Solo (2013)

Wow! Such a good movie.

I wanted to but couldn't!

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The film starts out with a one sided view of a visit to the psychiatrist's office. This is just one of the subtle, yet tightly integrated elements of the plot and the highly focused character study of Guilian that will keep you thinking for the first 50 minutes of the film. We know it's going to be a stalker in the woods film from the start. Consider the genre for a moment. Over the top gore. Hockey Masks and decapitations. Chainsaws and villains wearing other people's skin. These are plot devices right out of the same fantasy world as light sabers and gremlins. Even the rabid man-eating animal, usually a bear, fallen out of favor recently with the exception of Wolf, is pretty contrived. But here is a film that simply presents you with off-balanced characters, and others that we can detect have something creepy lurking below their surface, without contriving anything too obvious to make it seem in forced and cliche.Annie Clark's performance is top rate. She makes believable the kind of hide-in-your-sleeping bag naiveté of someone afraid of animal sounds in the night with the savvy of a teenage girls who knows better than to tell someone she is all alone in the woods for two days. Her character arc follows the path of Ripley and Sarah Conner, yet it doesn't seem forced. We hope her future projects track more in the direction of Ms. Weaver than Ms. Hamilton. This is not "The Glass House", where the highlight of the characters performance is her bikini scene. We love the genuine beauty of the woods and the green eyed gaze of Ms. Clark as she looks for a way forward from a personal tragedy of her past.In the last 20 minutes of the film, there are a few tropes to be reckoned with. The engine that won't start. The rescuer knocked out from behind. But even so, this is no "Blair Witch Project" where chicanery with the camera work demand attention that is drawn away from the lack of plot, nor is it a big budget affair with or over the top set pieces designed to distract from deficient writing. The film is great at getting and holding scenes of tension. That is what a suspense film should do first, and it that regard I highly recommend Solo. Watch it alone, a few days before your (or your child's) next camping trip (I don't mean trip to an RV campsite, I mean real camping in the public game preserve or even your large suburban back yard) and I guarantee you'll have trouble going to sleep.

There are some twists and turns, and some unexpected story line thrills. The gore rates a 5 out of 10--realistic enough but not too creepy for anybody over 14 maybe. Stellar performances from all actors involved--character personalities are quickly defined. Girl in pain from a past mistake and naturally humble, confident friend (seen only in the beginning), jaded Summer camp director, mysterious camp counselor who defies the viewer to trust him, and a smooth-talking psychopath (aren't they always?) masquerading as a fisherman. The main glitch of the film is that the girl was supposed to be on the island only one day and night, but for some reason never explained she stays on the island two days and two nights. As Psychopath Horror films go, and there are many of them, this one turns the genre squarely on its head.

Young girl has a past trauma to deal with, so she applies to be a camp counsellor. Nice. But to pass the entry exam for being said counsellor she has to spend two nights alone on a remote island, thus proving her metal. Amazingly she's not as alone as is meant to be...OK! The premise is weak, both in terms of logic and redundancy of formula, but that isn't a problem for those after a good compact scare picture to pass the time of day with. The trouble with Alone (AKA: Solo) is that it's just too dull for its own good, resorting to telegraphed boo-jumps at time scripted junctures. After a while you kind of find yourself wishing it had something more to offer on a psychological basis. The reveal of the threat is tedious, the execution of the last quarter equally so, but the performance of young Annie Clark in the lead and some efficient chill moments makes this just about passable as a time waster. 5/10

This was such an awful movie. I won't even bother to write a synopsis. It was just an hour or so of complete drivel and rubbish. Don't bother to download this tripe. This was such an awful movie. I won't even bother to write a synopsis. It was just an hour or so of complete drivel and rubbish. Don't bother to download this tripe. This was such an awful movie. I won't even bother to write a synopsis. It was just an hour or so of complete drivel and rubbish. Don't bother to download this tripe. This was such an awful movie. I won't even bother to write a synopsis. It was just an hour or so of complete drivel and rubbish. Don't bother to download this tripe.