(Rollercoaster Films/Madman)

Lady Sovereign could’ve done a lot worse than spitting

This is perhaps one of the easiest movies I’ve had to review, because several days after watching it, the images remain extremely vivid and lodged deeply into memory. The premise is pretty standard for an American thriller (picture perfect couple spend weekend in idyllic lakeside camping spot, only to be terrorized by a gang of teens), but this UK-made film pushes the boundaries of horror and tension without descending into self-parody where, say, Eli Roth would. Brits do things differently, extending beyond putting vinegar on everything and taking a liberal stance on dental hygiene. If you’ve read a British tabloid newspaper in the last few years you would know that the greatest single threat to the country is rowdy teenagers with hoodies listening to electro-grime, and Eden Lake feeds into these fears by gathering the most unlikeable group of gobby young adults you’ve seen this side of the Queen Street Mall. Kelly Reilly shines as tortured captive Jenny and Jack O’Connell (James Cook in the third and fourth series of Skins) as the sociopathic gangleader is terrifying, displaying a Svengali-like grip over his less willing friends. Relentlessly graphic and wincingly violent, after 90 minutes of such tension and release you’ll feel exhausted. Debut director James Watkins doesn’t fall back on cheap thrills and blood for blood’s sake, he wants you to feel every cut and wound along the way. While I don’t approve of Eden Lake’s fear-mongering and demonising (kids today are horrible, but so were the previous generation and 200 years ago), it’s a nonetheless brilliant must-watch for fans of the ultraviolent survival thriller genre.

****

MITCH ALEXANDER

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