| Author | Message | ||
     Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Has anyone seen this? I watched it last week and thought it was a well made, tense little thriller but the two leads both suffered from "stupid horror movie behaviour". After their tyres were slashed why the hell did they go back to the lake? If there'd been just a short scene with the wife arguing no, don't go back and the husband acting on principle that he wasn't going to let the yobs spoil the weekend, that would have been fine, it would have been a character driven, rather than a plot driven, decision to make. Other than that (and the husband walking into the house for no good reason) I really enjoyed it. the violence was actually quite Hitchcockian in that we rarely saw a knife land and any deaths were off camera. I will definitely be checking for any other films by the same director. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.210.209.176 |
I agree Weber, although the daft logic was something I could forgive, given the rest of the film. The final scenes, when she arrives at the house-party, are electrifying. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
"After their tyres were slashed why the hell did they go back to the lake?" The tyres aren't slashed. A bottle is left behind the right-hand rear tyre, and Steve backs over it. He later tells the waitress that one of his tyres has been punctured. I don't see why this would strike him and Jenny as any reason to suspect worse will happen if they return to the lake. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
I've just watched this and thought it was a pretty gruelling and very entertaining Brit exploitation film. I agree with Weber, though, that it suffered from unrealistic behaviour from the lead characters and an illogical streak throughout the plot. SLIGHT SPOILER My big question is, why didn't she use her mobile phone to call someone (the police?) after the car crash instead of falling asleep in a deadfall? It muted the horror for me; made it into a 100% exploitation film rather than one with serious intentions. On the plus side, though, it's beautifully filmed, well paced and the acting is top notch (especially by the absolutely bloody stunning Kelly Reilly). | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 188.28.211.249 |
I thought it was one of the best British horror films in years. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
I thought Tom Turgoose really showed he's a one-trick-pony where acting's concerned though... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
To be fair, he wasn't an actor when Meadows put him in This is England. He stil isn't.  Patrick, have you seen Mum and Dad? That's one of the best British horror films in recent years, IMHO...astonishing stuff. | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.142.11 |
I found EDEN LAKE dissatisfying on several levels. I agree that it was well made and quite suspenseful. But I didn't think the chav families were chavy enough. The houses were too posh. Surely they could have found a really grotty council estate to film it on? One other problem, I had - which is probably to the film's credit, in an odd kind of way - is that the concept disturbed me a lot. It's now joined that growing list of horror movies that I'm glad I watched but probably won't watch again. This idea of feral children is not new, of course. I thought THEM (the recent French flick, not the giant ant one) did it better than anyone else, but we're increasingly hearing about unprovoked, very violent attacks like this on ordinary householders, shopkeepers etc, and I'm more and more discomforted to see it offered as horror film entertaintment. Not because I'm being politically correct, but because I don't like being reminded of what might really be going on two streets away. And now a key question - why are so many characters in modern British horror films so disagreeable? The leads in EDEN LAKE are okay, in a bland, inoffensive sort of way, but nearly everyone else in it is utterly horrible. Look at other recent Brit pics - DONKEY PUNCH and THE REEDS, for example - and almost every person on screen is a total wanker. I still think part of the great strength of my two favourite horror movies - THE HAUNTING and THE EXORCIST - is that you genuinely care about everyone involved. Even a much less worthy effort, the Australian WOLF CREEK, made for harrowing but compelling viewing because I desperately wanted the two girls to survive. With EDEN LAKE, I cared so little about anyone in it, that I couldn't wait for it to finish. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Yes, ILS (Them) was a far superior examination of similar themes. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Paul - I agree completely about the characters of recent years in British movies. I guess it's all down to the current cynical, I'm too fucking cool attitude. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
I dunno, the lead character is the excellent Heartless is very likeable. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
I preferred Eden Lake myself, though I do think it has inconsistencies - I cited them in my Video Watchdog column. I thought the relatively expensive houses were very much part of the point - this sort of behaviour doesn't just happen on run-down estates, as families make more money and move out but don't change morally. As for offering it as "horror film entertainment" - well, I suppose I could be accused of offering similar material as "entertainment" in The One Safe Place. I thought the themes were worth addressing, and I'm happy to assume James Watkins may have too. There certainly are moments when the film is overly generic, but a good deal of it is disturbingly convincing, I think. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
I thought the relatively expensive houses were very much part of the point - this sort of behaviour doesn't just happen on run-down estates, as families make more money and move out but don't change morally. That's exactly how I read it, Ramsey - and, indeed, a in my extensive experience lot of the kind of chavs represented in the film have immaculate homes in real life; they redecorate constantly and always have the latest gadgets. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Zed - Actually, mate, I'd have to agree with you there. BUT, I was so disappointed with Heartless. I was so excited that Philip Ridley had a new film out. Perhaps I should give it another go. I'm such a big fan of his, but the film seemed badly edited. Ramsey - this has been my argument for years, that this so called 'chav like behaviour' doesn't stem from poverty anymore, but is symptomatic of other factors (such as those you mentioned). | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
One of my main problems with the film was that the kids simply weren't threatening enough. I reckon I could've taken them in that situation. With ILS, I felt they could have taken me easily... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Frank - I thought Heartless was wonderful. Brilliantly written, shot, acted and edited. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I watched 'Them' recently and found it a well-mounted and tense slasher movie but no more than that. I was left disappointed that no attempt had been made to explore the theme of bored delinquent children torturing and killing for kicks - their youth was merely used for added shock value in the climactic scenes. In that respect the filmmakers bottled it, delivering no more than an effective but ultimately vacuous thrill-ride imo. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Zed - I thought it was brilliantly acted, shot, but not written or edited. Remember, I was so thrilled when I found out this was coming out, but a quarter of the way in it just seemed to diverge from my expectations. My expectations were = horror analogy used to demystify current mode of blame = something a little different but following a more conventional route. Why I'd think that is something of a mystery, since Ridley is far from a conventional director/writer. But hey, those are my expectations, and I can't expect the director to turn out a film based solely on my personal criteria (; But I did think the editing was ropey. I'll give it another go. I wasn't in a particularly good mood the day I saw it. BTW: Have you seen Inception yet? That's definitely you're kind of movie...also. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Stevie, ILS wasn't about bored delinquent children killing for kicks. Read the little bit of text at the start of the film...it's about abandoned immigrant kids stealing and home invading and killing because they're gone feral. Once you appreciate this, the film has much more substance. The Strangers -a very similar US film - is about bored kids killing for kicks. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Frank - I diagree utterly . Also, why is the film a failure because it didn't deliver on your expectations regarding what it should be about? The tonal shift midway through was part of the plot. Great film, I thought. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Zed - you misread what I wrote. I said that the film SHOULDN'T have to deliver on my expectations...I stressed the absurdity of what I had said/written. But we all have expectations, and sometimes, even when the film or book is great, we cannot help but feel disappointed because of these said expectations. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
But the implication in the final scene was that these were very much ordinary, satchel carrying kids catching the bus home without attracting a hint of suspicion or showing one iota of guilt. Also the elaborate game of cat and mouse they played with their victims throughout the film was nothing more than them getting their jollies out of sadism. They weren't driven to kill for survival they were just nasty little pricks - a phenomenon that is becoming all too common nowadays... I remember reading a grim little Pan Horror story set in Eastern Europe about a tribe of feral immigrant children living in the woods who turn to cannibalism to survive: 'The Children' (1966) by W. Baker-Evans, 8th Pan Horror. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Well, the repeated "Why won't you play with us?" motif suggested to me issues of abandonment and detachment, rather than simply killing for kicks. But, hey-ho, we all have our different readings of things. I just found this a more substantial film than you did. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
I think I'm right, and both of you wrong. It stands to reason I'd be right  Now get back to work both of you... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I thoroughly enjoyed 'Them' as an exercise in pure suspense but just thought it lacked substance. Horses for courses... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Yeah, but you're a thicko. | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.142.11 |
HEARTLESS I found achingly sad and with far greater depth and scope than I'd expected. As before, not sure I'd want to watch it again. Maybe I'm just getting old, but some of these cerebral horrors are getting a bit too much for me. Gimme Cushing, Price and Lee and some over-coloured, over melodramatic period piece, and I'm more than happy. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Whatever you say, Zed... |