A Lonely Place to Die (2011) User Reviews

Great buildup to a disappointing finale.

[Rockwell_Cronenberg · 5/10 · 29 December 2011]

Basically the anti-Kill List, instead of slowly building to an incredible conclusion this one starts off with the intensity at ten and then peaks way too soon, leading to a disappointing final act. That doesn't take away from the power of the first hour though. The premise is horror simplicity; a group of friends go up to the mountains to do some climbing and stumble across something they weren't supposed to.

The first hour leads them down this dangerous road of bullets and blood that honestly had me straining to catch my breathe. A lot of, "Holy crap!" moments almost from the start and the insanity just builds as more characters are introduced and the intensity is matched by the pure mystery of just what in the hell is going on in these mountains.

Of course like most cases of such a promising start, as we get more answers to who these people are and what their motivation is things become significantly more mundane and lead to a final act that just equates to waiting for what you know is going to happen to happen. It's really disappointing because that middle act has got to be some of the most intense stuff I've seen all year and I'd say it's worth watching for that alone, even if it doesn't pay off on it's promise.

Efficient Thriller That Could Have Been Better

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 21 June 2013]

A group of mountain climbers enjoy a trip to the Highlands of Scotland . During a trek they find a young child buried alive in a chamber . The child who is from Eastern Europe and is obvious she's been kidnapped . The group quickly come to realise that the kidnappers are nearby and will do anything to get the child back and eliminate any witnesses to their crime

Julian Gilbey had previously directed RISE OF THE FOOT SOLDIER which I rated as a very underrated movie . SOLDIER was a tough violent thriller and Gilbey showed shades of being perhaps a future British version of Scorsese . What stopped the movie from being a mini-masterpiece is that like so many British films that just fall short of greatness ( Hello Danny Boyle ) it's a film of two halves . The first half charting the rise of Carlton Leach football hooligan to feared gangster then it effectively rights him out of the narrative and focuses on his associates who later became victims of a high profile mass murder . When this movie was released one wondered if Gilbey could make a more sustained focused film ? I don't think he has

A LONELY PLACE TO DIE is a British answer to the backwoods brutality sub-genre horror movie with a rather obvious nod to John Carpenter . According to the trivia section on this page Gilbey took up rock climbing while making the film and it shows - perhaps too obviously as the first third of the movie has perhaps a few too many self congratulatory scenes featuring characters hanging off a ledge and it's not until about 35 minutes in that the film plot proper starts to take off . Previous to this we have to put up with long dialogue heavy scenes that don't add anything to the storyline

Sean Harris plays the main villain and I've always thought of him as being one of Britain's most criminally underrated actors . He's great at playing violent psychos and as can be expected here he's not playing a romantic lead . Oh to have a scene where he has the heroine held at knifepoint growling " Ah'm going to carve you up b*tch " but this never happens because plotting takes precedence over casting and unfortunately the longer the film goes on the plot becomes more contrived and unlikely with people being in the right ( Or wrong place depending on how you look at it ) place and people reacting in ways that seem unlikely

A LONELY PLACE TO DIE is a relatively diverting thriller . It's certainly not the most credible one you'll see but there again who said movies had to be credible ? That said it is fairly uneven and you're able to recognise the faults that should have been corrected at draft screenplay level . As it stands it's a film that could have been better

Underrated, entertaining British thriller

[Rosser94 · 7/10 · 21 February 2012]

I was not entirely sure what to expect prior to watching 'A Lonely Place to Die'; the plot intrigued me however after reading a multitude of negative reviews I was uncertain this film would be enjoyable.

This lack of certainty was unjustified, as I found this movie very entertaining. The pacing is spot-on and the acting is solid throughout; in addition to this, the film was not too predictable, therefore I was more than happy to see this movie through until the end. Sean Harris is also, in my opinion, a key contributor to my positive opinion of this film, as he is expectantly brilliant as always.

Overall, what stops this film from being fantastic is the lack of depth, characterisation and stand-out moments, however if you are looking for an interesting, entertaining British film with a few fresh ideas and solid acting, this is worth your time.

A good effort but a bit disappointing

[Robston · 9 September 2011]

This movie started off well with an interesting idea, but somehow ran out of steam, or commitment, about half way through.

Melissa George and her friends go climbing in Scotland and stumble across a secret buried in the woods. They try and go for help but discover that they're not alone. The movie starts off as slow burning and intriguing, with plenty of sweeping shots of the rugged Scottish landscape, it then changes abruptly about half way through, losing all of its subtlety and becomes a standard chase movie with guns. It's almost as if the director lost their nerve and decided to go for blood and glory just in case the audience gets a little bored. Some scenes seem to be thrown in just so someone else can be killed, and the body count by the end of the movie is a bit on the high side.

The acting is fine, and I don't have any huge issues with the script, it's just it could of been a nice little thriller rather than half a good movie, and half a predictable one.

Lovely little brit flick

[pugheaven · 7/10 · 23 January 2021]

Great locations and nice production with some lovely set pieces. I enjoyed this... solid film making deffo give it a while.

The film started with beautiful cinematography of the Scottish Highlands but it didn't justify its title.

[Fella_shibby · 7/10 · 7 June 2019]

I saw this for the first time recently. A group of mountaineers go for a climbing and hiking trip in the Scottish Highlands. While taking a break for lunch, they discover a young girl buried alive in a small chamber in the wilderness.... Initially the film looked as if it will be similar to Deliverance, Southern Comfort, Vertige, Rituals aka Creeper, etc. If it wud have stayed similar to the above mentioned films, then I wud have said been there done that so many times. N now that the film is different from the above mentioned films, i wanted it to be similar to the ones mentioned above. At least it wud have done justice to the title.

Great first hour

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 9 July 2015]

Mountain climbers Rob (Alec Newman), Ed (Ed Speleers), Alison (Melissa George), Jenny (Kate Magowan) and Alex (Garry Sweeney) run across a suspicious pipe coming out of the ground in the Scottish highlands. They find a girl who doesn't speak English held as a prisoner. Rob and Alison make a dangerous descend to contact the authorities while the rest of the group make a long walk out. An unknown person sabotages the climb and kills Rob. The group reunites but are hunted by the bad guys.

The first hour is an amazing thriller. It's a great setup which builds up to an amazing place. I love Melissa George as this heroine. It's a great movie and then they get to town. It falters as the movie which started out as a stripped down outdoors thriller turns into a messy crossfire. There are too many new characters being injected late in the movie. It doesn't fit the other parts of the movie. It should have stayed in the wilderness. It shouldn't have a whole new set of characters. It could climax at a small settlement. This could have a great indie thriller.

Nerve rattling Suspense.......for most part

[Fitzbob · 6/10 · 30 December 2011]

A Lonely Place to Die is the fourth feature from British Director Julian Gilbey. His last film was the acclaimed Rise of the Footsoldier way back in 2007. This film marks a very different change of pace for the director and what he delivers here is a striped back bare bones Horror survival thriller. For the most part ALPTD works. Its 1hr and 40 min running time rattles along at a fairly lively pace. It's the films third act coupled with its confused tone that eventually drags it down.

Mellissa George plays one of a group of five friends that go climbing in the Scottish highlands. Early on they discover a small girl buried in a box underground. They decide to free the girl and go for help. Little do they realize that the Kidnappers are in hot pursuit! ALPTD opens with a nerve rattling climbing sequence, from here it builds pretty effortlessly with a number of nail biting senses has a game of cat and mouse is played out in the Scottish wilderness. Little is actually learned about the cast but the film moves at such a pace that this isn't really an issue. Deaths come almost from nowhere and this is one of the films strengths. The fact that is fair game on any of the cast members really adds to the suspense. Mellissa George is the only real stand out from the cast and she is excellent here making the most of here thinly conceived character. She is easily able to portray both venerable and tough and this up there with Triangle has her best performance. The cinematography is amazing with shots of the mountains and scenery really adding to the isolation of their surroundings. Some of the hand-held style camera work adopted during the chase sequences adds an extra bit of flare which really lifts them above the average.

It's a shame that the film was not able to maintain the tension and suspense throughout its whole running time. The third acts arrives has the setting shifts to a local town during a Wicker man style festival. The departure from the wilderness sees the pacing almost ground to a complete halt. The direction of the film also changes. Before this there the film had more of a horror feel to it. The change in setting and the introduction of several new characters moves the film very much into the ransom thriller area. This change in tone is to serve and makes the film feel almost like two separate films in one. The third acts slow down also exposes the problems with the script. Poorly written characters being chased through the woods in a horror film is one thing, being asked to care about poorly written characters during a hostage thriller is a different story altogether. Without anyone to care about a feeling of indifference takes over. Has it stands A Lonely Place to Die is a fairly entertaining if standard film that is worth a watch. There are elements there that could have made it a lot more memorable.

Great Outdoors Let Down By Nonsense

[Starguitar32 · 3/10 · 11 September 2011]

Being Scottish I was keen to see our great landscapes on the big screen and went in not knowing much about this film. It started really well looking like a superb survival in the mountains flick, the mountains and scenery where amazing, cast was all right but then the film changed direction for the worse.

I don't tend to give spoilers on any reviews but this verged on the ridiculous, first of all how did the villains manage to stumble upon two guys with rifles in middle of nowhere?, how many shots do they need to kill someone?, how did the little girl survive after being underwater for an eternity?. These are just some of the holes in this film that just don't get answered or would never happen.

And the festival in the street, I'm Scottish and I have never seen a street festival in any town where there is breasts out while kids watch. Script writer must have been watching Wicker man too much.

This should have been something special but lacked the nerve in the second half of film. A poor man's Deliverance.

Melissa George saves an otherwise underwhelming thriller.

[JimmyCollins · 6/10 · 27 December 2011]

Melissa George, AKA Australia's most underrated actress is such a force when she's on screen, she has a toughness that I've never seen in another actress, from last years Triangle to A Lonely Place To Die she consistently manages to own and drive a film no matter what kind of role. I will be honest, my enjoyment of this film was helped a lot by Melissas presence, the actual story itself to me seemed a tad stop start stop start, after a slow start it got rather good, then it kinda got a bit uninteresting towards the end, I think it's mainly because all of the characters seem like pretty lame people, and sadly I have to say the characterization of Melissa's role was very slight.

The cinematography was exceptional, the cascading mountains make for a very different setting for a thriller of this sort and the overhead scenes were stomach turning at times, the rest of the cast are OK but none are really memorable, which is kind of good because you can just concentrate on Melissa :)

I mean it is far from terrible, but it isn't super fantastic either, for a thriller it's OK, for and adventure survival film it's OK, all in all it's just OK. Fans of Melissa George should enjoy it though as she puts in another divine performance, someone write that woman an ultra violent action film already, she'd totally kill it. 5 stars for the movie and an extra star for Melissa. Enjoy!

Great cinematography let down by ludicrously implausible plot

[graphicsguy-903-859031 · 2/10 · 27 December 2011]

I had high hopes and I wanted it to baffle and thrill and excite me, I really did. Instead I found myself cursing and muttering at the ludicrous implausibility of the storyline. If, as a member of a group of innocent mountain-climbers, you suddenly find yourself under attack from an unseen assailant above you, would you run into the most obvious place to be seen and keep shouting "Anna!" at the top of your voice? No, you would creep under cover and keep very, very quiet.

At one point, there was the choice to take one route which was an easy walk of about 12 miles to go back or to take the other which was only 4 miles but risking life and limb by climbing down a really perilous drop. The 12 mile route would take a bit longer but would be risk free. Everybody was in OK shape for the walk so then why do the crazy thing? Didn't the producer believe that one of them might just realize, "Hmmm...whoever put her there might be a bit annoyed when we set her free, so we had better keep a look out for bad guys..."? Nope, not for one moment. And as for staging a Rio-type Carnival in the middle of a highland backwater, I don't think so. As soon as the dancing girl emerged, a local Kirk elder would have nipped out and thrown a woolly rug over her to cover her up before chasing the rest of the troupe out of town.

And this was the problem throughout - the constant irritation that people just do not behave like that in real life unless they are really, really dumb or if the producer thinks that we are really, really dumb so we will accept it. It was impossible to develop any kind of sympathy for the protagonists because I kept wanting to give them a good slap and tell them stop being so stupid. It reflected a total contempt by the producer to credit the audience with a shred of common sense. And once that respect was lost,it was impossible to regain it because the implausibility hits just kept on coming.

So, if you like aerial views of Scottish mountains, you will have a ball. If you like thrillers with a remotely believable plot, you will have a real problem with this one.

Tense, fast-paced thriller

[martyworkin · 9/10 · 11 April 2011]

I was lucky enough to be present at the world premiere of this film at Actionfest and listened in on a short Q&A with the director. Opening with some incredible, and real, footage of people climbing sheer rock faces, "A Lonely Place to Die" never lets up until the final credits roll. Unafraid to take the film in unexpected directions, director Gilbey had the audience gasping in surprise at multiple moments and I noticed a man in front of me leaning further and further forward as the story progressed. A great cast handled the nuanced script with real skill. The characters are presented with many layers and it's clear that they all have pasts and various human weaknesses but the film doesn't take the time to explain things out clearly. It is up to the audience to infer ( if they are interested ) in what might have happened in their pasts. This is genius scripting in what is essentially a simple action movie. There is depth if you care to look for it, otherwise just hold on to your seat and be prepared for some serious excitement. I can't wait for this to hit wide release and see what sort of reaction the rest of the world has towards this top-notch thriller.

Help...

[Thanos_Alfie · 6/10 · 30 October 2020]

"A Lonely Place to Die" is a Crime - Thriller movie in which we watch a group of friends going for hiking and rock climbing when they discover a kidnapped girl and trying to help her.

I have to admit that I did not have high expectations from this movie but I was really surprised by it. I enjoyed it very much because despite its simple plot, it was very interesting with many nice action scenes and much of suspense. The interpretations of both Melissa George who played as Alison and Ed Speleers who played as Ed were very good. If there was not some cliché in this movie then I strongly believe that it would be far better. The direction which was made by Julian Gilbey was very good and interesting since he presented us all the characters step by step and helped us understand better the plot. Finally, I have to say that if you are a fan of action and adventure movies then I strongly recommend yo to watch it.

Starts out so well

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 15 February 2012]

The trailer for this film made it look like an excellent little low-budget mountaineering thriller, set in the Scottish wilds. Melissa George and buddies being stalked by a gang of human traffickers, no doubt being picked off one by one by a rifle with telescopic sights. Hard to get wrong, right? Well, no, actually, because A LONELY PLACE TO DIE is the perfect example of a good premise going astray.

The opening sequence of this film could accurately be described as nail-biting. The subsequent events, setting up the characters and then the big twist in the woods – all are portrayed accurately. The chase through the wilderness scenes are fine. Then, at around halfway through, this film suddenly falls to pieces. The writers just haven't got a clue how to sustain momentum. The action moves to a town, and that turns out to be the worst possible thing they could do, because then it becomes a ludicrous shoot-em-up.

Melissa George, by now a seasoned veteran of horror/thrillers, makes for an engagingly tough heroine. Sean Harris has always been an ice-cold villain and doesn't disappoint. But wait, what's all this? A whole new trio of leading characters, brought into the action late on, suddenly taking over the limelight? Despite Eamonn Walker being a gifted actor, the shift in focus just doesn't work. And if I see ONE more scene in which the characters meet up with a cop who then gets shot, I'll scream.

By the end, this is tripe of the highest order, and a real disappointment. It started off so well too. Once again, check out the Spanish thriller KING OF THE HILL to see how it SHOULD be done...

A breath of fresh air (Literally)

[csroberts74 · 15 September 2011]

Having seen the more popular and might I say average to poor movies at the present time like Inbetweeners, Cowboys & Aliens & Final Destination 5 I wasn't planning to go to the cinema anytime soon. I just happened to catch a very short advert for ALPTD on the TV and checked it out on IMDb. Having a good review score we decided to go see it. To my surprise only one out of three cinemas was showing this movie and on arrival noticed the lack of people in the theatre (Three couples including us). I started to think that we had made a wrong choice. How wrong I was. The sheer scale of the opening scene was breath taking and really drew us in ready for the rest of the film. The pace of the film was perfect and the element of surprise was always there. There were 1 or 2 minor continuity errors but these were cleared up within the next few minutes. The level of violence was just right for a film like this not being glamorised or pornographied. I have to point out also that the child abuse issue is handled very well and the bar is set at what may be considered to be a 'comfortable movie level' (if there is such a thing), it could have been a lot worse but the director clearly has morals and making it quite clear it is not that type of film although it could have quite easily been. The excitement runs consistently throughout and the music/sound effects add to the overall excitement. Although a few of the actors are slightly wooden this is quickly and cleverly counter acted/covered up by the good ones and fast passed action. Good story, cleverly layed out in a gorgeous but deadly setting. Who could ask for more.

A tense, exciting and great movie for the first hour. Last half hour was slow and ruined the beginning. I say B-

[cosmo_tiger · 6/10 · 2 February 2012]

"She's our responsibility now. We've got to get her off this mounting as soon as possible." When a group of mountain climbers out for a weekend of fun hear a sound in the forest they begin to investigate. When they find a little girl held prisoner in a small chamber they decide to rescue her. While trying to get her to freedom the hunters decide that a group is more fun to hunt then one little girl. This is a very frustrating movie to watch. The beginning was very tense and has you interested almost immediately. You feel like you can't catch your breath the entire time and are really rooting for the crew. Then with about a half hour left the movies stumbles badly and turns into something completely different and is barely able to hold your attention until the end. If I judged the movie based off the first hour I would definitely say watch this. Based off the ending I would say watch it still, but shut it off with a half hour left and have someone tell you the ending. Very disappointing. Overall, a very good movie for most of it. I give it a B- (would have been higher if ending was better.)

An entertaining thriller with a few strange moments.

[jhpstrydom · 6/10 · 8 May 2013]

I found A LONELY PLACE TO DIE at my local rental shop and even though I had nothing else to watch I decided to give it a go since everything else looked more like crap. The film started off good enough to grab my attention so at least it had promise. Later in the film there were a few moments that were mostly strange. Most notably there was a scene with a bizarre street festival that didn't really look right because even though the film is set in Scotland I've never heard of them throwing street festivals if they did I doubt it would be something that weird.

The other moments range from characters doing very stupid things and sharpshooters who shoot so bad you'd be safer standing right in front of their guns. But given I did decide to overlook these things and despite those moments the film did keep me entertained throughout so if someone should see this film it might be best not to take it too seriously.

All in all, I give this film a six for entertainment value however I think I might give it a four for plot. Even though it had potential the execution was rather poor.

Intense, suspenseful and edge of your seat

[rivertam26 · 7/10 · 7 September 2012]

I've been a fan of Mellisa George since TV's Alias. I've actually even gone to see movies just because she was in them. She hasn't had the best cinematic life so to speak Derailed was pretty bad and the Amityville Horror remake was generic. But overseas she seems to be flourishing with better film choices. Triangle was a gorgeously produced, twisty thriller and it gave her a meaty role and now A lonely place to Die is another step forward in a more positive direction. Unfortunately both films received very little attention in the states.The film centers on a group of friends/mountain climbers who come upon a young girl buried in a box under the ground. They of course rescue her and find themselves intensely pursued by her takers. There are some plot developments but this a pretty standard action thriller. With striking cinematography and strong physical performances all across the board especially from Mellisa George as well as sexy Ed Spleers trying to erase the putrid aftertaste Eragon left on us. The movie moves along solidly and although it doesn't really bring anything new to the table it's executed extremely well. That being said the film isn't perfect there are some slight pacing issues and an unnecessary and repetitive use of slow motion. But it's intense, suspenseful and edge of your seat when the action hits which gladly there is quite a bit of.

Very well made, well acted British film

[WilderMovieReviews · 7/10 · 18 March 2012]

This was a film that I didn't know much about prior to watching. It had fairly good reviews so we gave it a go. The cast is pretty much unknown actors with the exception of Melissa George. Although I have no idea why she chose this film as it is not what we are used to seeing her in. This is not to say she is bad, she is very good in this but I was just surprised as I guess I am expecting bigger roles in bigger movies for her. You may also recognise Ed Speleers from the title role in the film Eragon.

The film starts off well, after a little too brief introduction to the climbers, they set out on a climbing expedition in a remote part of Scotland. Soon they stumble across a young girl locked in an underground wooden box. They free her and the group split up, the fastest two of them head off to find help while the remainder follow behind with the girl. The kidnappers pursue them in an attempt to recover the girl.

This is a good film, the camera work is used well to show off the locations and emphasise the peril the climbers are in. The characters are believable for the most part. There is one scene where a character sacrifices themselves that for me didn't make sense. I have a theory but won't reveal what as I try to avoid spoilers.

The stand out performance for me was Sean Harris as Mr Kidd (The Kidnapper). His portrayal of the character was chilling and ruthless. You believe that he will do anything to accomplish his goal.

This is a good film. It is no Hollywood blockbuster but a very well made, well acted British film that doesn't try to take the story too far and keeps things believable. There are plenty of twists and parts that keep you guessing, but you won't always be right.

Disfocused, pointless and morally totally incomprehensible

[bennyhagen · 1/10 · 28 December 2012]

The movie starts out as the the mountain-climbing-survival-horror you might expect after seeing the DVD cover as your familiar set of city people on their holidays on Mount Nophonesignal in Farfromcivilisation County gets introduced (badly), finding a child in the middle of nowhere. You will be surprised when after the blunt first half of the movie it suddenly switches genres and you find yourself in the city of Bruges in a third- class gangster movie, with an all new set of people that you have no reason on earth to care about either.

I usually don't devote so much time to a B-Flick, but this train wreck of a script deserves detailed analysis.

So - as Director and writer Julian Gilbey has no idea what to do with any of his characters, besides showing them chit-chatting about irrelevant, mindless crap - people that you know next to nothing about are chasing this child that you know next to nothing about while other people that you know next to nothing about are protecting it with all their lives for no apparent reason besides the fact that you don't just leave a child alone. Which is a valid point, but doesn't work out, if you have no actual reason to emotionally connect with the child, or with the people who now one by one sacrifice their lives for her. And not even their deaths matter as Gilbey is killing even his more "important" characters off like extras in a Chuck Norris movie. It just happens and we never see them again and not just the director and you, but not even these people seem to care. Appearantly, besides one couple, these people aren't even bonded, apparently they don't even like each other too much, which - besides the fact that five of the four mountaineers don't like humor and one doesn't like smoked fish - is just about the only thing computable from Gilbey's dumb, pointless interludes. Now meanwhile it also turns out that the girl is the offspring of an easter-European war-criminal responsible for the deaths of millions or so, who already arranged a hand-off, willing to pay a lot of his abundant drugmoney or whatever, making her involuntary rescue team, as well as both kidnappers, two random hunters, an innocent police officer as well as some civilians basically having died to save the retirement fund of a mafia boss. As Ed points out: what if the only thing they have done is prohibiting a clean handover? And this is exactly what happened, flushing the significance of all these deaths right down the toilet.

But Gilbey apparently has no idea about the basic rules of scriptwriting anyway, as he produces detailed setups frequently, spending significant screen time on them just to nullify them minutes later, basically just adding totally redundant crap to an already pointless movie. Here, a whole scene on one person showing a picture of a mountain, proposing to climb it, giving detailed background information on it, to the point where he explains how long you fall from it's top. Will they climb it later? No. Will they even see the mountain ever again? No. Will the guy when eventually falling from another mountain think over his life in mid-air? Of course not. So here, a minute of screen time for the lead mixing different alcoholic beverages, against the warning of her colleague. Will she be incapacitated for the rest of the movie due to a severe hangover that she'll have to overcome to save people's lives? No. A minute later she explains, that she took aspirin, so she's fine. So what was the point then? Product placement? Mere stupidity? Here, a scene of two hunters inserted in a way so you think they are the kidnappers, but then they aren't. A red herring? Not really, as a minute later, they get killed by the actual kidnappers, I guess cause they're potential witnesses. But then why introducing them in the first place? Just so the kidnappers can steal their guns? Appearantly they are pretty cunning guys, don't they have money for their own guns? Here, guy breaks his leg. But he can still walk. Then he offers to stay behind anyway. Then heroine convinces him not to, so he doesn't and can walk again. What difference did it make that he broke his leg? Why was it necessary? Here, a whole plot device on the assumption that the police officer is corrupt, because guy mentioned above accuses him of being corrupt. But then again, he really isn't. Guy was wrong. But now, that you assumed he's corrupt and don't like him anymore, lets suddenly kill him. Let's also kill guy. Let's now kill a civilian for no reason. Here, let's set this house on fire, so heroine throws the child out of the window and then rather stays behind then breaking a leg by jumping out herself, now appears to burn in it, but then she doesn't. She wakes up and is now safe, as meanwhile the fire department arrived. Child waited outside I guess. Here, a guy assuming that he's being ambushed as he hands over the kidnapper. But then he isn't. He was wrong. He gets a new car instead. Was this to show he has bad instincts? In the last scene we see him in? Was it to show that black people are paranoid when seeing white people? Should I just not connect the dots???

Gilbey closes with the child saying thank you (well you're f*cking welcome) and then adds a line of the medical assistant calling heroine 'sweetheart' (lesbian? important fact?) before meaningfully rolling up the credits. He's also showing footage along with it - apparently Super9 video recorded with the digital camera shown breaking in the beginning for no reason - of the people we never cared about having a good time. Now, that it's over.

Great job dude. 1/10

"There's always a chance of survival."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 17 September 2011]

With having arrived to pick up some relatives from a coach station in my local town centre,I was disappointed to find out shorty after arriving,that the coach was delayed,and would not arrive for three more hours.Due to hoping that I could find something to help time move faster,I went to the near by cinema,and found out that one film was about to start,and with for reason getting Melissa George confused for Susan George (!!),I decided that I would go and watch this extremely gripping,moody British thriller.

The plot:

After resting for the night,a group of five mountaineers start to climb one of the most dangerous mountains in the Scotish highlands.Shortly at the start of the climb,one of the mountain climbers tells everyone to stop.With the mountain falling to silence,the climbers hear a mysterious scream from near by.Rushing to find the source of the voice,the group are shocked to discover that the voice is coming from someone who has been buried underground!.

Nervously digging up the ground,the group end up finding out that the voice has come from a young Serbian girl (Anna),who has been buried alive in a pit. Desperate to get the girl to safety,the group decide to spilt up,with three of them going down the longest route of the mountain with the girl,and the other two going down the shortest,but deadliest route of the mountain,so that the local police can be told about the girl as fast as possible.

Around the half way point of their dangerous drop,the two mountaineers attempting the short cut have their rope cut,by two men who are hoping to get 6 million Euros from an ex-KGB agent,for the return of his kidnapped daughter.This leads to one of them falling to their death,and the other (Alison) being left badly injured.Realiseing that the two kidnappers will do anything possible to get to the girl,Alison rushes to help the three other climbers protect the girl,although with the kidnappers having their sights locked on getting the girl and shooting anything in their way,the climbers start their deadliest journey ever.

View on the film:

During the credits,I was very surprised that the actress who plays Anna (Holly Boyed) was making her debut with this film.For her performance,Boyed avoids the two pitfalls which young actors/actresses can so easily fall into,with Anna neither being a miss goody-too- shoes,or an annoyingly, intelligent brat,that the audience is desperate to see thrown off the cliff!Instead Boyed brilliantly shows Anna to be someone,that is really scared about being in this unknown place,who is also ready to use her brains and cleverly hide for her survival.

Although director Julian Gilbey, (who co-wrote and co-edited the film with his brother Will)does give Alison and Anna's growing,almost mother-daughter relationship more than a few bits from Newt's and Ripley's friendship in James Cameron 1986 Sci-Fi action classic Aliens,Mellisa George is still able to make the character into much more than a simple Ripley clone,by showing that Alison is the main person in the group who helps to keep some of the more egotistical members of the group on track,whilst having to accept the possibility,that the people who she thought would be there to help Anna,may actually be as dangerous as the kidnappers.

Looking at the film credits of Julian and Will Gilbey,it is very easy to see this film as a strong transitional piece.For his great directing Julian gives the film an unexpected "vast" appearance,with the beautiful highlands in Scotland also giving the first half of the film some strong "wilderness horror" elements.As the plan of the kidnappers starts to be unleashed in the tense screenplay,the brothers introduce the "gangster" side of their past film,that they superbly blend into the survival-thriller elements of the film,which really helps to make the last thirty minutes of the film,a truly thrilling survival,wilderness thriller,with a gangster edge.

Final view on the film:

A strong performance by Mellisa George,and a brilliant performance by first-timer Boyed.With Julian Gilbey showing an impressive "wide" vision for the film,and the screenplay expertly blending several genres to create an extremely gripping,tense film,which deserves to do very well when it comes out on November in the US.

A waste

[derekiant · 4/10 · 27 December 2011]

I can only assume that there were deleted scenes that should have not been deleted. The first half of the movie was quite good even though highly derivative of Deliverance ( nothing wrong with that - it is almost a sub-genre of its own). Very watchable, good cast , character development etc. but there re too many WTF moments in the plot and script during the last half of the film. I don't know why you would spend 4 million on a film and not just hire a 10 year old to watch the end product to give you basic useful criticism such as " how did the bad guys know that?" "who are these other bad guys?" "Why should we care about them?" " I don't understand how she couldn't open the back door." " Why doesn't this make sense?" and the like. It's too bad because it had many good things going for it.

Genre-Jumping Pleasure

[basilisksamuk · 8/10 · 1 August 2012]

Yet again I am surprised by a movie that was little more than a random recording off a satellite channel. Expecting something that might be OK, I actually saw a very good movie indeed. The crazy thing is that I'd never heard of it before. I don't remember seeing any reviews of it and it certainly never had any exposure in the British press. But why? It might not be everyone's cup of tea but it's much better than the average Hollywood blockbuster that has a budget twenty times bigger than this. I have a pretty jaundiced view of the state of British film making but when I see a really good one like this then I think perhaps there is hope.

The Highland locations and the cinematography grabbed my attention right away. The plot surprised me (remember I knew nothing about it beforehand) and kept me guessing as to what genre it was. Was it a thriller, adventure film or a horror film? Could be any of these. I've subsequently read reviews that classify it as a horror film but, whilst it has elements you'd associate with horror, I wouldn't put it in that genre. This is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. If you are in a single genre then you have to follow the tropes of that genre to be true to it. If you aren't making a genre film then you have more flexibility to be different.

It isn't perfect (what film is?) One sequence seems to feature the most incompetent pair of sharpshooters ever seen in a film and some of the dialogue is difficult to make out in places. It might work on The Wire but it doesn't work in a film with little dialogue in the first place.

There are clear influences from other films and, in particular, a sequence that owes much to The Wicker Man but these are done well and add to the viewing experience.

A great British film, not a phrase you often hear from me. I just wish I'd been able to catch it in the theatre

very disappointed

[jselber1 · 6/10 · 10 March 2017]

What is this new trend where movies end badly? Am I Old World to think some of the leads should live? Should we just wait it out, or I would like a subtle warning that everyone dies in the end. Very sad now after watching my last film. I had a different ending in mind. Damn you, producers, I am sure you feel smug and happy. Were you amused to give us a great story and then have it end badly? I would like to see the faces on your paying customers as they left the theaters. It was beautifully filmed, well acted, but I am sorry for it. Not a good review, is it? I will remember the Gilbey name to avoid in the future.

Wondering when it would end after one hour

[jens-wegar · 4/10 · 18 February 2012]

The start of this movie and in fact most part of the first hour was one big advertisement for heading to the Scottish highlands to do some hiking. Definitely got me thinking about booking a flight.

But that's about it as far as positive things go for this movie. It wasn't too difficult to figure out which characters are going to see the ending credits and which ones are the proverbial red shirts. The film is riddled with "why would you do that?" moments. Granted, it is a piece of fiction so you have to allow some insanity for the sake of suspense. Sadly, none of the events that clearly were supposed to be shockers managed to actually be shockers. There are so many inconsistencies here it just ridiculous. How about a marksman who first has no problem hitting a guy running away from him at full speed, but then wastes bullet after bullet trying to hit someone slowly climbing a steep slope a mere 50m away.

This movie also suffered from the "multiple endings" syndrome. During the last 15 minutes there were three scenes where I thought OK, now we fade to black and roll credits. And it did fade to black, but only to fade up to another scene again. They made sure to tie up all loose ends in this one. If the first "end" scene would have been the real ending scene, then this movie would have gained a couple of points in my book. Not because it would have saved 10 minutes of my time, but because then the ending would actually have been a bit of a surprise, considering how easy the rest of the plot had been to predict.

The score is for the scenery, the rest was just not up to par unfortunately.