Review of Eden Lake (2008) by Manon M — 08 Jan 2012

Wooahh...this one is gonna be stuck in my gut for quite a while. Watkins effectively builds up tension and atmosphere - it is almost killing you! Haven't seen something like that in a long long time... damn!

"Eden Lake" is not a horror film per se, at leats not by the classic definition of a horror film. I'd rather call it a survival horror drama, because it has both - some truly haunting moments but also a lot of social criticism. It has some seriously tough moments of torture porn so you might wanna think twice if you really wanna watch it. I found it hard to watch at times, but there is no denying that "Eden Lake" is extremely effective and smartly directed. Probably the most terrifying film seen in a long time...

The point is, that this film is so damn real. It feels very truthful, especially how it develops and by considering the ending. What's best, is that it is socially very critical, dealing with the disturbing and aggressive behavior of young adults. That makes it of course even more interesting.

The acting is amazing - well, it has Michael Fassbender in it, that man can practically play everyone... but I was also pretty amazed by the actors who played the disturbed adolescents...seriously, some of the were extremely good. Thanks to the fact that this film is well acted, it gains a lot of strength and it makes it even more convincing...

I will probably not watch it again because it is way too heavy for me. But if you're looking for a good example of a strong and creepy horror film that digs deeper than most of its siblings, you shoudl really watch it.