Review of A Lonely Place to Die (2011) by Lewis C — 10 Apr 2012

"Where has your compassion gotten you today?".

A Lonely Place to Die is a tense thriller from the UK that turned out to considerably exceed my expectations. A group of mountain climbers in the Scottish Highlands stumble upon a buried pipe from which they inexplicably can hear the voice of a young girl. After digging, they find her buried in a box, terrified out of her mind and speaking a language that none of them knows. As they try to get her to safety, they're stalked by a pair of implacable, utterly ruthless men who are responsible for burying the child in the first place.

The villains are the glue that holds A Lonely Place to Die together, as they really are a terrifying duo. The word relentless comes to mind, as they casually kill anyone that stands between them and recapturing the girl. Other than Melissa George, the rest of the cast is likely to be vaguely familiar at best, but they do a pretty excellent job of portraying their characters. There's not a lot of time devoted to character development (the movie moves at a brisk pace), but you get a sense of who each main character is.

A Lonely Place to Die is easily one of the better thrillers I've seen lately. It's excellently paced, violent, and most important of all, actually thrilling. Once the tension starts (the movie starts with a gripping rock-climbing scene), it doesn't let up until the end. It reminded me of The Descent in some ways, even though the movies are of two different genres. That's a considerable compliment in my book, but a deserved one.