My Grading System

A+ = Masterpiece (I hold back on this one.) / A = Great. / A- = Really Good. / B+ = Good. / B = Decent (Serviceable). / B- = Flawed but okay (For those times there's something redeeming about the work). / C+ = Not very good (Skip it). C = Bad. / C- = Awful. / F = Complete Disaster (I hold back on this one too).

Note on Spoilers: I will try to avoid ruining a story by going into too much detail. But if I wish to include some revealing points to my analysis I will try to remember to add a separate spoiler paragraph.

Friday, October 21, 2016

Eden Lake (2008)

Here’s another film about a couple that go away to some remote area only to find terror instead of happiness.  What makes this British thriller stand out is the remarkable performances from Kelly Reilly and Michael Fassbender.  James Watkin’s direction is very strong too, creating intense scenes that are brutal and frighteningly real.   I’ll be thinking about this film the next time my wife and I go camping that’s for sure, especially if I run into a group of thuggish teenagers.   Grade: A-


Spoilers:  The end of this one is greatly depressing and had me fuming mad.  That’s two films in a row where I wanted to punch someone’s face.  The difference here, although very cynical and mean-spirited, I felt the storyteller had something to say, an emotional truth that the audience needed to swallow even if it burned going down.   The only knock I had on this one is that Kelly’s character doesn’t just die a horrible death, but she fails so miserably.   I would have found it so much more rewarding if the teenager she had run over was that bastard Brett.   Oh well, that’s theater of cruelty for you. 

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