It's been a long time since I've seen this film, during the time when I still didn't bother to rate and review every Horror film I watch. Lately I've been re-watching some of those I liked especially, but as for Eden Like - I'll pass. Not because it isn't good, but because nobody in their right mind would define it as "fun to watch", that much I do remember.

However, what I remember most vividly is my utter sense of frustration, disgust and despair with humanity. Throughout the film I've kept feeling the urge to be there, so I could knock some hard painful sense into those no good hoodlums, and their sad excuse for parents! Very much like this decade's streak of "torture porn", Eden Lake plays on these emotions in the audience. Pity for the victim, rage against the assailants, and despair/helplessness.

Acting and cinematography are good enough, nothing special worth mentioning as far as I can remember (bear in mind it's been a while), but the story and some of the scenes are what sticks with you afterwords. Personally, I can't call the sensations I get out of watching these kinds of films "fun", but they are definitely, in a way, rewarding. Eden Lake isn't easy to watch, and seeing as how this is obviously its goal - it's a success. My relatively low rate is only on account of my personal experience with it.

Disturbing and savage film. Not an easy viewing experience. The ending is frustrating and infuriating.

This movie is not for the faint of heart.

Others have called it bleak, brutal, and depressing. And it is. I ignored all that and went in thinking it'd be another British neo-horror flick like The Descent, but boy was I wrong. Now, don't misunderstand me: it is a horror movie but in the most literal meaning of the term. The events in this film are horrific, and it leaves you feeling horrible at the end. To tell you why would require spoilers-and I won't do that-but you might want to spoil it for yourself to save some heartache. Let me just say it doesn't have a happy ending. You can thank me for that warning later.

I get why the rating is relatively low, and I don't begrudge anyone their low scores. It is not a movie for everyone and isn't trying to be. I can't say I liked it or enjoyed watching it, but films so rarely leave me palpably affected. I had no choice but to give it a higher score. I'll probably never watch it again. If you watch it, I recommend having a collection of funny cat videos on standby. But the movie is excellent. Bleak, brutal, and depressing for sure, but excellent.

This movie is a great representation of English teens that you might encounter almost anywhere around the country. This is a disturbingly true and accurate movie with logical events.

I can't remember the last time a film evoked such raw emotions in me. I'm literally teared up and shaking - from anger, pain, frustration and disbelief. Watching this film is an experience more than words can describe, it plays on pure emotion. You're sucked into the whole atmosphere, to the characters - both the good and the bad -, and it really eats you up and leaves you with this bundle of emotions that catch you off guard and in the end, leave you empty-handed.

I'm sorry for not being very precise about the plot and the characters, but I simply can't write an ordinary "this film opens with..." review, the experience was just too much.

I highly recommend it, but not for the weak-hearted.

Trust me, I live here. This movie is the complete opposite of the likes of Love Actually, Four Weddings etc., and it is far more representative of the reality here. It's not a perfect film, and it's a grim, difficult watch, but it's extremely well and convincingly acted, and it had me on the edge of my seat. Worth watching, and to those in other parts of the world who might think it's all Royal weddings and tourist attractions here, this might open your eyes to how it really is.

This film could easily have just been some chavs bullying people, but it is much more then that. I have watched many horror/thriller films and they have rarely effected me the way this film did. From the beginning the mood is set of this extremely happy couple living in their bliss and as most of you will know before watching this the film is not about their happy relationship. The first thirty minutes of the film are more easy going then the rest, but still captivating. As the film continues it shocks you beyond belief, I expected gore but I didn't expect how the tone of the film would make me feel.

If you have an uneasy stomach or sometimes get emotional, prepare yourself for this film. It is gruesome but some scenes are a little too realistic which is what makes the film different. A lot of horror films similar to this lack realism so the audience cannot connect with the protagonist as easily, but Eden Lake has been made with a great deal of empathy for the couple and hate for the young kids. Seeing as there is a strong connection between audience and the characters there is a great deal of emotion involved which is unexpected, but this shows that the film has been made very well and that the actors do their job perfectly.

The young actors who play the chavs are fantastic, and i'm not going to say fantastic 'for their age' because they are truly talented actors regardless of age. Jack O'Connell plays the ring leader of the group Brett, and he really shines. Playing a merciless hateful character is not the easiest thing to do, but if you didn't know better you would think that is how he is in real life because he is just that good. I have been a big fan of Thomas Turgoose since he was in This is England because he is also a very talented and realistic actor and he doesn't disappoint in this film either, but he isn't in it as much as I would like. The other actors in the group are equally as talented. As for the couple they were perfectly cast and they have great chemistry, I have been a fan of Michael Fassbender (who plays boyfriend Steve) for a while but I had never really noticed Kelly Reilly before (who plays girlfriend Jenny) but she plays the character very well and hits the right emotions at the perfect time.

All in all the film draws you in, keeps you captivated, shocks you with the gore and blows you away with emotion. The best thing about it and what makes the movie special and better then most other similar films is just how real it is. You almost feel like this is happening to you, and their reactions are also real human reactions too. The film is truly great and one of the best of its genre, very impressive all around.

I don't think I'm the only one that has been less than impressed with the bulk of the horror films released in 2008; most of what's on offer could be categorised as either a useless Hostel/Saw clone or yet another remake, and it's disappointing considering the excellent releases earlier in the decade. Eden Lake may not score highly in the originality stakes, but the fact that it's so well done more than makes up for the fact that any serious genre fan is likely to have seen films just like this one before. The plot focuses on a young loved up couple; a primary school teacher and her boyfriend Steve. They decide to go to an old disused quarry for a romantic weekend, but find their idyllic peace disrupted when a group of young thugs begin harassing them. Naturally, the couple won't allow their weekend to be spoiled by a bunch of kids, but as the situation escalates; the couple begin to realise that the youngsters are rather more dangerous than first thought, and their trip soon turns into a nightmare.

Eden Lake would be best described as 'survival horror' and works mainly due to the realism. The two characters at the centre of the film are both likable and their actions are always understandable, which makes them easy enough to get on with. When the trouble first starts, it doesn't seem like anything too far out of the ordinary; and the director does a good job of building up to the first problem, before letting things escalate at a steady and exciting pace. One of the things I liked most about the film is the setting. The disused quarry and woods where everything happens is really beautiful and this brilliantly offsets the grisly violence. The violence takes a while to kick in, but that makes it all the more shocking when it does. There's nothing over the top in this film; everything is kept at a reasonable level, but the fact that the director has made us care about the characters and their fates makes the film hard to watch at times. The antagonists are a group of kids and while they at first seem like only a small threat; they do become pretty formidable as the film moves on. Overall, this is a fantastic horror movie that fans of the genre won't want to miss, and it also stands tall as one of the best British films in years! Highly recommended.

Oh my, this was one hell of a ride! It has everything I yearn from a horror movie. It's dark, bloody, depressing, somewhat realistic and oh, the ending, the ending. This is the second best British horror movie I have seen. The best was Dog Soldiers. The young actors do a good job depicting the variety of feelings from anger to horror to despair and the two lead actors are brilliant. It is a knee deep in doom all the way to the end. A few minor logic problems but you'll get over it, they don't ruin the mood at all.

I have to praise the script because it works in the boundaries of the real world and does not go over the top in any scene, and I know some may disagree in this but I think you'll like it never the less.

All in all, it is good and it is for you if you truly like horror. But it is also a disturbing and brutal movie so not for the faint of heart. Enjoy.

This Wolf Creek meets Deliverance style horror film with teenagers instead of hillbillies is very well made and acted, almost unendurably tense, and too well told to turn away from - you want it to go somewhere that makes it worth the attention it earns from you. But in playing for realism, it is ultimately confused by aligning itself with slasher movie conventions then concluding with an ending that is abjectly sick, misguided and ultimately pointless. Brimming with hate, it is too real to be a horror movie and too heartless to be a meaningful drama. All it manages to leave you with is, "Why?" Why make this? And what possible point is it supposed to be making?

Thriller movie. A couple goes on a trip to a lake outside a small town, only not knowing that there is a well-known gang of minors in the area, whose leader has no moral barriers at all and is pushing everyone else to follow him or they will suffer the consequences. The character of the leader has also been created by the similar family environment. The whole town knows about this gang and its actions, but it's doing nothing. Because they're "just kids". "Just kids" who have no boundaries and make no difference to adult criminals. Unfortunately there are plenty of similar cases in the real world. Is there any justice for such criminals or they should be protected because they are "just kids"... A difficult survival film with very good acting, but it also shows a social problem, the juvenile criminals that will probably anger many people that watch this film.

From start to finish this film is a masterclass in confronting our views on revenge and on how we choose which 'side' to be on in any given situation.

The two adult leads are almost immediately plunged into a nightmare where children have the upper hand and where respect for adults is thrown out of the window yet the adults still view the amoral, feral youth as children (at least initially).

Eden Lake plays as virtually a documentary of Britain in 2008 and as a film gives us a stark reflection of what is happening in this country today. The only difference being that Eden Lake takes place in the countryside while the real violence in the UK takes place on our city streets.

James Watkins has managed to create real tension, real suspense and some real terror in his directorial debut. So many UK horror films come with great expectations and so many fail, but with Eden Lake, Watkins has crafted a contemporary film that is instilled with the nastiness and vicious spirit of 70s/early 80s horror such as 'Last House on the Left'.

Disturbing, challenging, thought provoking and downright electrifying in places, this is one of the best horror films of the past few years and one of the best British films this decade.

Eden Lake (2008)

*** (out of 4)

Brutal and intense thriller has a man (Michael Fassbender) taking his girlfriend (Kelly Reilly) to Eden Lake for a weekend getaway but their peaceful time turns to terror when they encounter a group of young kids who decide to stalk and try to kill them. EDEN LAKE comes from writer-director James Watkins and there's no question that the story is far from original but I say you can repeat a story as many times as you want as long as there's someone talented to make everything work. Watkins certainly makes for a very intense movie and I think what he does best is make you feel as if you're watching real people in a real situation. What makes the film so creepy is the fact that you really do feel as if you're watching this stuff happen to real person and the violence is just so strange and needless that it packs even more of a punch. The film is certainly in the same genre as THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, DELIVERANCE and STRAW DOGS but what this film also goes for the recent wave of "torture" movies. The violence here doesn't happen often but when it does its done in such a graphic way that you can't help but feel it. Each time a blade hits one of our leads it really does feel as if you're also getting slashed. The director's screenplay makes the right choice is letting us get to know the leads so that way we can feel for them and it really makes us want to see them get out of this mess. Both Reilly and Fassbender are very believable in their parts as are the actors playing the thugs. Reilly really makes for a very strong lead even when the screenplay falls short and leaves her with a few dumb decisions. As intense as the movie is I must say that I felt cheated by the ending. I'm not going to give anything away but the big twist is just horrible and it's not a bit believable. I'd also argue that the kid's lack of a motive was another thing that bothered me. I can believe one or two sickos but I think it goes a bit over-the-top and more of a reason would have helped things. With that said, EDEN LAKE certainly delivers and while it's not going to be for everyone if you do enjoy this type of thing then it's a must see.