Year of release: 2008
Director: James watkins.
Seen in: The sneak preview
So. My first review. Eden lake. Yes sir. Well, let's not waste any time with idle banter and get right to it.
Eden lake is advertised as a horror/thriller, about Jenny (Kelly Reilly)and Steve (Michael Fassbender), a young couple wanting to get away for the weekend to Eden Lake. When they set up camp at the beach, they find themselves in the company of a group of what can only righteously be described as "chavs". Hoodlums. Rapscallion. Things go from bad to worse as the couple tries to reason with the teenagers to let them enjoy their weekend in peace.
I would say more about the plot of the movie, but besides the fact that I am writing a review not a summary, and that in my opinion you should never spoil a movie however good or bad it may be by giving away to much of the plot, it is just not very relevant. As I said before the plot of Eden Lake is, at least for the bigger part of the movie, hell-bent on sticking to clichés. The movie starts out with the mandatory( but still very pretty) helicopter shots of the main characters car driving off into the wilderness, overly emphasizing the fact that help is not going to be around the corner when the shit starts hitting the fan. So far so very very horror. Seeing it in the sneak preview, and having heard nor read anything about it in advance, I'd expect aliens, godzilla's evil twin, or a evil demon version of Mike Meyers. But no, the evil doers are a bunch of twelve-year-olds. All right,that's just fine, its not a horror. I guess it's more a thriller then. Oh, a night time "guy leaves girl alone to check on never explained sounds and a cheap scare moment follows". Maybe the hoodlums aren't the real evil, and the town has a dark evil secret. I guess it could turn out to be a horror after all. This feeling just sort of meanders through the bigger part of the movie. I got the feeling the director didn't really know which way to go. Considering it's his debut as a director this is not a major flaw, but it gives the movie a "straight to video" feel. There are some gore moments here and there, but most of the time it's people being hunted by teenagers, which is not really a plot of your average horror.
Nothing really bad could be said about Eden Lake. Its acting is decent, though not always very convincing. The cinematography is done by the book, nothing fancy, but no obvious mistakes either. The very unexpected and well played ending makes good for the averageness of the rest of the movie.
Though cinematographically the movie has no obvious flaws, there is still some work to be done for the director. For example the teenage characters' backstory could have been elaborated upon , which would give the movie much more direction, and wouldve have caused the viewer to see the children for what they are, scared individuals driven by peer pressure, violence and their surroundings on a path to destruction. More character detail, more attention to the children and their individual situations would have given the point the movie is making much more strength.
Overall I give Eden Lake
2.5 muffs, out of 5.
