Wilderness

Do not watch this movie if you are looking for a message, unless that message is that revenge is sweet. Most of the movie is a bloodfest and the special effects are graphic - not something to be watched alone if you scare easily. Michael Bassett seems to have gone solely for shock value in this movie and, if he did, then he achieved his aims admirably. In fact, I cannot recall the last time I saw a movie so openly graphic in terms of dismemberment and human death. The actors are clearly not hugely experienced and this adds somewhat to the atmosphere of the film. If you seek a true horror in terms of what is portrayed on the screen then this is the movie for you, although personally I found it a little over the top.

It's a decent survival thriller.

The actors do a good job, even though the characters are not all that very well developed. Monetheless everyone's motivations are clear enough.

The setting is isolated, as per the demands of the genre and the violence is suiably desperate and gory.

It holds no major surprises but I found it well worth watching.

After a fellow inmate commits suicide due to the constant bullying and turning a blind eye of his fellow inmates. The young group are shipped off to a deserted island, to build character and bond. However they're not alone and someone with a crossbow and a pack of dogs begin to hunt them down.

Woodland horror. I love this sub-genre. However this particular British item builds an interesting story to only fumble it with half-baked revelations, obnoxious characters and splintered direction. The survival trek is filled with blood soaked surprises, jarring jolts, and a notorious mean streak. Yippy! Yeah some of the wicked deaths are ferocious, but it did become a bit boring. When director Michael J Bassett gets hot under the collar (after slowly milking it out to begin with), he engineers taut and breakneck tension to only let the lean story be navigated by implausible and contrived staples that eventually go on to cement a numbing and uneven pattern. The unmasking of the killer is flat (though its no surprise, and it never is because we find out just after it all begins), and the confrontation comes off lousy and underdone. The characters don't break away from their underwritten, clichéd persona's. They do become a sorry, and tiring bunch that you couldn't care less about. Sure they're not meant to be likable, but hell they really irritated me. But I guess that was the perfect mould though. The story stays firm and simple, going out hard. I have mixed emotions about it, but this is more towards its timing and pushy developments, and how it eventually went about trying to cover its lack of atmosphere with rapid, uncertain movements and bloated shocks. I thought the setting could've been implemented better. Peter J Robertson's professional camera-work gets some nice shots, and his location framing and adventurous style works off fine. The music by Mark Thomas features a foreboding sting. The performances are by the books. Sean Pertwee sits back, Alex Reid gives all her will to the part and Toby Kebbell neurotically goes through the motions. Stephen Wight is probably the pick of the lot as the seething bully skinhead.

Recipe: take one large dollop of Lord of the Flies, toss in a few heaping tablespoons of Southern Comfort, sprinkle with traces of Deliverance, and add The Most Dangerous Game to taste. Blend on high for 110 minutes and presto, you've got a tasty treat of Wilderness, the new survival thriller by Director Michael J. Bassett.

Set on a remote uninhabited island used by Britain's correctional services as a retreat for troubled youth, the movie tells the story of a group of juvenile criminals who get sent to the remote location only to find themselves being stalked by a trained killer bent on revenge.

Screened at the 2006 edition of Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival, the movie doesn't make much effort to conceal the identity of the stalker. In fact, most viewers can figure this out in the first 15 minutes. However keeping secrets isn't what this story is about. Rather, it's about the thrill of hunting humans, the most sophisticated predator on the planet, and the diverse and innovative tricks involved.

Featuring Sean Pertwee, who seems to own a clause in British movie contracts saying he will appear in every UK thriller/horror film under production, the film showcases the talents of a young cast of unknowns who, while not demanded of Shakespearean performances, nonetheless turn in flawless performances to round out the movie.

Bassett, whose previous directorial debut was 2002's intriguing but flawed Deathwatch, seems to have found his stride with this effort. Scenes appear carefully thought out and executed, with a nice attention to detail. He clearly understands how to pace a film of this nature, and what works and what doesn't in what clearly was a demanding shoot involving attack dogs, forest chases, fires and numerous stunts.

The movie has something for every fan of the genre; beheadings, vicious forest traps, maulings, being eaten alive, crossbows, knife fights, skinheads, near drownings, the list goes on.

Viewers can add this to the ever growing list of British horror films such as The Descent, Dog Soldiers, and 28 Days Later (to name only a few) that are currently setting the world standard for delivering quality cinematic chills and thrills.

This film was on my radar for more than a decade. Saw this recently. It is a bloody n brutal take on the revenge n survival saga. Young offenders r sent to an isolated island for disciplinary method. The locations r picturesque but the plot has many flaws. Ignore the flaws n u get a bloody good time. There are ferocious dogs n the maulings r frighteningly gory. Ther is also a very innovative immolation scene, few stabbings n axe chopping the shoulder scene. Now I came to kno that Adam Green got the body slicing axe scene in Hatchet 1 from this film. Some may crib that the killer's identity is revealed very early. Inspite of the director being new n the budget not that great, the film is a solid thriller n the best part is the entire film is shot in broad daylight n ther r no pov or shaky cam stuff. I enjoyed this film after 13 years of its release, imagine the impact the film wud have done 13 yrs back. I have liked M.J. Bassett's Deathwatch but found his Silent Hill 2 n Solomon Kane dull.

Obviously films like Deliverance, Southern Comfort, Rituals aka Creeper, Just Before Dawn, The Most Dangerous Game, etc. may come to mind.