Mysterious animal deaths in a nearby forest.  A missing daughter.  An accidental murder and the downward spiral it takes on the murderer.  All of these are the intriguing plot points of the film Feral, shot in and around New Orleans just before Hurricane Katrina changed the landscape forever.

The story revolves around a poor husband and wife living in a trailer next to the woods.  The husband, Stacy, played by co-director Merrill Capps, and wife Michelle, played by Sheena Dodds, struggle to understand what is gruesomely killing their pets.  One night, while burying their pets in the woods, their daughter goes missing.  They begin an eerie journey into the dangerous woods in search of their daughter, but it abruptly ends when Stacy accidentally shoots and kills his neighbor.

Distracted, the couple must now hide the murder from the police, who have now joined the hunt for their daughter.  Add in a few more jaunts into the daunting woods and a potential Bigfoot sighting and you get the overall jist of Feral.  Feral has the potential to be an effectively creepy film; however, some basic plot holes in the script undermine any momentum the film begins to muster.

One of the struggles low budget films and new writers must contend with is the existence of a plethora of high-quality crime shows on television, such as Law and Order, that clearly illuminate the expected process and understanding of how the police work.  They set a very high standard and its imperative that low budget filmmakers understand and recognize the audience expectations on police procedure.

When the police enter the Feral storyline they are more Mayberry RFD than Without A Trace.  For example, they make a quick search for the missing daughter, but quickly dismiss their ability to find her stating with simplistic certainty that nothing can be found in those woods.  Huh?  Did I hear that right?  Anyone who watches the news in a post-Elizabeth Smart and Amber Alert world realize that police and volunteers would quickly line up to methodically search the woods for a missing girl.  Such an omission in Feral leaves one scratching one’s head and immediately pulls you out of the film.

The fact that the parents so quickly give up looking for their daughter is another inconsistency.  Anyone who is a parent would know you would not sleep and would effortlessly give up your life for your children if it meant their safe return.

Unfortunately, these and other logic issues effectively distract the audience from the fine performances given by Capps and Dodds.  Their pain and the building pressure of their accidental murder are wonderfully portrayed by the actors and the filmmakers use the wooded locations to great effect.

In the end, what is a promising premise with a talented cast is undermined by a very uneven and, occasionally, unbelievable script.

Two Stars.