Black Rock - Überleben ist alles

"What happened was an accident. Abby is sorry." Three friends set out for a getaway weekend on an island they used to frequent when they were younger. While they are talking they are surprised when three men who have been hunting show up at their camp site. The two groups begin talking and drinking. When a fatal accident happens the girls relaxing weekend turns into a fight for survival. There are movies that are made that you have to really pay attention to and make you think. While this is very entertaining this is not one of those kind of movies. The movie is really nothing that deep but I did enjoy it. Be prepared for it though, some parts are very gory and a little hard to watch. On the other hand this is a "girl power" type movie so it does have that going for it. If you like movies like the Perfect Getaway then you will like this one as well. It was entertaining and a good watch but nothing that will keep you talking or thinking. Overall, fun and exciting but nothing that original. I liked it though. I give it a B.

Three girls decide to go away for a weekend to an island known as Black Rock they visited as children. Once there, they meet three soldiers on a hunting expedition who have been discharged dishonourably from the army...

Black Rock for the most has decent enough acting, and I was drawn to it by a review on one of the horror podcasts I listen to. On there it was described as "a movie you wouldn't want to watch on a Sunday morning with a cup of tea" which of course was the time I chose then to watch it.

Sadly, there's little here that would offend a parish vicar. It's a plot by numbers excursion of girls attacked, girls fight back. And while I wouldn't say it was totally boring, there was little in the way of tension, gore, or thrills watching it. When it comes to "horror" these days (years?) you really have to look to Europe for anything of substance, and it seems ironic that somewhere like mild and cultured France can spit out horror which would give your grandma a heart attack while America gives us something like this PG fare.

Black Rock is really only recommended then if you have 90mins to kill and can't find anything better.

Three women around the age of 30 partake of a reunion vacation to a Maine island where they hanged out when they were girls and had a fort. Sarah (Kate Bosworth) masterminds the event with the hope of reconciling the estranged Abby (Katie Aselton) and Lou (Lake Bell). The camping trip starts well enough, but things go awry and it turns into a survival situation.

"Black Rock" (2012) is a life-or-death backwoods drama/adventure/horror in the tradition of "Deliverance" (1972), "The Edge" (1997), "Nightmare at Bittercreek" (1988) and "Backcountry" (2014). While it lacks the budget of the first two, it's at least as good as the latter two.

These types of flicks are about being backed into a corner in the wilderness and finding your instincts to survive at all costs, including your primitive rage to kill if necessary. This one's totally realistic and very well done, not to mention pleasantly streamlined.

The film runs 1 hour, 20 minutes, and was shot around Milbridge, Maine.

GRADE: B+

Sarah (Kate Bosworth) travels with her friend Lou (Lake Bell) to spend the weekend camping in the remote Black Rock Island that was part of their childhood. When they arrive to get their motor boat, Lou sees Abby (Katie Aselton) waiting for Sarah and they decide to give up traveling to the island. Lou and Abby were friends in the past but after an incident with Abby's boyfriends, they have been estranged for many years and do not talk to each other. However, Sarah convinces them to travel with her to Black Rock.

When they are resolving their issues, they meet their former schoolmate Henry (Will Bouvier) that is hunting with his friends from the army Derek (Jay Paulson) and Alex (Anslem Richardson) that worship Henry and Abby invites them to have dinner and drink with them on the beach. Abby gets drunk and she flirts with Henry and he makes a move on her. There is a tragic accident with Henry and his friends decide to revenge him.

"Black Rock" is a movie with a collection of clichés and a history based on moronic decisions. The plot is OK with Sarah trying to make up the situation between Abby and Lou and then the girls inviting Henry and his friends to recall the old times at school. However, Abby's inappropriate behavior and comments, despite she is drunk or not, does not make sense since the guys are strangers and ruins the story. The decision of the deranged Derek and Alex of killing the girls can be accepted, but the two clumsy guys armed with rifles being defeated by unarmed girls, missing or failing the shots is an absurd cliché. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Terror na Ilha" ("Terror in the Island")

This film seems to be a rip-off of the British movie THE HIKE, which came out a year earlier and has pretty much exactly the same storyline (although the unfolding action is different, obviously). This is slim, independent film-making with a small cast and smaller budget. Three girls decide to go out into the wilderness for a camping trip, only to meet a trio of ex-soldiers, and things unfold from there.

I disliked this film from the opening scenes, and that's down to the script. The dialogue given to the main characters is puerile and you end up hating them from the outset. What's with that one girl pretending she had cancer in order to emotionally blackmail the others? It's pretty sick and you lose all respect for that character despite the best efforts of the actress playing her.

The story that unfolds is very predictable, with tons of these "survival horror" type films having been made in recent years. You don't care about the predicament of the leads and everything that happens feels stale and too well telegraphed in advance. I burst out laughing at the gratuitous nude scene and at the artifice of the ending where you can easily guess what happens. Non-existent acting, a horrid script, and unlikeable characters sink this from the outset.