EDEN LAKE - 9/10 (A-)

Oh my fucking god! That ending is so damn HORRIFYING and sad. It pissed me off to no end. Fucking WHOA! Now I'm not saying the ending is bad, as it actually makes the film better, but it still made me angry.

Kelly Reilly gives one of the strongest female performances of the year in this. It's a shame that the Academy Awards rarely recognize performances in horror films because there are some really good performances out there that are better than some of the ones that go on to get nominated.

Now, I feel the need to complain about some of the comments I've read for this movie. First of all, when it comes to movies like this it seems no matter what you ALWAYS have people complaining that the characters were stupid and it was unrealistic, when, unless it's some stupid Direct-to-DVD horror flick I rarely find that to be the case with horror movies nowadays. They seem to know they can't get away with making characters overly idiotic anymore because people are more critical of their horror after being spoiled by many great ones with smart(er) characters. And I find it really irritating how many people are saying that about this one. The characters acted like regular people would. They weren't complete idiots. Yes, they made some little mistakes, but nothing real big. If this were really happening you wouldn't be able to see the outcome of it. It's easy for people to watch a movie and think up things they would do in that situation, but clearly you wouldn't be in the same frame of mind if it were really happening. I find people complaining about the actions of characters in horror movies (unless they're really bad, idiotic horror movies) to be one of my biggest annoyances (ok, maybe not one of my biggest annoyances, but it is an annoyance). Normally I find nothing wrong with their actions and even if I'd have done something different, it doesn't take me out of the movie and I can usually understand why the character did whatever it is that they did. I can't imagine the people nitpicking doing much better in similar situations.

Another thing is people finding this movie unrealistic. Honestly it doesn't seem that improbable, and I've read several comments of people from the UK who say that it's not far off and that kids there do act like this. Maybe not "quite" to the extreme that these ones go, but is it really that far-fetched to think that they could? People always seem to think that things like this would never happen, until of course they do. It's sadly not out of the realm of possibility. Similar horrifying things have happened.

Just my two cents...

I actually thought this was bloody awful myself, it suffered the Frontieres fate of being nasty simply for the sake of it.

The last act in the house actually crossed the boundary of taste into sickeningly offensive in terms of character archetypes, and for me to say that takes alot.

I just finished watching this. I think I loved it but honestly, I'm not completely sure. The movie made me so damn angry and was so frustrating (but I think in a good way?). I need to watch this again. I don't remember the last time I felt this way about a movie.

So, who else has watched this?

I watched this after a friend had recommended it. This film falls into the category of stuff like the STrangers, the Last House on the Left, Wolf Crap among others.

I thought the film was good overall. It does have a lot of violence for nothing aspect to it and it's pretty grim. The end is an interesting one though. I agree that the female lead is very good in the role. She brings courage and resourcefullness and hope to it.

I, however, wouldn't bother seeing it again. Once is enough for me.

A

Eden Lake is seriously tense, disturbing, realistic and gripping.


And I agree with Mike (nice av btw.), the ending is horrific and pretty harrowing.


Terrific performances though...and moments of really, really intense suspense.

B+


Eden Lake is harsh, brutal, depressing and dark. It's not a fun film...but is it a good movie?

I say yes. It wasn't fun, indeed, but it's a gripping and extremely unapologetic exercise in raw horror. The premise is simple. A couple wants to spend a romantic weekend on a lake in the countryside and the guy plans to propose to his girlfriend there. Things turn ugly when they get into conflict with a bunch of local kids (all of them likely under the age of 18 or around that). One thing leads to another and the couple has to fight for their survival.

The movie's a clear mixture of films like Wolf Creek and Deliverance. The fight for survival is brutal and without any compromises or cop-out's. There are some pretty bloody scenes, but the violence is never played just for the violence's sake, it usually serves the progression of the story. While there are no over-the-top brutal scenes, there are some really cringe-worthy one especially one scene that actually got an applause at my screening because it was just so damn harsh and made even the most experienced horror fans gasp and cringe. When you see the movie you'll know which one I mean. Let me just tell you this: you will feel the pain.

The acting is surprisingly good. Kelly Reilly does a great job in the leading role here, somewhat echoing Shauna Macdonald's performance in The Descent, especially in the second half of the movie. The kids turn in interesting performances. The movie doesn't just play for shocks and violence, but also has a subtle message to boot that at the end of the day makes you even feel somewhat sorry for the "evil" kids. It certainly holds a message about parenting and its importance. The themes and the message are of course nothing new or groundbreaking, but they do hit the truth.

I won't spoil you anything more about the movie, but it needs to be said that many things in this film actually don't play out as expected. The movie obviously plays with the viewers and their expectations towards the film...and turns them upside down sometimes! No matter who you root for or what happens, it still manages to leave you with a depressed/sad feeling. There's no clear and pure evil here to be found.

I have just heaped a lot of praise upon this film, but it's not perfect, similar to the films I compared it to above. What bothered me most about the film was its immense reliance on some really unlikely coincidences. Once you see it, you'll see what I mean. Some things just happened in order to push the storyline into the planned path obviously. There just can't be so many coincidences in real life. That fact sadly distances the movie from the real life feeling it provides otherwise. Moreover, it also falls into a couple of typical pitfalls of the horror genre (victims can't drive a car properly when they need to escape, some characters make some truly stupid decisions). But that doesn't really often detract from the movie as it builds up such a tension and suspense most of the time that it's hard to think of anything else.

So my verdict: see this movie and experience its impact. It's worth it.

The ending is so powerful. Made my skin crawl. Very effective.

And Michael Fassbender is the man.

Ricky Jay would beg to differ.

This is one of those rare occasions where I'm not sure definitively what to think. It's well-made, but it's so damn depressing. It's genuinely scary, but really nasty. It's realistic here, but coincidental there.

Whether I liked it or not is irrelevant at this point. Honestly, I haven't had a movie (or an ending) stick with me like that in a while. I don't know if I'm happy or violated.

If I was to watch it again, I might turn it off after Steve comes out of the water and takes out the engagement ring. She says yes, they enjoy their vacation, happy endings all around. I'll suppress the rest of it deep in my mind.

This movie is so hard to watch. Reilly and Fassbender are really good and those little bastards too.

I watch and forget so many movies. But one year after watching this for the first and (so far) only time, I remember so many moments vividly.

I'll be watching it close to Halloween. It's almost as scary as most horror movie.