 The final scene shows Sheriff Harding telling his story to Beth, the waitress at the local diner, and how Matt's mental instability led to him dreaming up this waking nightmare about Dawn, her family, and of the other encounters in the Blackwoods.The film was released direct-to-video on September 3, 2002, in North America.Stephen Holden from "The New York Times" gave "Blackwoods" a positive review, describing it as "smarter and more diabolical than you could have guessed at the beginning."