Leofwine_draca STORM WARNING is a film with the cards stacked against it. The plot, about a couple of innocent travellers falling foul of some psycho rednecks in the middle of nowhere, has literally been done to death so many times that just reading it on the back of the box made me yawn. Director Jamie Blanks was only known for directing a couple of pretty lame Hollywood horrors, URBAN LEGEND and VALENTINE, so he didn't seem to be the ideal guy to make a full-throttle horror/thriller combo. Plus it's a low budget movie with no notable actors. Indications were that this film was going to be dire.While I can't say that it blew me away, I will say this: it kept me watching. This is a film all about the suspense and tension which is slowly racked up over a ponderously paced first half before letting rip towards the climax. Yes, it's predictable, with a tired, seen-it-all-before air to it. There are elements of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes here, along with the sub-genre of 'home horrors' in which innocents are besieged in their homes by psycho gangs (the last one I watched was the execrable FUNNY GAMES U.S., so probably anything I saw afterwards would look good by comparison). But this isn't a film about plot or dialogue. It's a raw, survival-horror with a visceral edge.The characters intrigued me. French heroine Nadia Fares is another in a long line of tough, take-no-prisoners female fighters in the vein of Ellen Ripley, and watching her transform from timid victim into hammer-wielding killer is a plot of fun. She's saddled with a boring husband and up against three slimy redneck characters whose idea of fun is to kill travellers and steal their cars, rape pretty women, and sometimes enjoy a bit of 'long pig'. A lot of the suspense is built up through taut dialogue scenes, which made more of an impact on me than the usual torture-gore style employed by most horror makers today.But then the film reaches its home run, and Fares starts fighting back. It then turns gory. Very gory. Skin-ripping, intestine-scattering gory, completely over the top. It works, because the film-makers invite us to laugh along with the gore. Fares sets up some wicked traps to assail her victims with, and watching them get their just desserts is a matter of high entertainment. I defy anyone not to clap with joy come the last-reel denouement and another splattery death for one of the bad guys. In the end, this is a fine film, a breath of fresh air in a very tired genre. Jamie Blanks' direction is spot on, and the cast really get into it. The gore effects are very well handled and this doesn't leave a bad taste in the mouth like many grisly horrors these days. It may not be terrifying or disturbing like WOLF CREEK, but it is suspenseful, and it is a lot of fun. I recommend it.

Rico Dimensions 'Extreme'... Pffffff... More like Dimensions Pussy Whipped!5.9 isn't a good score on here anyhow, but that's grossly overrated for this terrible movie!!You can't even call it a B Movie, even Z would be an overstatement......The story sucks, the acting sucks, the gore scene are absurdly disappointing for a so- called 'extreme' movie, & nothing happens till 1 hour in when the movie is only 1 hour & 20 minutes long in the first place!The only win about this movie is the French chick is hot...Seriously, don't listen to the positive reviews on here, I am myself an avid horror fan too, & I also love & appreciate B movies, but this flick is just awful... THE END!

Woodyanders Wimpy lawyer Rob (affable Robert Taylor) and his resourceful French artist wife Pia (a winningly spunky portrayal by the gorgeous Nadia Fares) are a young couple who are forced to land their sailboat on a remote island due to a storm. The duo run afoul of a vicious family of crude hicks that reside on said island. Director Jamie Blanks relates the gripping story at a brisk pace, maintains a hard gritty tone throughout, and adeptly builds plenty of raw'n'rattling go-for-the-throat suspense that escalates to a nerve-frying fever pitch in the harsh'n'harrowing last third. Everett De Roche's tight script neatly explores the vehement disdain that boorish rural lower class folks feel towards affluent and arrogant upper class yuppies from the city. Taylor and Fares make for appealing leads. David Lyons as the sadistic Jimmy, Matthew Wilkinson as the simian Brett, and especially John Bumpton as fearsome and glowering brute patriarch Poppy register strongly as frighteningly convincing redneck psycho degenerates. The startling outbursts of savage, gruesome, and often perversely inventive violence pack a ferocious punch to the gut. The pulsating score by Blanks hits the heart-racing spot. Karl von Moller's sumptuous widescreen cinematography offers lots of breathtaking shots of the beautiful ocean and sprawling countryside. The terse 84 minute running time ensures that this movie never becomes tedious or overstays its welcome. A worthy shocker.

nightwatch4773 Excellent cinematography, amazing sets, terrific acting and a pace that goes right for the juggler vein. I love backwoods/survival type horror especially films from foreign countries like Australia. I think this film is tantamount or even slightly better than wolf creek. Storm Warning is extremely graphic and disturbing but it picks its spots nicely and doesn't feel gratuitous. Our backwoods family is kick-ass bad and just wait until papa is introduced, the apples don't fall far from the tree to say the least. Anyway anyone who states that realistic disturbing horror films are a thing of the past, tell them to check out storm warning. I am sure they will change their mind.