Eden Lake

Every horror fan should sit up and take notice, this is the gem many of us have been waiting for in vain all this year – a very intense and disturbing experience. The trodden basic storyline of a couple in the woods who run into psychopaths that want to hurt them is portrayed in such way that it feels incredibly realistic, making you wonder whether you haven’t recently read about something similar in a newspaper. In many films I end up rooting for the villains, at least in part (especially in slashers), but Eden Lake made me literally wish for a happy ending or at least a properly cruel punishment for the underage ruffians. Really, I don’t have any major complaints. The ending is good, the torture scenes have the effect they are supposed to have, and the heroes are almost surprisingly likeable. Basically, Eden Lake is a slasher enriched by a lot of exploitation elements that cements the exceptional position of modern European horror (that beautifully incorrect scene by the campfire could never be made in America today). (11/04/2008)

The islanders strike back at the French, who have had no competition in the exploitation field recently. It takes place in the traditional backdrop of a deep forest, where a young couple go for a romantic weekend. This time they’re not terrorized by a sweaty redneck, but rather by a bunch of rude brats. The plot, based on a clear model, is disrupted by several impressive twists and turns, an excellent pair of protagonists, a twisted party boss with the visage of a hockey player, and, above all, a surreal ending that pushes the despair even further. Some moments (the thorn, the game with fire, the ending) make me want to give it full stars, but the slight aftertaste from the mix of Frontier(s) and Them keeps me at a four, albeit a very strong four. Keep it up! (01/04/2009)

Brats! I also give the film three average stars for the fact that this (more or less) variation on Peckinpah's classic Straw Dogs moves along quickly and for the excellent Kelly Reilly, whom I knew only from her "cool" costume roles in Pride and Prejudice or Sherlock Holmes. But that's all I was captivated by in Eden Lake. It didn't even scare me. (07/25/2011)

This is a difficult film to classify. It can best be compared to classic survival thrillers, with the only difference that the nasty hillbillies have been replaced by a gang of violent teenagers. It didn't really feel like a horror movie, Watkins fails to build the atmosphere of fear that the film would have benefited from in the quieter passages, and on the TV screen the group of teenagers failed to inspire as much terror as would have been appropriate for this type of film. The film's sole and great strength, apart from the classic forest setting, is the detailed depiction of the physical suffering to which the protagonists are constantly subjected, which Watkins manages to play with expertly, building it up to one of the strongest endings I've seen in horror in a long time, with despair climbing to the highest possible level. It is an unpleasant film, but not because of its brutality, which is not excessive in any case, but simply because of the awareness of the terrible and hopeless situation our heroes find themselves in and the way they sink deeper and deeper into it, and for that alone, I can’t rate it lower than 80%. (10/27/2012)

"The Lake of Death" is a very intense experience that cannot be recommended to everyone, because it is simply not suitable for the faint-hearted. Yes, towards the end, it becomes a bit too exaggerated and perhaps unnecessarily concludes the way it does, but as long as the film takes place in the forest, it is truly oppressive and intense. People are monsters, and even though the film is purely fiction, you easily realize that something similar could happen. Justice is only presumed, only family exists, and it's an eye for an eye. Overall, a dark message. (11/06/2014)