Finnish troll-fantasy-horror has released its first teaser trailer for the Holidays.
Backwood Madness is the biggest special makeup effects film coming out of Finland. It is an unforeseen war adventure in the world of goblins, trolls and shamans. In the film the balance of the forest breaks when the beings of the forest get hurt in human wars. The cycle of many revenges begins. Both humans and the beings do terrible deeds and suffer greatly. In the midst of the battles a child – half human, half troll – is born. The child might be the one bringing back the long lost balance.
The fantasy-horror film is director-screenwriter-producer and effects guru Ari Savonen’s directorial debut that took more than 10 years to make. The film is exceptional in its production country because due to its ambitious special makeup effects that Savonen also mostly crafted himself. The film is written by Aleksanteri Jaakkola, Ari Savonen, Janne-Markus Katila and Jari Manninen. Jaakkola and Manninen also lead-star in the film.
“I proudly stand behind Backwood Madness, although it’s crazy to bring something that I started in my twenties to daylight today. So many people have pushed so many boundaries so that we could get this film made. It feels great to be finally able to show it to people,” states Savonen.
The film stars Toni Kandelin (Goremageddon 2), Aleksanteri Jaakkola (Bunny the Killer Thing), Jari Manninen (Red Static), Roope Olenius (Free Skate), Sami Huhtala (Rendel), Pekka Lehtosaari (Quest for a Heart), Jarmo Koski (Secret Lives), Jukka Hautajärvi (Skeleton Crew), Ari Karhunen (Gravediggers), Niina Ylipahkala (Tuftland), Jarmo Pukkila ((Pri)sons) and Kristian Aho (Nightsatan and the Loops of Doom).
The heavy metal stars Jonne Järvelä from the Finnish Korpiklaani -band and Håvard Ellefsen from the Norwegian Mortiis -band will also appear on the big screen.
Esa Jussila ((Pri)sons) and Mikkö Löppönen (The Cold Dark) are in charge of the cinematography. Jussi Huhtala (Rendel: Cycle of Revenge, Free Skate) has composed the music for the film. In addition there are lots of familiar animation voices for Finnish 80’s and 90’s kids such as Antti LJ Pääkkönen (dubbed SpongeBob SquarePants), Jarmo Koski (dubbed Winnie-the-Pooh) ja Pekka Lehtosaari (dubbed Baloo the Bear).
Backwood Madness has been filmed in multiple locations in the deep Finnish forests. The production company of the film is SF Media and the distribution is handled by the film studio Bright Fame Pictures that has previously released (Pri)sons (2024), Free Skate (2022), Red Static (2021) and Tuftland (2017).
“We have waited for such a long time to share this wonderful news. This brings joy to our Holidays,” rejoices the studio head Roope Olenius who also acts in the film.
Backwood Madness will be released in 2025.
