Customer Reviews

The Last Great Wilderness

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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...

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.

In my opinion, yes, this is a perfect film. It's a very rare thing for me to write a movie review, but this movie hit me like...like...love at first site! I watch a lot of horror, thriller, indie, and sometimes fantasy. I'm not really into big-budget Hollywood action, drama, or comedy, and in fact I usually loathe them. To me, THIS is what a movie should be - brilliant screenplay, acting, cinematography, soundtrack, and even opening credit sequence - and all without a gajillion dollar budget, MTV-looking quasi-actors, or ADD-inspired endless action. This film is engaging due to setting, mood, character development, and a complete lack of predictability.

It has a David Lynchian quality, but is in no way derivative because all the bizarre little events and quirks can be explained somewhat logically, whereas in Lynch's films they'd have no explanation or seemingly no purpose other than to shock the viewer. It reminds me of The Reflecting Skin, but even that movie lies a bit closer to the Lynch camp. There are also elements of Trainspotting and even What's Eating Gilbert Grape (or maybe that's just me?). It's a tough film to classify. Very tough. I think that's one of the reasons I like it so much. You don't know where the movie is taking you until after it's over. To call it horror is quite a stretch, but there is an overall dark, creepy atmosphere and constant unease about where the film is going to take you. "Psychological thriller" seems appropriate enough, but it is so much more than that.

Highly recommended for anyone with intelligence and an attention span.

I thought his movie was well done - across the board: great story, setting, acting, filming. The story and characters draws you in and the ending is very dramatic. It has some querky odd scenes that raise some eyebrows and got a laugh from me. Each of the characters (to include the ghost) have issues and in time the script unravels them masterfully. The soundtrack is pretty good fare as well. I do question as to why the viewers are subjected to seeing the 'full monty' in a few sex scenes. I think that these scenes didn't do anything to enhance the movie - but I s'pose that's the Puritan in me. The film's mood has a Macbeth-like darkness that catches bits of bright light now and then and so the setting of a desolate rural area in Scotland is the perfect choice. In closing, I liked The Last Great Wilderness enough that I took the time to come on here and write a review and I'd watch it again - and that means it gets five stars from me.

I am a person who researches actors and movies, so facts are important to me. Although Lee Armstrong's review is helpful and full of facts about the actors, there are many mistakes. Here are the corrections, made, to the best of my knowledge.
1) Director David MacKenzie's debut project was not "The Last Great Wilderness" but "California Sunshine" (1997).
2) Actor Alastair Mackenzie's (Sometimes Credited As: Sam MacKenzie or Alistair Mackenzie) first picture that he stared in was not "The Last Great Wilderness" but was also "California Sunshine" (1997). Alastair Mackenzie played two leading roles previous to this movie but is mostly known for his television work from 1994 to present, his most notable being his lead role in the BBC show, "Monarch of the Glen" (2000 - present). The screenwriter portion is true.
3) Vincente played by Johnnie Phillips is really Jonathan Phillips (Sometimes Credited As: Johnny Phillips or Jonny Phillips but not Johnnie).
4) Vincente does not plan to steal an airplane, he is supposed to meet a friend who plans to fly him from Scotland to Spain to avoid/escape from the thugs.
5) The leader Ruaridh is not played by David Hagman but by David Hayman who has been in over 58 movies, 7 TV shows and directed 9 movies since 1972.
6) Ruaridh takes candid photos of people ... while they are sleeping OR sitting naked on a sofa OR on the floor OR sexually pleasuring themselves - as well as many "normal" candids, portraits and landscapes - but not the toilet. I went back and watched twice in slow motion to make sure.
7) Interesting to note that Lee Armstrong mentions Claire and Charlie's revealing shots (darkly lighted but fully visible full frontals) of their amorous adventures but neglects Morag (Louise Irwin) and Vincente's "adventure" whose revealing shot is a (no doubt about it) full frontal of Vincente.
8) I am not so sure that Vincente falls in love with the ghost (the dead daughter). He first thinks that the ghost is an omen. Then later, he tries to revel to the father that she is no longer unhappy or "whatever" but I never got that he was in love with the ghost as much as he was intrigued. One (or at least I did) gets the feeling that she was the reason they were lead to the lodge in the first place (since Vincente sees her in the closed gas/petrol station).

An interesting side note, actor Alastair Mackenzie is the brother of director David Mackenzie.

This may seem a bit overboard - correcting someone's mistakes or interpretations, but facts are facts and interpretations are just that.

THE LAST GREAT WILDERNESS is a different sort of movie. There's a gentle warmth within it that is jarringly interrupted by graphic sex and sadistic violence. There is also an atmosphere of thick, mysterious dread about it, broken up by humorous bits and oddball characters. I loved it! Charlie (Alastair Mackenzie) is the driven, damaged center of the story. It is his voyage of danger and discovery. If you like neo-gothic ghost stories or subtle, sometimes shocking thrillers, then give this one a go...

This production from Scotland is an entertaining, albeit definitely offbeat production. Director David MacKenzie's debut project sends somewhat mixed signals, being a buddy road picture, a mystery, a thriller, and has a taste of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. Alastair MacKenzie who stars in his first picture and also was screenwriter on the project portrays a fairly sane jilted husband whose wife left him for a pop star. On the way to burn down the rocker's mansion on the Isle of Skye, he runs into Vincente played by Johnnie Phillips. Phillips, who had a small part in "The Titanic" as Second Officer Herbert Lightoller, is a half-Spanish gigolo who now is followed by thugs hired by a husband of one of his ex-clients. Charlie & Vincente get mistaken for gays in a restaurant bathroom and buddy up in a brawl with a guy who surmises they're up to hanky panky as Vincente with his trousers around his knees stands at a sink washing off and Charlie tries to hand him back money that Vincente gave him for travelling expenses. The two set off on the highway together. When Vincente's plans to steal an airplane go awry, Charlie rescues him only to run out of petrol near Moor Lodge. Here they find an array of mentally unique characters. The leader Ruaridh played by David Hagman who appeared in "Rob Roy" & "The Tailor of Panama" is a calm freak who wants to lead his band of crazies to perpetual bliss and in the process takes candid photos of people while they're sleeping or on the toilet. Victoria Smurfit who was memorable in "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio and also played in "About A Boy" with Hugh Grant and "Bulletproof Monk" plays Claire who thinks people are after her. She & Charlie link up with some revealing shots of their amorous adventures. Meanwhile Ewan Stewart who played in the movie with the amazing title "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover" and was also in "Titanic" & "Rob Roy" plays the groundskeeper who hunts deer and whose daughter died in a fire. The dead daughter's ghost haunts the lodge and strikes up a relationship with Vincente who falls in love with the dearly departed. Simon Dennis' first project as a cinematographer is well executed as he photographs the Scottish countryside lovingly. The band the Pastels are on the soundtrack and show up for a party at the lodge. This screenplay is a bit all over the place, but the actors are interesting, the climax is unexpectedly bloody and the overall effect is as entertaining as it may be confusing. There are not too many extras on the DVDs, but there are some interesting previews of international films including 2 Japanese flicks that I'd never heard of before. I'm not sure what the title has to do with the movie unless the last great wilderness is the mind. Enjoy!

I highly recommend seeing this film. The lack of a big hollywood budget and over-commercialized stars made for a thought provoking story and interesting characters.