Customer Reviews

Wilderness

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Surprisingly effective and sometimes terrifying British horror thriller. Takes a standard horror movie premise and ups the anti with some unpredictable twists and turns. The plot is simple and straightforward, the locale atmospheric, and the direction taught. I had never heard of this film so was immediately surprised by the strong performances and gut wrenching action. A good hybrid between the interesting horror movie "American Gothic" and the action classic "Deliverance". This one goes straight for the throat and is pretty unrelenting as far as violence; so not for the faint of heart. This is a wild ride and I'm wildly enthusiastic about recommending. A great discovery, for those that take their meat raw.

Sometimes I like my horror faire served up nice and rare, with plenty of blood left in it to gush out each time you bite in to it. Wilderness is sort of like that, taking a cast of pretty unlikable characters, throwing them in a desperate situation in an isolated environment, and letting the blood flow wherever it may. Admittedly, it can be hard to win me over with a team of bullies and whiners, but director Michael J. Basset proved himself well up to the challenge. Wilderness won't find itself a spot on my list of favorite horror movies, but it does its whole survival horror thing quite well indeed.

The Wilderness of this film's title refers to a rugged, uninhabited island that used to be used for soldier survival training but now offers itself as an ideal place for troubled young people to get a pungent taste of reality and hopefully learn to work together rather than continue in their juvenile delinquent ways. Our gang of misfits land themselves a week's stay there following the most unfortunate death of one of their own. It turns out that they are far from alone there, however. Meeting up with a small, similar group of juvenile delinquent girls doesn't bother anyone, apart from the two group leaders, but finding themselves hunted by a mad killer (and his ferocious dogs) is generally looked upon as bad news all the way around. There isn't a lot of suspense built around the killer's identity, as that is revealed pretty early on. The focus is more on the teens' interaction as their numbers dwindle and the psychotic thought processes that landed them all in a Young Offenders Institution to begin with rear their ugly and increasingly violent heads. Can these malcontents somehow work together as a team in order to survive? Uh, no.

There's not an excessive amount of gore by any means, but Wilderness does deliver a few impressive little scenes. Don't expect a lot of character development here, though. The only potentially interesting character is Callum (Toby Kebbell), the new guy, but the air of mystery he brings with him never amounts to anything. Even though he's the only one with enough gumption to stand up to the bully Steve (Steve Wight), he never manages to distinguish himself from the others. As much as I hated the little runt, I have to say that the character of Steve pretty much made the movie for me. The killer ultimately provides little in the way of satisfaction, and not just because we know his identity so early on. Steve makes sure we don't get bored.

Wilderness may not have a lot in the way of originality to offer, but it is a pretty taut thriller that throws us gorehounds a few juicy little bones along the way. Don't expect the psychological undertones of a Lord of the Flies (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) or the good vs. evil dichotomy of The Most Dangerous Game - Criterion Collection, though. This film is too raw and primal to play any of those psychological games. I found it pretty much impossible to like any of these characters; heck, I didn't even like the dogs, and I'm the biggest animal lover you're likely to find. It says something for Michael J. Basset's directorial skills that I liked this film as much as I did - it can't be easy to make a good movie when none of your characters has any redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Shot in Northern Ireland, Wilderness (2006) is a gritty and gory thriller, centered on the adventures of a group of inmates from a boy's juvenile prison, who face unexpected danger, while serving disciplinary punishment on a remote island. Although the synopsis on the DVD makes it sounds like all male struggle for survival, that is not the case.

When an bullied inmate at Moorgate Young Offenders Institute commits suicide by cutting his wrists, the members of the dead boy's dorm are sent to a remote (and quite large) island for some disciplinary action. The group of six lads under the supervision of prison official Jed Wyler (Sean Pertwee), soon discover that they are not alone on the island. Mandy (Lenora Crichlow) and Jo (Karly Greene), two inmates from a girl's detention facility are there with Louise (Alex Reid) their supervisor.

The two groups come together, after a tramp living on the island is found dead with his throat ripped open. Callum (Toby Kebbell) a newcomer, is suspected of the crime. One of the boys disappears as a prelude to the group being viciously attacked, by a hail of deadly arrows, and a pack of wild dogs. The assault leaves the shaken group without any supervision, and they struggle to establish some kind of order, and find a way to survive against a ruthless and well-prepared opponent.

The story that could have taken the all male Lord of the Flies route, instead is another routine teenagers in distress in the woods tale. Instead of being violent hardcases, the boys are mostly passive, except for Steve (Stephen Wight) who exhibits resentment for authority. Steve's buddy Lewis (Luke Neal) is the most physically imposing, but is pretty passive after hooking up with Jo. Lindsay (Ben McKay), is the weak sniveling type.

The lads soon figure out why they are being attacked, but aside from a knife, they have no weapons, and lack the unity and skills which to fight back. The mysterious killer (Stephen Don) remains hidden, using his pack of dogs to terrorize the befuddled teens, who fall victim to various traps he has setup. With possession of the knife, Callum has a leadership role, searching for a way off the island. Eventually the pressure finally brings Steve's dark side out, but he can't match the killer's deadly skills.

Featuring some tense well executed action sequences and some cruel kills, director Michael J. Bassett delivers some gruesome cringeworthy moments and shocking visuals. Introducing the females, keeps the film from quite living up to its potential, but Wilderness is still a taught entertaining thriller, with a British flavor. Strongly recommended.

Before hack master Michael Bay remakes this classic, you owe it to yourself to take two hours out of your daily routine and give this 2006 suspense gem a chance.

The plot is simple: a group of young thugs in a juvenile detention center in England are sent to an island to build up their minds and bodies. To their surprise, the island is not deserted but already has a killer waiting for them, a pathetic recluse who is murdered and a group of women camping out.

The bad boys are totally believable and do major stuff--like two of the worst murdering the innocent recluse. One of them proves to be a heroic figure and when the savage murders begin, he fights back.

The killings are shocking because you aren't expecting them and the mysterious slasher sets fatal traps all over the island that kills both girls add guys with gusto.

One minor complaint is that sometimes the thick Irish and British accents are hard to understand. Also, when the killer is finally unmssked, it took me several moments before I could place him.

Other than that, this wonderfully gripping movie should keep your eyeballs glued to the tube in a refreshing and exhilirating journey into terror.

WILDERNESS opens in a youthful offenders prison, where we are introduced to a group of young men w/ no regard for human life. When one of them is driven to suicide, the rest are sent out to a remote island for some rugged "character building". What these young men don't know, is that this will not be a recreational outing, but a desperate fight for survival. You see, someone is already on the island, waiting for them. Someone who will teach them lessons that they may not live to enjoy! Don't expect a lot of "male bonding" here, WILDERNESS is a brutal tale of revenge and retaliation. Sean Pertwee (EVENT HORIZON, DOG SOLDIERS, BOTCHED) plays the world-weary guard of the group, just trying to get through the week-long ordeal. There are a few good twists, turns, and surprises along the way, making this movie a definite keeper... P.S.- Watch for Alex Reid (THE DESCENT 1 and 2) as the tough and resourceful Louise...

I had to mention that because there are a couple of times in this movie when the killer camouflages himself as turf and when the soon to be victims walk away, the shrubbery slithers off in the opposite direction. This sounds absurd but in this movie it is effective...but funny. There's nothing funny when the slaughter starts and it can be startling and very brutal. A group of young male delinquents are brought to a now deserted island wilderness to try and see if these somewhat nasty misfits can straighten themselves out by camping and learning to survive the wilderness and each other. They meet up with their female counterparts-but the bad boys and girls are the usual assortment-the bully, the coward, the wimp, the misunderstood one and of course a traitor. One of the males at the young juvenile offenders facility had recently committed suicide and the killer is the shrubbery, i mean the boys' father. This is not a spoiler since the killers identity is known pretty quick.

The movie is well-made and directed and has genuine suspense and the killings are brutal, raw and very very gory including someone being devoured by a pack of dogs. The biggest surprise of the movie is the killer has "inside" help.

If you like seeing thuggish brats being picked off one by one this is a movie I would recommend.

This is indeed a spoiler alert but someone made a big mistake when they show a knife fight between a British commando and a youth and the youth wins. If you can ignore this supreme piece of silliness-the movie on the whole is a keeper. BOOYAH! That booyah was for my friend Jason.

I thought that this movie was going to be really terrible, but I actually enjoyed it. It was my first time seeing actor Toby Kebbell, who may I say is amazing. It also opened my eyes to other british films. Definitely would recommend!

This movie was pretty good. It had gore and suspense, and the film was produced well too. It's certainly a good watch if you're into gory revenge type films. It was a nice reliefe after watching a bunch of junk movies recommended by other Amazon.com reviewers.

Great acting, amazing gore effects, and very captivating atmosphere. Highly recommended!!! Great new Survival/Horror flick!

Nice little outdoor slasher movie. It's about a buncha troublemaker teenagers forced into the wilderness to get them to bond. But all it really takes is a mass murderer to bring them together (well, most of them). Good flick to waste an hour and a half on.