shannen-l-c When I stumbled across Eden Lake on Amazon Prime, I did what I always do before watching a new movie and checked out the rating and reviews here on IMDb. I was surprised to see it had a 6.8 rating (which is very high for a horror movie) and a lot of positive reviews. However, intermingled with the good were as many bad. It seemed that people either loved this movie or hated it, so I was curious to watch and decide for myself which side I would take. It starts off like any other horror movie does - a young couple on their honeymoon at a lake in the UK. They butt heads with a bunch of rowdy teenagers at the lake and you can sense that there will be consequences of that. It follows the couple's battle for survival as the group of teens decide to take revenge on the couple for attempting to stand up to their bad attitudes and antisocial behaviour. First things first, the performances from all of the cast are strong. Although I was unfamiliar with all of the actors excluding Jack O'Connell (who plays the villainous teen, Brett), I was impressed with the cast and didn't feel I was watching amateurs as I often do with horrors. Putting the strong cast aside, there are few other positives to this movie. The pacing is slow and I found myself bored or uninterested for much of it. Furthermore, it felt incredibly unrealistic and the actions of the couple were illogical. As a viewer we're supposed to sympathise with the couple, but part of me couldn't because all I could think was that they'd brought it upon themselves. In their situation I wouldn't have conducted myself the way they did and I don't know many people that would. What it is useful in showing is the dangers of being confrontational and standing up to people like that. Often the safest and most sensible thing to do is NOTHING. Walk away and say nothing, that's the best way to stay safe in situations like that. But not this couple. The husband, in particular, charged in on multiple occasions and antagonised the teens. Furthermore, there are a couple of incidents that prove the teens are holding a grudge against the couple, yet the couple's actions remain stupid and illogical. They keep their tent in the exact same area they met the teens and the husband continues with his confrontational behaviour. All of this does make it hard to sympathise with the couple, because although no one deserves what happens to them, they had many opportunities to prevent what happens to them from happening. I can appreciate that the movie carries with it an important message regarding the apathy present in modern society and the devastating consequences of gang culture and peer pressure, and I believe this is where the positive reviews come from. However, despite the presence of those relevant and harrowing themes, nothing was done with them. It shows us that there are young people out there that are capable of atrocities but do not fully comprehend the seriousness or evilness of their actions and it shows us that even for those young people that are good at heart they are still capable of doing the most abhorrent things in pressurised situations. But it doesn't go deep enough with it. There's no valuable lesson or message embedded within the story. What makes kids this way? What are the consequences to their actions? What can be done to tackle this very real issue in our society? These are very important and valid questions, but the movie does nothing to address them. After a slow paced, dragged out plot the ending is incredibly disappointing. There is no pay-off for what happens and it left me feeling hollow and angry and once again questioning, WHAT IS THE POINT? It felt like I'd invested 2 hours of my life into a movie that had no real purpose or meaning. What's more frustrating is that it had the potential to be brilliant and creatively address the issues I've discussed above.Overall, I'm inclined to say after watching Eden Lake, I fall somewhere in between the good and bad reviews. I think it portrays very complex and relevant issues that impact us all in our daily lives, but it falls short of doing anything meaningful with it. Eden Lake is certainly not the worst horror movie I've ever seen, but is not one I'd watch again.

lukem-52760 This is an extremely well made British Horror & oh my is it scary!!! This is as real to real life i think you could ever get about today's EVIL & violent youths!!! Yes these vile chav teens have taken over England & these viscous things are senseless & for No reason just pure Evil these days just watch the news or read a paper. So this movie captures this sense of dread & hopelessness that we're in the grip of & puts a nice couple on a weekend away to a nice peaceful lake right in the middle of this hell. BRILLIANT intense performances by the couple & the evil kids. This is one intense & chilling Horror that plays on your mind long after the end. A film that makes you think what would i do in that situation? This really can help to anyone & has!!! A truly fantastic Horror Thriller that's very violent & disturbingly real

jtindahouse In the early stages of 'Eden Lake' it can be easy to think to yourself: here we go again! The same old story we've seen a thousand times before. There reaches a point though where you realise that is not actually the case and that what you are watching is something quite special and quite haunting. From that point onwards the film becomes a relentless and brutal ride straight into the depths of despair and loathing. You'll feel unclean after watching this movie.Needless to say this 'Eden Lake' was a lot darker than I anticipated it to be. There were numerous scenes where I kept thinking there was going to be a twist to get them out of this, or they're suddenly going to wake up in a different spot. That was never the case though. This films follows through and I love it for that reason more than any other. This is a film without a conscience and that is what is so good about it. It is certainly not going to be to everyone's liking. Anyone who likes a "Hollywood" type film where everything plays out according to formula and everything wraps itself up into a nice little bow are going to be sorely disappointed. This is not a film for those types of people and I think that is terrific. This is a great film that should absolutely be watched immediately if you haven't already seen it.

pittsburghvintagemodern As others have said: this is in some ways a very well made film. Unfortunately the screenplay requires the characters to behave not only moronically, but also inconsistently and simply incomprehensibly. This is not your average "Don't do it! Run!" horror-film-character stupidity. (I'm a huge horror fan, and have been for 35 years.) We are talking about "Why are you eating spoonfuls of peanut butter after telling us you have a mortally severe peanut allergy and that you just want to survive?" level incomprehensible behavior on the part of the films central characters...and consistently, from start to finish. This could have been a very effective film along the lines of Wolf Creek. Sadly, it is a stupid piece of trash. If you love horror and have an IQ over 75, this film will make you very angry - at the jerkoffs who wrote it! JUST AVOID.