Just saw this last night, apparently there was supposed to be a presentation on the movie beforehand, but the person giving it got caught in traffic.
It’s difficult judging the film, not because of the quality of the movie itself, but because of the audience. The audience for the film was just fantastic and as such it colours my view of the film. The movie itself, and I’m going to try and be conservative, is great. It’s a comedy first and foremost with some real visceral moments of horror, it even has the requisite fake jump scares. It’s certainly no way near as intelligent as a film like Shaun of the Dead, but it does have moments of inspired lunacy.
The plot concerns seven workers from a munitions company who find themselves lost in the forests of Hungary. After finding a shack they believe to be the base for their team building weekend they settle down and soon find that there are people in the woods with a serious grudge against their employers.
What’s great about the film is the genuine menace and threat that is brought by the enemies, who more than anything look like the villagers from Resident Evil 4. It’s the same sort of horrific, methodical terror that was apparent in High Tension’s main villain.
What makes the film are two key factors. One is that it is utterly hilarious, throughout all the viciousness lays a pulse of pitch black gallows humour, and the other is that the cast are really given chance to make their characters at least sympathetic. From the introduction on the bus, which lays out their personalities quite well, to the first attack the film builds a real empathy for characters who really are quite one dimensional. It’s the fact that the people actually get on with each other and act like real people which gives the closing moments such a palpable sense of horror.
The film is quite brutal for a 15 rated movie. This is largely due to the use of implication over overt horror. You build a mental picture instead of having to have it shown to you, and with scenes like the one where someone loses their foot after a bear trap repeatedly closes on them it is used brilliantly.
I once again have to mention the humour of the film, starting like a generic Office Clone the film soon gains a sense of brilliant absurdist humour. An early example being when the team discuss the history of the lodge, each story accompanied by it’s own short little vignette including one full on Nosferateu homage.
Like I said it’s hard to judge the film as the audience were so great it was easy to get carried away. But I really enjoyed the film. It’s well worth seeking out.
