User reviews

A couple of years ago I did manage to speak to writer/director Merlin Ward who like nearly every British screenwriter was having problems getting money for his projects and was suffering the heart breaking experience of seeing his screenplays sitting on a shelf gathering dust , so when I heard one of his projects was finally going into production I felt happy for the guy . Alas after seeing OUT OF BOUNDS I found myself asking couldn't one of Merlin's other scripts have been more deserving of funding ?

Some people haver mentioned that the look of the film is at fault and the whole feel of the movie has that made for television look similar to one of those feature length plays found on ITV during 9pm on a Sunday night . This is certainly true but it's the screenplay that's at fault . The story starts with an art teacher at an all girls school having sex with Louise one of the pupils . It should be pointed that Louise is 18 and well above the age of consent but I couldn't help thinking this doesn't make it all right in anyway and I watched this the same day as a certain Scottish football team revealed that their new coach was someone who spent time in jail for having sex with a 15 year old so sure as heck I wasn't going to empathise with the characters

Problem number one: I couldn't empathise with the characters but that's not the major problem with the script which lies in its contrived over complicated nature in the last third . Rmember when you saw RETURN OF THE KING in cinemas ? Remember everyone started reaching for their jackets and handbags half an hour before the final credits ? We have a whole series of similar false endings here where you think the mystery has been cleared up then BANG Mr Ward decides an already over cluttered screenplay isn't complicated enough so he adds yet another plot twist which makes the story more and more ridiculous as it trundles along

Merlin I hope you make a success of your career but remember one thing - Less is more

The headmistress of an all-girl boarding school discovers her art-teacher husband is having an affair with a pupil. The husband disappears leaving his wife and the girl alone in the rambling old-school buildings during a school break.On paper this sounds like a good premise for a creepy thriller. In reality what we get is a series of unlikely killings, red-herrings a-plenty and an uneven tone that never pulls the viewer in to the story.

The biggest problem is the timid, anaemic direction for which writer Merlin Ward himself must take the blame. This is clearly a case of failing to identify the target audience. Is this an afternoon TV movie or a late-night thriller? In trying to hedge his bets Ward misses both targets. Clearly frightened of "Lolita" comparisons, he has Sophia Myles portray the schoolgirl at the heart of the story as the blandest of blondes. In similar vain, he makes only the merest of hints as to why headmistress Veronica Van Huet (an otherwise excellent performance by Sophie Ward) would not have had the girl expelled immediately.

The ending piles on the unlikely events thick and fast but fails to provide a satisfying explanation for them.

In truth it's probably not as bad as I've made it sound, but it is unsatisfying to see a missed opportunity to make a better movie. If only the Coen Brothers had been in charge this could have been a first-rate black comedy.

I saw this when it was on the BBC the other day and thought the synopsis sounded pretty good. I thought that the aspects of a horror film were there but realistic. So many times have some occurrences in horror films been so coincidental. This was believable. I really did feel for Louise and how lonely she was. I liked the fact that you never really knew what was happening and even at the end you were still left guessing. I was confused by some of the characters and found their development a little hazy. This was especially so with veronica and imogen who i didn't understand. I also found a few too many twists. I think the best part of the film was Sophia Myles who was very good. The best thing was that I saw Celia Imrie two days after I saw this down Regent St. I don't know why I hadn't heard of this film before, its better than most films in the cinema.

The writer apparently had 10 endings for his movie . . . So what did he do? He used all 10! One after another, after another, after another. Ad Nauseam! By the time I watched every ending I was so exhausted I didn't care who lived or died or how it really ended. Shame on you Merlin Ward!

I'm not sure what film some of the other viewers watched, but I could really use their high praise for this dross, as a guide for other films to avoid... if they recommend them, they will be garbage. I can't properly review this, because I get nauseous when I think about it. The 'acting'? I'm surprised Ms Imrie didn't change her name out of embarrassment the day after it was released. The movie 'Up' was more believable! A dreadful waste of screentime.

This was well acted especially by the two female leads. However, the twists were overdone...especially Celia Imrie as a Psycho. She being a doctor how come she did not know Mr Van Huet was properly dead!?

Other characters, Sophie ward's first husband and his second wife didn't instill belief, when all others did.

Also, Mr Van Huet also became a sudden Psycho, killing Michael Elphick(not wholly sure why, was Mr Elphick in on his "death") and, so the viewer, may believe at the end going to kill Sophie Myles.

If it had not gone slightly over the top and crappy other characters, it could have been a really eerie/mystery film in the old Gothic style.

It's a shame to the male world that Sophie Ward is a lesbian.

But Overall enjoyable.

Wow, what can I say? This film was superb. With a young lady trapped in a whirling story with 2 other ladies, with a dark past to hide, and about her affairs, despairs and strives for life and truth. In a creaky old 'lady's school', it provided the eerie setting for the murders that were to take place. With twists and suspense, and a fine, fine plot, this film will have you gripped. With its stunning mix of complex mysteries and murders to boot, this film was a thrill a minute to watch. Excellent acting skills and the most precise timing I have ever seen in a film really brought it together. I urge any of you people out there reading this to see it, as I hope to again. And hey, why not email me about what you think? Maybe you agree/disagree with my comments? I guess I'll see.

In the 1970s this modest entry would have been a 60-minute TV episode from an anthology such as Brian Clemens's "Thriller" or "Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense". To make it feature-length, too many false endings have been tacked on; but the substance is just about intriguing enough to keep a late-night television viewer (if not, apparently, a British distributor) watching to the positively final climax.

A girls' boarding school at half term affords plenty of shots of the heroine, Sophia Myles, creeping along deserted corridors and entering empty rooms, or being walked in on by a trio of sinister older women. Miss Myles, very much in the buxom English rose mould of Kate Winslet, acquits herself competently without lurching into the irritating extremes of scream queen on the one hand or dopey wide-eyed dupe on the other: she projects intelligence as well as courage.

Sophie Ward as her steely headmistress and Celia Imrie-- in a role as an art-dealing doctor which is outside her normal persona as a glamorous but trustworthy Scotch matron-- keep audiences guessing about their motives. The men are not as satisfactory. Sophia's object of adulterous affection, an American art teacher married to Ms Ward, is less a character than a McGuffin. Michael Elphick, sadly bloated in his last big-screen appearance, has little to do.

The soundtrack is too replete with creepy music: the natural sounds of a big old building in the depths of the English countryside could have been used more. There are a few wince-making genre clichés, such as Sophia flinching when a sheet is pulled back and she has to ID a disfigured corpse. But this is a British suspenser which keeps its language clean, aims above the gut and avoids mid-Atlanticism. It deserved better than a late-night BBC1 premiere without even a write-up in the 'Radio Times'; if the BBC had produced it as a TV movie, they would have talked it up.

Sophie Ward is excellent as the headmistress of a girl's school, who has to face sore trials in her relationships, with her husband, an American painter and teacher of art, and her favourite pupil Sophie Myles, who becomes his mistress in the very school premises, which of course must lead to complications. They both act rather foolishly, how careless and irresponsible can you get as a teacher in a girl's school, while the headmistress Sophie Ward at least tries to keep control, maintaining style and appearances. The story does not quite hold out until the end, there are some improbable flaws, while the interesting part is Sophie Myles' occult revelations of her lover when he is gone and believed dead or even killed. What kills the plot is the doctor's loss of control, who does some things a doctor never should or could do, while at first she appears as the most self-controlled person of all. The acting is good throughout, there are some interesting Gothic elements, as it could develop into a truly scary business, which it actually tries to do, but too many things go wrong, and in the end when a corpse is fished out of the pond it only adds to the general confusion, while we shall never know how all this mess really ended. We are left with some puzzling guesses, while our sympathies remain with the headmistress.

I thought this was a fantastic English thriller, and very well cast. It was gripping, the twists were fantastic, and it was lovely seeing that a great film can be made without spending a ridiculous budget. As a girl who has been to boarding

school it really was thrilling! I'd highly recommend it!

How rare to find a film that depends less on special effects and "in-your-face" horror, and leans more towards suspense and implied danger. Just as a good paperback thriller makes one want to turn the page, watching this, one wants to leap off the sofa to protect the young protagonists! The lack of exotic locations suggests a rather tight budget, but the story is none the worse for it. After all, an old motel, a shower curtain and a bit of up-lighting served Alfred Hitchcock rather well! Good performances from experienced stage performers and newcomers. This is the sort of piece the UK national broadcaster should be commissioning, not the kitchen-sink dramas that plague UK TV screens. The director should be applauded for taking that old staple, the murder mystery, and giving it an entertaining and contemporary twist.

Some of the comments on this film seem a little unreasonable. This is an enjoyable and refreshing take on clichés within the terror genre, and the actresses are particularly good and make it well worth watching.

Somebody made a comment about this being similar to the Hammer House of Horror TV series, and I'd agree with that and say it's a pretty good summation of the feel of the story. How refreshing to see a story that doesn't charge forward with an alpha male in the lead, and that doesn't make it's heroines into soppy losers. This is a really fun horror, doesn't amp up any violence gratuitously, does a good job of creating it's mood and whilst I wouldn't recommend going out of one's way to find it, it's worth the time.

One quibble, which would seem fair, Michael Elphick, god rest his soul, is wasted. Looks like this was his last role.

I'm actually no big fan of so-called thrillers. But out of different reasons I occasionally watch one. Since I admire Sophia Myles' acting I decided to order Out of Bounds but didn't really know what to expect. But I was positively surprised. There are only a few characters in the story but every one is being developed well. Thus the characters are believable, which gives a film MANY plus points. The ability of the director to tell the story without ever failing to rise the tension and suspection is awesome. While the story's unfolding we never know what we're supposed to believe - we are allowed to make up our own minds. When the next twist comes we'll probably change our opinion again ... and again and all the while we enjoy great entertainment. The high amount of tension etc doesn't leave the film sparse of humour. And even though many will agree that it is not an every day story (we don't all go to boarding schools where we have an affair with the married teacher, who later disappears, and are then hunted by nightmares) we totally forget this because everything (the characters, the script and the acting) is very much drawn from real life. All of this makes it a rare film that makes you wonder why it so far hasn't got more recognition!! It is certainly a shame! After watching the film I had my head full of thoughts and was for a long time not able to decide what it was that made the film so appealing to me. I have come to think that it's the perfect combination of everything in the film. And for me what is really standing out are the totally natural actors/actresses and that once in a while I'm again thinking about the film. Well, I will certainly not regret the day I ordered the film.

This shocker of movie comes highly recommended in several recent reviews, and foolishly I've been dragging my heels on giving it an eyeballing - but now I've cracked, and what a treat to behold! Writer Director Merlin Ward's movie debut OUT OF BOUNDS, is a genuine beacon of classy Brit storytelling, shining brilliantly against the usual slew of boring Brit fare, punch drunk on easy come easy spend lottery funds. Ward is a true left brain, right brain entrepreneur, having courageously funded his own movie and surrounded himself with the best in the business to realise this incredible result. Here's a story that delivers classic tension right from the opening titles - and which had me sweating on the edge of my seat till the final terrific twist in the tail - which I genuinely didn't see coming! The fine performances Ward extracts from his cast is a sharp measure of raw professionalism, and his stars Sophie Ward (no relation), Sophia Myles and understudy national treasure Celia Imrie, should be proud to add this outing to their career portfolios. Stealthily underlying the action, composer Mark Ryder's deadly score is an unnerving cardiac backcloth, worthy of Hitchcock's chilliest - and a very natural marriage to Ward's taught and frugal direction.

In the set up, boarding school student Louise (Myles) pleads with her sexy headmistress Veronica (Ward) to let her stay on at school during half term, ostensibly for extra studies. But oh dear, the seemingly innocent little girl happens to be a regular item with Veronica's hunky American hubby and fellow teacher, Matt (George Asprey). So what happens when Veronica finds out? and does Ward's dark and driving script visually live up to the graphic shock horrors that inevitably follow? For my own part, I needed a couple of Lorazepam after what you might call one of Celia Imrie's more interesting scenes!

For those lucky enough to see it, Sam Raimi's wonderful US movie A SIMPLE PLAN, creatively eclipsed the more media bullish but greatly inferior FARGO. In the same way, Merlin Ward's OUT OF BOUNDS does just this to all those tired British wannabe thrillers with nothing on board but a fat promotional budget. Clearly, OUT OF BOUNDS is a great Hollywood movie in all but country of origin, and if lacking in multi-million pound promotion, still has a massive audience in waiting, by way of good old fashioned word of mouth. Press Play and enjoy!

Roger Hopkins

What a complete waste of time, redeemed only by occasional shots of the heroine's nipples. Other people say this is a sexy, English thriller. I'd say it's a formulaic hash of melodrama. A single positive note: some of the actors do deliver compelling and convincing performances, but what a terrible waste with this material.

To save you also watching to the end to find out what's going to happen, I'd like to try and explain the last half of the film. Really, I'd like to. But, my God, I can't. I've no idea why the victims end up dead, why the villains decide to kill them, or why the other proponents look on with horror. It doesn't make any real sense, except to justify pointless, end suspending twist, after pointless twist.

So before I waste more time on this film, bed.

I thought the previous reviewer was harsh - yes, you don't expect the twist at he end (a sad one to be fair!) but I thought there was plenty of tension created who didn't feel desperate for Louise as she was stalked around that dark school?? Louise (Sophia Myles) was excellent - having not seen her before I'll join the chorus of praise and predictions that she'll go all the way to the top - this was a convincing performance, full of intelligence.

thought the soundtrack worked pretty well and the empty private school in the middle of nowhere was the perfect set up for a 'shining' type descent into hell for Louise