After a bullied cellmate commits suicide, a group of juvenile offenders (including supposed murderer Kebbell and hostile skinhead Wight) are sent into the wilderness to pay for what they did, and maybe learn something about themselves. Unfortunately, someone else is on the island, a nasty killer armed to the teeth and accompanied by several vicious attack dogs. Sean Pertwee is the gruff, tough guy in charge of the kids whilst Alex Reid is in charge of several young girls (Greene and the very photogenic Crichlow) who also happen to be in the area for similar reasons.
This pretty enjoyable British genre piece throws around elements of
Battle Royale,
Lord of the Flies,
Scum, and
Friday the 13th, putting it all into one fine-looking, entertaining mix. The photography and scenery are particularly effective. Not only does it all look lovely (especially given that budget probably wasn't huge), but you really do feel like these people are in a helluva tough situation to get out of- where's the exit, exactly? Where's Jack and Locke, and the rest of the
Lost crew? Oh, right, different island. It also helps that a steady genre hand like Sean Pertwee (who was great in the underrated
Dog Soldiers) is around to lend some authority to proceedings, though his screen time is not as much as I would have liked. I also admire the director for initially following the
Jaws route, by not showing the audience who or what is doing the killing early on. And when the attack scenes are shown, in some cases, there is some really interesting camerawork to suggest more fury and nastiness than is actually transpiring, which is really well-done.
And then we have the gore. Although initially, the attacks seem rather bloodless or are mostly off-screen, that soon changes. This is one brutal movie (bitten off arms, a literal river of red, etc.), and if you love your gore (I do, so long as it doesn't look too real, then it's just nasty) this is definitely a film to see. However, I should stress that despite the presence of Pertwee and some canines, you should not think that this film is going to be another
Dog Soldiers, the two films are completely different animals, so to speak. The film is not perfect, however. Although it is eventually tied into things, the set-up away from the island is rather dull and for the most part seemed extraneous to me. There was nothing in those scenes that could not have been better served as mere dialogue, with the film beginning on the island. As a result, the film's pacing is off, starting things off on a bum note. Also, it must be said, the audience is starved of likeable characters.
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These boys are mostly revolting little miscreants, the girls are sadly given nothing to do (even the sex scene is fully clothed, but I'll not go down that train of thought), and aside from the thoroughly disagreeable character played (rather well) by Wight, no one really stands out. Also, the film has an 11th hour twist that is neither very surprising nor terribly plausible, with a moment's reflection. With a better opening and more interesting, well-developed characters, this could've been a terrific little B-movie instead of just a pretty good one. But pretty good will do for now. It's definitely one of the better British horror films I've seen recently, and for a film not made for squillions (if it's not a word, then it should be) of dollars, quite impressively mounted.
Extras on the DVD include a dull behind-the-scenes featurette which is one of those near-silent efforts that drive me nuts, as we simply watch several scenes being filmed, with no narration at all. Mind you, everyone on set seems good humoured and happy to be working. There is also a trailer along with trailers for other Momentum films like
District 13,
Boo, and the wonderfully gory (if mostly poorly acted, aside from Robert Englund)
2001 Maniacs.
