Wilderness Review

"Wilderness" reviews

Movie

Wilderness

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-08-09 00:00:00

Provider

MyMovies

Review

As the old nursery rhyme tells us, if you go down to the woods today you're sure of a big surprise. Well it's a big - and rather grisly - surprise that awaits a group of convicted troublemakers in this bloodthirsty British horror. The action centres on a collection of young criminals who are packed off to a remote island for some 'character building' after one of their numbers kills himself behind bars. Lead by their tough as nails warder Jed (Sean Pertwee), the guys find they're not alone on the island when they bump into a similar expedition from a local girls institution - oh, a psycho armed with a crossbow and a pack of savage dogs who seems intent on killing everyone in sight.

Playing out a bit like "Friday the 13th" meets "Lord of the Flies", this is easily one of the most savage films we've seen in quite a while. Writer/director Michael J. Bassett ("Deathwatch") certainly doesn't scrimp on the blood and guts here as limbs are lost, heads are hacked off and folks go up in flames as the entire bunch finds themselves targets for this heavily camouflaged stalker - and the director seems to revel in showing us as much gory glory as a 15 certificate will allow. And be warned - this isn't one for dog lovers.

Performance wise there's not really anything to write home about here but you'll be too busy wondering where the next crossbow bolt is coming from to really care. And some of the characters are so vile that you'll be rooting for the mysterious hunter at times. But all in all Bassett has delivered a movie that should delight gore hounds while even the squeamish might manage a giggle from behind their fingers.

Wilderness Review