7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS AS THEY SEEM..., June 15, 2005
This is a quirky, unusual film that is best categorized as gothic, as it is an interesting melange of mystery and horror, with a smattering of the occult thrown in for good measure. It is quite atmospheric, as it appears to have been filmed amongst the misty crags and moraines that constitute much of the Scottish highlands.
The story itself is not too complicated. Two unlikely young men, strangers to each other, hook up and take to the road together. One of them is a former gigolo, who is fleeing the wrath of the husband of one of his clients. The other is a formerly married man who lost his wife to her rock star lover and is now hell-bent on seeking revenge.
While enroute to their respective destinations, they run out of gas and are forced to seek assistance in the desolate countryside in which they find themselves stranded. They come upon a house whose inhabitants seem to be a beat off. The house appears to be a retreat of some sort for some pretty dysfunctional odd ducks. Coupled with the fact that their leader seems to engage in some unusual practices and the ghost of a young woman appears to be walking around at all hours of the day or night, it is a highly atmospheric and slightly creepy place in which to be.
The two men are initially determined to leave as soon as possible, but before they know it, the gigolo seems to have become spellbound by the ghost and his companion has become involved with one of the residents of the house. When they try to leave, fate seems to have interjected itself in a way that prevents them from leaving as planned. The film then careens to a startling conclusion that is quite shocking to the senses.
While the performances range from adequate to brilliant, the problem is that the film ends up being neither fish nor fowl, as it seems that it cannot make up its mind what direction it wishes to take. Consequently, the film ends up losing some of its initial coherence. Still, the film holds promise and is certainly worth a rental.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not the Archie we are use to seeing!!!, February 26, 2006
Being a hugh fan of "The Monarch of the Glen" and of Alastair Mackenzie I searched for his other acting credits and found this movie.....At first I didn't know what to think and almost gave up on it, but then something about it made me not be able to stop watching...And I am glad I didn't!!!! I must say I am more than ever a fan of Alastair...
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Nightmare in Monarch country, October 25, 2007
I, like many others I am sure, bought this movie since it was based in Scotland and starred Alastair Mackenzie from 'Monarch of the Glen'. I know you should not assume that all an actor's movies will be in the same genre but this movie is as like 'Monarch' as Dracula is like St Francis of Assisi. It is raw, gory and sexually explicit. The murder scene at the end involves one of the most graphic abuse scenes I have seen in any movie. Obviously this is not the film that I was expecting. The movie is well made, performances are good but the film cannot seem to make up its mind whether it is an action story, a supernatural spooky, or an examination of supressed sexual desire (those desires include masturbation, cross dressing and raw sexual intercourse). Not a film I could recommend and definitely not in the 'Monarch of the Glen' genre.
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