David Bruckner’s neat British horror film has a timely pre-Halloween release and I hope, despite some issues in the second-half, it stands up to its American competition at the box office.
A group of middle-aged guys, friends since university, are planning a lads trip. At the urging of one of the group, Robert (Paul Reid) they agree to go hiking in Sweden. Before the trip Robert is killed when he stumbles into a convenience store robbery. Luke (Rate Spall) was there too but hid rather than helping his friend. On the trip, the four remaining friends get lost in some woods and it appears that something is tracking them…
I really enjoyed the first half of this film. There is a nice chemistry in the group and when cracks appear (originating from Robert’s death) it feels believable. When the nature of the terror is kept hidden it is properly creepy. The feeling of dread is not quite maintained until the end though. Too much is eventually seen of the monster and the other big reveal lacks originality and finally destroys the credibility of the earlier scenes.
Rating: 7 out of 10