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.

Here we have a bunch of obnoxious teenagers getting brutally murdered by a revenging father. No problem there - had they all been killed in the first 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the viewer has to suffer the most appalling acting I've seen outside infant school, dodgy camera work, naive direction, and a dreadful sound track.

The emotions portrayed by this motley bunch of acting school drop-outs range from constipation to hysteria, with little inbetween. Had I been producing this movie I would have left the entire cast and crew on the island, along with some wolves and bears, thus doing the film industry a tremendous service.

Sean Pertwee reprisals his role in Dog Soldiers by putting himself on the canine menu once again, and Alex Reid plays the tough guy, though I think she's a girl. Not much else to say, really.

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.

Wilderness isn't a great modern horror film, but it does a good job of taking old ideas and rehashing them into a fresh and exciting plot line. The influences to the film are clear, with the much-copied classic 'The Most Dangerous Game' being fused with more modern films such as 'Battle Royale'. The basic plot line isn't too far removed from your common slasher film, but director Michael J. Bassett gives him film an extra edge by putting the focus on the struggle as the protagonists battle with the wilderness (naturally), the main threat and even each other. The plot focuses on a group of juvenile delinquents who are sent to an uninhabited island when a young lad staying in their home is found to have committed suicide. However, the island doesn't turn out to be uninhabited at all, as aside from a local hermit; there's also a group of girls there with the same idea - and some mad psycho with a crossbow and a group of bloodthirsty German Shepherds, who is seemingly hell bent on not letting any of them off the island alive!

The director seems more bothered about atmosphere and tension than characters; as while some of the people inhabiting the film are well defined, their actions are often questionable and none of them are particularly interesting. But even so, this isn't a problem; as the film is constantly suspenseful and the fact that there is an unseen psycho in the woods bodes well with the atmosphere on display. Michael J. Bassett seems keen to go against the clichés of the horror genre, as there is no mystery to the killer's identity after the first half of the film and the crossbow weapon works well. There's a fair amount of gore on display, although the film never matches the initial death sequence in the wilderness in terms of gore. The acting isn't terrible, but the 'thick' British accents sound really phoney to an actual Brit like me. Sean Pertwee is the only recognised name on the cast list, but the rest of the cast; which is made up of mostly British television stars, provide adequate performances. Overall, Wilderness is certainly a good horror film and comes recommended.

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.