I really wanted to like this film as I'd heard so many good things about it and this is or should have been my kind of film but somewhere it failed to do what it set out to do. Sure, there was a lot of blood splattered in the final ten minutes but almost felt like the blood was unnecessary, as the film throughout didn't seem to warrant this amount of misplaced gore.
The film follows the lines of many other films and comparisons will obviously be drawn to 'Wolf Creek' another Aussie suspense horror but far superior to this film. The film makers done a good job with the locations and general look of the film and the three psychos, Poppy and his two sons, who live in the isolated house on the isolated island are performed well by seasoned actors.
Sadly the protagonists of the film, a middle-aged man and his younger French girlfriend are not performed so well. The French girl does a much better job in her character but there are some moments that will make you cringe. I could overlook performances in case of other factors but they just don't all add up.
The story as mentioned has been done before...better, and the logic of the French girl is beyond me. (SPOILER) For instance, how does an artist who lives in the city suddenly know how to make a fishing rod, 'Saw' Style trap that will rip a man's face off 'Hellraiser' Style?
(SPOILER) And the penis device, well, that whole scene didn't make any sense. I'm not being sexist in saying I don't like films that have penis torture, I thought 'Teeth' was an okay film but in this film it just didn't seem plausible, you'll see what I mean.
The psycho family had an edge of comicality about them which I thought was a nice redeeming factor and the hillbilly music at the end was a nice touch that suddenly made me see the film in a different light, I think it was meant to be fun but in a film where a woman is waiting to be raped for a good proportion of the entire film it should have been more suspenseful and much more terrifying.
I don't think that there was one moment that actually made me jump or where i felt a bit fearful and this was the problem with the whole film. It aspired to be something great and with the right factors in place it could have been but it turns out as something mediocre and almost comical in it's potentially sick subject matter.
A reasonable little film with some nice touches throughout but the suspense is missing and overall could have been so much better. If you want to see how it should have been done then best to go and watch 'Wolf Creek' If you didn't like 'Wolf Creek' then you won't like this film. 4/10
The film follows the lines of many other films and comparisons will obviously be drawn to 'Wolf Creek' another Aussie suspense horror but far superior to this film. The film makers done a good job with the locations and general look of the film and the three psychos, Poppy and his two sons, who live in the isolated house on the isolated island are performed well by seasoned actors.
Sadly the protagonists of the film, a middle-aged man and his younger French girlfriend are not performed so well. The French girl does a much better job in her character but there are some moments that will make you cringe. I could overlook performances in case of other factors but they just don't all add up.
The story as mentioned has been done before...better, and the logic of the French girl is beyond me. (SPOILER) For instance, how does an artist who lives in the city suddenly know how to make a fishing rod, 'Saw' Style trap that will rip a man's face off 'Hellraiser' Style?
(SPOILER) And the penis device, well, that whole scene didn't make any sense. I'm not being sexist in saying I don't like films that have penis torture, I thought 'Teeth' was an okay film but in this film it just didn't seem plausible, you'll see what I mean.
The psycho family had an edge of comicality about them which I thought was a nice redeeming factor and the hillbilly music at the end was a nice touch that suddenly made me see the film in a different light, I think it was meant to be fun but in a film where a woman is waiting to be raped for a good proportion of the entire film it should have been more suspenseful and much more terrifying.
I don't think that there was one moment that actually made me jump or where i felt a bit fearful and this was the problem with the whole film. It aspired to be something great and with the right factors in place it could have been but it turns out as something mediocre and almost comical in it's potentially sick subject matter.
A reasonable little film with some nice touches throughout but the suspense is missing and overall could have been so much better. If you want to see how it should have been done then best to go and watch 'Wolf Creek' If you didn't like 'Wolf Creek' then you won't like this film. 4/10