Four different guys are credited with writing and directing “The Awakening,” a vengeful nature spirit takes its revenge thriller from Colombia.

Man, the video village on that set must’ve been…entertaining. Just judging from the finished film, y’understand.

It’s a “Predator” knock-off with commandos hunting a “terrorist”/”freedom fighter” (Carlos Mariño) in the jungle, only to run afoul of the ancient jungle spirit “Mobuya,” who literally turns everything around them into a murderous menace.

The jungle itself is their enemy.

Troopers are snatched skyward, out of the frame, by deadly vines, pierced by darts and arrows that seem to spring from tree limbs, dismembered by this and gutted by that.

And that tale, of a shrinking squad of tac’d-out super troopers (no future U.S. governors Schwarzenegger or Ventura in this version) is intercut with flashbacks to 1547 and an earlier company of invaders — conquistadors, with Native guides, slaves and priests — who faced a similar fate.

All that effort to tie two stories from the past and present together is for naught as the plot is utterly predictable once the killing starts, once one embattled soldier notes “There were some caves back there” (in Spanish with English subtitles) where they might be able to hide until communications are restored and they can be evacuated.

Fat chance of that, right? “Nobody’s coming to look for us!”

The sound effects include the what seems to be background noise of tribes chanting and milling around as they gather for an attack, and the production values aren’t bad.

The flashback scenes are less convincing than the present day perils, and any terror or suspense those perils might provide are undercut by the switching back and forth between timelines.

And the performances are uniformly colorless, although the novelty of including a female trooper (Andrea Olaya) is noted.

The problem began with the cumbersome, derivative screenplay, and matters couldn’t have been helped by having so many people advocating and arguing for their vision of the project even after filming started.

In Los Estados Unidos we say “Too many cooks…” In Latin America, it’s “Muchas manos en un plato hacen mucho garabato.” Either way, it’s must-skip cinema — “Vamos a saltarnos esta película, muchachos y amigas.”

Rating: unrated, graphic violence, Native nudity

Cast: Claudio Cataño, Alejandro Buitrago, Héctor Sánchez, Andrea Olaya,
Jorge Enrique Latorre, Hilda Ruiz and Carlos Mariño

Credits: Directed by Jaime Osorio Marquez, Federico Durán and José Luis Rugeles, scripted by Jaime Osorio Marquez, Federico Durán and Guillermo Escalona. A Well Go USA release.

Running time: 1:36