Eden Lake (2008)

Wonderful character development!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Blistering performances.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Seen this movie a few times. Love it. You won't be disappointed

A brutal, bestial & barbaric British horror that paints a harrowing portrait of Britain's social decay, Eden Lake comes equipped with a menacing tone & foreboding aura that only gets more vicious as plot progresses, and packs a premise that's ruthless with its content and isn't for the easily distressed.The story of Eden Lake follows a young couple who head out to an idyllic setting to spend their weekend but find their romantic getaway disrupted when a local gang of delinquent teenagers show up. As their attempts to provoke the couple intensifies, it leads to a confrontation that ends with terrifying consequences.Written & directed by James Watkins in what's his directorial debut, Eden Lake is an extremely violent, palpably tense & endlessly savage chiller that finds the filmmaker ratcheting up the tension & mood to nerve-wracking levels to present his take on the consequences of child neglect, although there are times when he goes a tad too far.A chilling sense of dread permeates its atmosphere long before things go from bad to worse for the couple and that disquieting chill is effectively maintained till the end. Camerawork is smartly carried out, pacing is precise, the protagonist's predicament is relatable, and the violence n gore it has in store is disturbingly graphic & cold-blooded.Coming to the performances, Eden Lake is expertly steered by Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Jack O'Connell & others. Reilly & Fassbender play the young couple whose peaceful weekend turns into a nightmare, thanks to some brutish teenagers led by Jack O'Connell's character. Reilly's input only gets better as plot progresses while O'Connell plays his sadistic character with nothing held back.On an overall scale, Eden Lake is a taut & terrifying tale of modern youth gone wild that only gets more n more unnerving with time before wrapping itself up on a gut-wrenching note. A genuinely unsettling & profoundly upsetting experience that isn't everyone's cup of tea, Eden Lake is a downright chilling horror-thriller that keeps a firm grip on pacing & tension while revelling in extremity and marks a solid start for its debutant director.

Not at all like many that i've watched, unpredictable ending BRAVO to the producers, cheers......

This British movie is one which tapped into the cycle of visceral and sadistic horror films which were especially popular in the late 2000's. It has to be said though that it's a very well made film with some good performances too. It is about a young couple who go for a romantic getaway by a woodland area called Eden Lake, which is set for destruction in order to make way for a new urban development. This idyllic trip very soon turns into a nightmare when an aggressive gang of teenage hoodies turn up. It begins with obnoxious behaviour, which turns to theft, then violence and ultimately murder. It results in a survivalist scenario, with the female of the couple left to fight for her life in the woods.The long shadow of the seminal 70's shocker Deliverance (1972) can be detected here quite clearly, with the age old story of sophisticated city folks venturing into the domain of brutish locals from out-of-town. It's quite a simplistic idea that some may find offensive but it is played out here to good effect, with the teenage gang being a truly irritating and oafish gang of fools. Admittedly, some are shown to become increasingly reluctant to go down the increasingly violent path that their leader takes them on, so there is some content about peer pressure added to the mix here. But essentially, the reason this one works comes primarily down to its success as a straight-ahead horror movie. There is a pretty clear divide between whom we should root for and who are the antagonists. And there is a good amount of tension generated throughout the picture, with some bloody violence thrown in for good measure. It all winds down ultimately to an ending which was unexpectedly nihilistic. It didn't leave you with a good feeling but it certainly worked to the movie's overall benefit. Eden Lake is definitely a superior example of the kinds of horror movies on the more intense end of the spectrum; it's well delivered and quite memorable.