High Lane

What is it with France lately. Really, they are making flicks I really like. I remember a time when they only made blah blah movies. If you have seen The Descent then this one is one you are going to like, only they don't descent but they climb. A bunch of friends are out for a hike and by doing that they would like to climb some mountains. But they are unlucky. The pass to the mountains is closed but hey, it's a horror so they ignore it and start climbing. The shots made while climbing are fabulous. If you have fear of heights than you will have it in some shots. But of course something goes wrong. They are making too many risks and happen to become isolated on a rock. And from there on the f lick really starts. I can only tell you that it's going to rock (what's in a name) hard and typical for a french movie there is no happy ending. The blood flows frequently and sometimes even gory. The movie also is here and there really brutal. I just can understand why nobody is talking about this flick. It's just great, the only thing I don't get is the flashes our main actress gets from a hospital. But after all, this one is straight in your face...another gem from France

I m a newbie to Via Ferrata (a sport involves trekking n climbing all along a steel cable etc) and by coincidence I recalled myself earlier today about this movie, and so I watched it again. And I can confirm now that it's my newbie sport.

I've never been to Croatia. How beautiful is the scene! And their climbing gears are realistic. In real lives, not every climber has Olympic gears and handsome like Keanu Reeves.

And the rest of the story is pretty cool n normal. I don't need to say anything about the plot and u can readily figure it out. Yeah typical slasher type. I still don't understand why climbers are not armed with knives. Not even Gerber or Victotinox??? How can u go for a climbing n trekking without a knife? And why everyone in slasher movies don't use a baton?

Anyway, I think this movie can give u one and a half hour of fun. Not really a thriller, but still fun to watch.

Enjoy!

Another french thriller, with a group of people getting themselves into trouble. Of course some decisions they make, are really bad and the peril they find themselves in, will divide them (more or less and no, no pun intended).

But what makes this worth-while are the characters and the actors portraying them. You have quite some different people and the tension in the group helps the movie move along. Which is of course necessary with a movie like this. It's not that you will really like them, but they are different personalities and everybody has at least one scene he/she can shine.

Another thing that I would like to see (maybe in the inevitable American Remake?): The movie in 3-D. There were quite a few scenes, that would have made sense in 3-D, were even the "flat" version looked "3-D-ish" ... At least that's how it felt for me :o)

Vertige - High Land - CATCH IT (B) French movie about six friends trapped on the Zip line is frightening & thrilling. Towards the end it may start to feel like a part of Wrong Turn but still it's worth a shot. Last year's Melisa George's British movie "A Lonely Place to Die" seems took some inspiration from here though nonetheless her movie was great as it covered the horrific subject matter of rich children's kidnapping & captivity for ransom. Anyways, the performances by young cast Nicolas Giraud, Fanny Valette, Johan Libéreau, Maud Wyler and Raphaël Lenglet are admirable, as the tension between the characters keeps you on edge. I had fun time watching it.

The teenagers Fred (Nicolas Giraud), his girlfriend Karine (Maud Wyler) and their friends Chloe (Fanny Valette), William (Raphaël Lenglet) e Luke (Johan Libéreau) travel to Croatia to climb and hike along the day. They find the starting point closed with rocks but the experienced climber Fred convinces the others, including the coward Luke that has a crush on Chloe and wants to be close to her, to cross the tract climbing the mountain. Along their journey, they realize that the trail is more dangerous than they thought: the rope bridge collapses after their crossing and the handle in the mountain is busted. Fred climbs with Karine to help their friends but he is wounded in a bear trap. Karine uses a rope to bring their friends to the top, but they do not find Fred that has disappeared. When Chloe falls in a hole with a trap, they question what do people hunt in that isolated spot. When they discover the truth, their entertainment turns into a fight to survive.

"Vertige" has a breathless beginning with the adventure of the group of five friends in the Balkans. In the first half of this movie, the plot is very tense and I do not know how far the actors and actresses have climbed or crossed the rope bridge in times of CGI, but the result is effective with excellent scenes and camera work and I was nervous with the situation of the poor guys. Unfortunately the second part of the story is a violent collection of clichés "à la The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and many other sub-products of the slash genre. Luke is an annoying character and the final decision of Chloe with the fate of Anton is simply ridiculous. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Vertigem" ("Vertigo")