Trees 2: The Root of All Evil(2004).Government agents Bentley and Royce attempt to conceal the creation of genetically enhanced trees that are running rampant through Hazleville as Ranger Cody and Botonist Max Cooper try to stop them. At the same time, Hazleville millionaire Dougie Styles attempts to keep the festivities going despite Ranger Cody's concerns and warnings. Written byChuck Gramling... Synopsis Trees 2: The Root of All Evil(2004)
Movie Title: Trees 2: The Root of All Evil(2004)
Run Time:
Rating: 5.0 / 10
Genres: Comedy |Horror
Release Date: 20 March 2004 (USA)
Director: Michael Pleckaitis
Writer: Jim Lawter,Michael Pleckaitis... and other credits
Actor: Ron Palillo,Brandi Coppock,Kevin McCauley
Flesh-eating, genetically mutated trees are running rampant in the ski resort of Hazelville; Ranger Cody (Kevin McCauley) and botanist Max Cooper (Phil Gardiner) try to alert the locals to the danger, but their progress is hampered by Bentley and Royce (Brandi Coppock and Brian Reid), two National Forestry Service agents who are part of a conspiracy to cover up the existence of the carnivorous Great White Pines.
If you haven't already twigged from the above synopsis, The Root of all Evil, from writer/director Michael Pleckaitis, is a dumb, low-budget parody of Jaws, only with man eating trees instead of sharks—which sounds like it could be a lot of fun, but isn't.
Although Pleckaitis does a commendable job with both the direction and editing, his scriptwriting skills are far less impressive: the characters are weak spoofs of those in Spielberg's classic movie (Cody rhymes with Brody, Cooper with Hooper, and there's even another character called Squint!), the dialogue is terrible, and the humour is dreadfully puerile. To make matters even worse, the cast are simply awful (the trees are less wooden than the actors), and the monster-tree special effects are embarrassing (achieved by z-grade CGI that would have looked bad in a mid-90s video game).
If the approach taken had been much trashier, with outrageous OTT gore and nudity to help compensate for its crappier qualities, then this might have been a blast—a demented nutzoid effort destined for cult status. As it stands, however, it's an unmitigated disaster.
