If you don’t follow your dreams, you will wither and die? Isn’t that what your school teacher said when you were a little kid? But what about the fact when you follow your dreams and you suddenly look back and see that you missed out on other things … that you didn’t compromise … that you didn’t even reach your goals anyway. Movies have subtexts, and the new horror film Arbor Demon seems to have many. Directed and co-written by Patrick Rea, known for his prior horror film Nail Biter, the movie seems to try to say a lot this sophomore effort.

When a young photographer finds out she’s pregnant, she panics since she and her husband had not planned on children. Prior to her husband leaving on a one month tour with his garage band, she decides to keep the news to herself. Before his trip, the two head out for an anniversary camping vacation only to be terrorized by a bear, hunters, and an unknown terror that may have been haunting the woods for centuries.

This new effort by the young filmmaker Patrick Rea did the festival circuit last year and was eventually picked up by Gravitas Ventures. New on VOD, the film has received some buzz across the internet. Not on many folk’s radar, some have said it is a pleasant surprise. Dark Discussions takes a look at the movie and does a critique on the film and the many things it seems to be saying.