No Garden of Eden Here!
Added 2/3/2010
Eden Lake is pretty standard survival-against-the- odds fare, the only difference is that instead of the usual monster/alien/chainsaw wielding canniball or hillbilly redneck is that this time our hapless victims are fleeing from a gang of bicycle mounted pubescent Brits lead by a kid who'd give the Malcom McDowell character in CLOCKWORK ORANGE a run for his money. Tedious for me but if you're s fan of slasher flicks this film is going to send you into the throes of rapture because it is relentless in it's depiction of violence and degradation.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
British horror
Added 1/26/2010
I resisted watching this, discounting it as another forgettable genre flick, but was pleasantly surprised. It will keep you on the edge of your seat, and unlike most American made flicks with satisfying/agreeable endings, this one unsettles you. Don't be fooled by the poor reviews as they are predicated on the reviewers not liking the ending.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
I can't believe so many people actually like this...
Added 1/11/2010
If you're reading this, you probably know the plot: a couple go to a park that is about to be demolished for the condominium set, being that the man wants to show his girlfriend a childhood memory before its destroyed (shades of DELIVERANCE). While they camp on the lake shore, some kids show up far off, doing there own (loud) partying. First mistake: guy goes over to tell kids off (nicely)...okay, they seem to take it fairly well. Then Kelly Reilly doesn't take her top off (disappointing), they have some character bondage (not THAT kind), kids play a prank (flattens SUV tire), they leave park, man finds main kid's home (bike is parked in front), man flats out the kid's bike and they take off.
Now you would THINK that after this, they would (a) go to another park or (b) the man would listen to his girlfriend and do what SHE wanted, being that (a) they saw the lake and (b) the vacation wasn't too vacationy when punk a$$ kids begin to ruin it. Unfortunately, this is a horror movie and characters aren't allowed to act normal, and that is where this film falls apart... at least for me.
Here there be spoilers..... still here? Okay, here we go!
Now I may have the order of the above events mixed up, but basically they go back to the park and back to the exact same spot they camped at before. Needless to say, this time the kids steal the SUV from them. So now they are vehicleless in the middle of a soon-to-be-shutdown park. Eventually they find the kids, highjinks ensue whereupon the main kid's dog rushes the man, who then stabs and kills the dog in self-defence. Main kid doesn't see it that way, but one of the other kids give the man the keys to the SUV regardless. Man and girl get into the SUV with kids in hot pursuit, man drives wildly through forest (though it is nighttime by this point), wrecks vehicle and gets himself pinned by a tree branch sticking through the window. The rest of the movie is (1) man getting tortured by kids (revenge for dog) and (2) man's girlfriend doing the John McClane.
To save you the ending, she winds up stealing the car from one of the main kid's friends (after hiding out in a dumpster filled with pus and stabbing one of the younger gang members in the neck with a piece of glass) and leaving them in the woods, whereupon reaching civilization she gets broadsided by another car (you never see that person ever). She stumbles out to the house she wrecked in front of and the people take her in... yet rather than call paramedics (being that she's covered in puss and blood, with a gaping hole in her ankle AND just had a car T-bone her in front of said house) they take her in and comfort her when the main kid shows up. Now HOW he got there that fast when (1) she stole their car and (2) man and girl had bad cell phone reception in woods, which would mean kids would too, is beyond me. Anyways, it just so happens that ALL the parents of ALL the mean kids are partying at this particular house, which means that as soon as they find out what happened, they snuff poor Ms. Reilly.
I know, long winded. Frankly, by the half-way point of the movie, I just gave up on the main characters. There is only so much stupid stuff a character can do before they reach a point where they may as well deserve to die or at least lose my sympathy. The same goes when I realize the director/writer is PURPOSEFULLY having characters do stupid things or have certain situations pop up (like Ms. Reilly/the girl finds the man's wedding ring he was going to propose with.. AFTER she saw him bleed to death from the torture the kids inflicted) to blatantly press emotional buttons... you know, like THE COLLECTOR (ugh).
Bottom line: if you haven't seen too many horror films, this may really get to you.. provided that obvious director/writer manipulation doesn't bug you. Otherwise, torrent, borrow or rent first.
PS: of these MOVIES TO DIE FOR releases, so far I found DONKEY PUNCH to be the best: it delivers some decent skin, gore is reasonable without being TOO grotesque and most importantly for a DEAD CALM rip-off it is actually fairly well done (namely characters act as you would expect them to: in fact, there are moments where you yell at the screen for the character to do something, and maybe a minute or less later they're actually doing it)
But, to quote a more illustrious philosphical a-hole than myself: "That's just me; I could be wrong."
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Was told this was a roast
Added 1/1/2010
I can't remember what kind of Ray-Ban Aviators were worn in the film: Ray-Ban Aviator RB-3025 L0205 Gold / Green Sunglasses Size 58, Ray Ban Small Aviator 3044 Sunglasses - orb3044L0207, or RAY BAN 3044 AVIAT SMMET L0207 GOLD AVIATOR SUNGLASSES 52mm? After suffering through to the ending, and reflecting on what I'd just watched, I was able to appreciate this film as another update of The Virgin Spring. No ace microwaving of heads at the end, though.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Close but No Cigar
Added 12/29/2009
I came to this movie knowing it wouldn't change my life and I was right. It's not a great movie by any means but fans of the genre may wish to check it out anyway. It does have some aspects that put it above the rank and file slasher flick. As a matter of fact, that's the thing that is so frustrating about it. The good parts are so good it's a shame they couldn't sustain them.
All aspects of the production are fine. Though obviously not an expensive movie, all the shooting, editing, acting etc. are professional. The problem lies in the script. The first 45 minutes or so are outstanding in the way they give the viewer an uneasy feeling that slowly but inexorably builds to a sense of dread then outright horror. Unfortunately, when all the cards are on the table, it lapses into a rather routine hunt and kill. I say rather because even in the thick of things there are a few elements of the story that still have merit. It simply isn't enough to overcome the hack aspects of the procedures.
That being said, I can still recommend it to fans of slasher films. I didn't feel as though I wasted my time, and it was good to see something new brought to a genre that seems to have fewer and fewer surprises.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
