters. From Jaws to Trees, Brodie became Cody (they actually look a bit a like), Quint became squint and hopper became cooper. Then you take the shark and make it a tree, Genius. OK, so next we swap the sea for a camp site and you've got one hell of a tribute. The script is full of cheese and the acting is awful, but there's something oddly entertaining here. When you get great lines like "where gonna need a bigger axe" and "get out of the woods" you know your onto a winner. The story follows jaws almost identically, with the obvious differences. If you want a great b-movie thats gonna crack you up then watch this, i have to find the sequel, i'm sure that too is gonna be awesome. But don't take my word on it, find it, watch it, enjoy it. Trees is one of the most entertaining movies i've ever seen. AWESOME
Woodyanders
A giant lethal man-eating Great White Pine terrorizes the woods in the sleepy little hillbilly hamlet of Hazelville. This puts a major crimp in the town's annual Memorial Day celebration. After the tree attacks and devours a few folks, concerned, stalwart forest ranger Mark Cody (amiable Kevin McCauley), wimpy tree hugger bleeding heart liberal botanist Max Cooper (the equally affable Philip Gardiner), and crazed, obsessive macho redneck lumberjack Squint (deliciously played with mucho hammy aplomb by Peter Randazzo) join forces to track down and destroy the deadly rampaging plant. Writer/director/co-editor Michael Pleckaitis milks the silly premise of this enjoyably inane and practically scene-for-scene, shot-for-shot, line-for-line send-up homage to "Jaws" for all its worth, maintaining a constant quick pace throughout, deftly establishing a highly ingratiating mock-serious droll'n'deadpan tone ("The Blair Witch Project" throwaway joke is particularly amusing), sprinkling on a little cheesy gore (the blood looks just like red paint -- and probably was exactly that!), and coaxing winningly sincere performances from his enthusiastic no-name cast. Andrew Gernhard's rough, grainy, but fairly polished photography (the occasional use of wipes and the green-tinted killer tree on-the-prowl POV shots are pretty nifty) and Tom Destefano's ominously spooky'n'shuddery score are likewise on the money solid. A total hoot.
Roanka
"Trees" is an obviously low-budget ($20,000) production that fails miserably as both a comedy and a horror. The writing provides no substance to any of the characters or situations and the actors fail to add any life to this picture. Some conversations in the movie drone on for minutes for no reason. For most of the movie the dialogue is out of synch with the actors' moving lips. I only watched this because it was filmed in my hometown. Do yourself a favor and skip it. However, do not miss the sequel "The Root of All Evil" which is far superior and vastly entertaining.