The Last Great Wilderness

"The Last Great Wilderness" was touted as both a horror movie and a thriller, especially with its poster and DVD cover featuring Alistair Mackenzie toting a shotgun. Suffice to say, Mackenzie's character is wearing a dress at the same time as carrying the shotgun, which is as good an indication as any of the film's rather insane trajectory.

It has an obviously improvisatory feel - when one character makes a confession about the nature of his fantasies, it's hard not to imagine that this really is the first time that the other actors have heard about it (which makes the scene work very well). Other reviewers have already nailed the wayward charm of this cracking movie - though it meanders through any number of genres, with signposts for a dozen other movies, what holds it together is its vicious sense of humour. Worth seeing for the overwhelmingly sinister atmosphere, some superb performances, and an entirely unexpected and shockingly tender love scene which instantly makes the usual Hollywood soft-focus look irredeemably artificial. It's not without flaws, but "The Last Great Wilderness" is nevertheless rivetting, and hopefully not the last great independent British movie.

I don't want to say this is a bad film because I think I was expecting too much from it. A couple of reviews had lead me to believe it was similar to 28 Days Later and Dog Soldiers (Both of which I really enjoyed).

The film began well enough and I think it is an interesting idea. However, by the closing credits I was left underwhelmed, disapointed and most importantly confused.

Maybe there was some signifigance to the ending but if there was, I sure didn't get it.

Despite this, I would say it is definatley a film worth watching.

What? A British movie without any diamond Mockney geezers or slumming luvvie thesps? A British movie that dares to tell an interesting and for the most part unpredictable story about - gasp - recognisable, likeable characters? Is it a ghost movie? Is it a thriller? Is it STRAW DOGS? Is it THE WICKER MAN? No - it's something else, is what it is - most of all, a throwback to the days when the British film industry (quiet at the back there, stop sniggering) could make quirky, intelligent, movies that exemplified style and originality, not just an excuse to pollute the screen with stereotyped by-the-yard Britflick blah. Danny Boyle did it with 28 DAYS LATER, and this film does it too - check it out. As Joe Bob would say.

This movie was billed as some kind of modern-day wicker-man, but it instead fails to be anything of the sort.Its not entertaining or scary in the least , the only reason it even qualifies for an 18- certificate is because of 5 minutes of mild nastiness right at the end. The movie builds tension and you wait fixed to the screen for the bad stuff to begin in the lonely lodge deep in the Scottish highlands. Instead you get a few mysteries which end up in nothing and are unresolved at the end, and a bunch of guys dressed as tarts at a funeral. The Wicker man this ain't, people. If you see the case in the video store, don't be fooled by the guff on the cover, because The Last Great Wilderness is the last great disappointment.

Saw this movie this evening as part of the local film festival - really thought it was great. The script was really rather unpredictable, and very funny. Casting, acting, writing, etc all came together to make it a great film.

The Wicker Man comes up often with this film, deservedly so - not that it is in any way a rip off, quite original actually - it's just the vibe you get. It was really interesting to be so completely outside the people in the retreat when Charlie and Vince arrive - it was so difficult to tell what was going on, and the audience kind of gets to figure it out with the main characters - a neat device. I was thrown off a bit by Vince's last scene in the film - it did not seem to fit with the pace of the movie. I'm glad that it made it out of Scotland. so the rest of us can see it!!