Eden Lake

You don't watch it, you survive it. A battering experience, and the hardest Brit horror in years.

The shattering downbeat ending is well earned and genuinely shocking.

As a thriller, Eden Lake absolutely works, but feel-good entertainment it isn’t. Don’t bring a date.

Seriously bloody horrible in every particular, and uncompromisingly bleak to the very end, this looks to me like the best British horror film in years: nasty, scary and tight as a drum.

Eden Lake doesn't feel like torture porn so much as a rural-jeopardy thriller in extremis.

This slice of class-baiting British ordeal horror from writer-director James Watkins is potently made. It's also exploitative trash, serving up silly levels of alarmist editorialising about kids today.

Eden Lake has the trappings of a low-IQ thriller but it's really a contemptible tract feeding the prejudices of the U.K.'s rightwing tabloids that claim the country is overrun by teenagers wielding knives.

If you can suspend your disbelief - that this film's cast of villains is exaggerated and borderline comical - then this film will leave you shaken to the core with its succulent doses of tensity. The film follows Michael Fassbender and Kelly Reilly acting it out as a couple looking to spend time together in a secluded lake. They arrive there, seeking to relax, and for Fassbender's character, it is the perfect time for him to push their relationship further with a special plan. As with other horror films of this nature, the couple's romantic trip derails quickly into violence as their collision with a group of teenagers (led by Brett, played by Jack O'Connell) fuels a fight for survival. Eden Lake operates on the same fundamental level as its contemporaries, fulfilling its role as dirty violence. The film is tense, gory, and conclusively upsetting, but that's what makes it work so well. Forget about moral complications and deeper thematic constructs. Maybe there's something interesting here with the way it tackles the moral decay of the working class and its unchecked youth. It's clear, however, that the film is less concerned with its ideas and is more geared towards serving a fine slasher horror. And that's where its strength lies. It's fun to have a film that can be both delicious in its bloody imagery and utterly dreadful in its bleak story. Kelly Reilly gives out a performance that allows much of the film's straightforward plot to remain engaging, as her role as the girlfriend leaves a memorable portrayal of one's thirst for survival. It's Reilly's performance that evokes an appeal that compliments O'Connell's unrelenting brutality. At the end of the day, the film is strictly linear in regards to following a conventional formula. But sometimes, it's all you need for this type of work. Besides, it is tightly executed and provides an explosive ending. If anything, Eden Lake packs a delicious **** punch to the stomachs of its audience. And that - is good enough.

I am beyond frustrated with this film. It started with a great concept and solid potential, but the ending is one of the most disgusting and illogical things I have ever watched. The writing feels completely disconnected from reality—the police and the law are non-existent, and the final direction the story takes is genuinely irritating. It feels like the writer chose shock value over a coherent or satisfying conclusion. It actually makes the entire experience worse in hindsight. I cannot recommend this to anyone. A total waste **** start.

Típica peli que te pone nervioso por las decisiones de los protagonistas, pero dentro del ámbito que es, no esta mal y te mantiene pegado a la pantalla. Y una de las que rara vez, no acaba bien.

Un gentil couple va camper près d’un lac, dans la campagne anglaise… mais tombe rapidement sur une bande de dégénérés consanguins, voire la famille entière de psychopathes tarés… car apparemment, ils jouent vraiment de malchance… Surtout la donzelle, un bien jolie rouquine blonde (ou inversement) qui ressemble à Cate Blanchett mais en bien plus jolie et sexy (c’est aussi pour ça qu’ils l’ont choisie, je crois bien !). Le film est étonnamment bien réalisé mais pâtit de quelques concours de circonstances vraiment étranges, pour ne pas dire aberrants et invraisemblables… Tout cela, toutes ces « péripéties » pour mener à cette fin particulièrement discutable, ma foi, pour ne pas dire très décevante. Une fin énervante, je dois dire, qui nuit énormément au film et le gâche presque entièrement. C’est fort dommage, car ces caricatures de cinglés sont -étonnamment- drôles… à l’insu -ou pas- du film lui-même, cela va sans dire. Certes, on sent bien qu’il s’agit d’un film de sadiques, vu que la jolie fille seule fait son Koh Lanta dans la forêt hostile est est régulièrement poursuivie par des jeunes racailles dégénérées mais tout de même, de là à pousser le bouchon aussi loin, tout à la fin, c »est vraiment très énervant. D’où la note finale qui en pâtit, forcément !

Couple decide to have a romantic weekend in an old quarry (Eden Lake) before it gets turned into a modern housing estate. The usual ridiculous stupidity that leads to mayhem & grisly demise. Highly unoriginal although Jack O'Connell is very good as the leader of the scallywags. However, the very talented Thomas Turgoose is underused. In summary, it's sort of a Daily Mail "What kids are like today" film.