Skeleton Lake

Like so many movies coming out these days, this film starts off strong... but ends up flat. A group of pro criminals on the run after a big score pick the wrong place to low law. OK, its been done.. but not for a while, and it could have been a fresh take on the story. The characters are developed, and by the midway mark you can see and understand the different personality conflicts and connections, despite all the black sunshades, grunts and head bobs cinema gangsters are for some reason restricted to communicating with. But regardless the movie sets itself up as an exciting and promising thrill ride.

However halfway through you realize the concept is flawed. By the time the bodies start to pile up, you realize you're not in for a ride but a slow crawl to a sad finish. The movie tries to become something its not, by adding old, typical action movie one-liners and having an ending with absolutely no twist at all (whoever says there's a twist ending must have watched another movie). The subplots finish at dead ends and the characters degrade into voiceless masses. The action is over the top and corny by the end. "And it started off so well", you will say to yourself...

I'm a Canadian who loves and wants Canadian film to progress, but we're not going to do it with movies like these. Please, please, please... remember movies need endings too!

The movie sucks you in with what looks to be a good story. Later you find out the point is dead people you didn't care about anyway. Had they bothered with a few more shots they could have saved this film.

That's the saddest thing here, with just a little thought this could have been a good film. A few of the characters should have been better developed and provided a back story that made sense.

I'm going to keep this very simple. Imagine you have never had a creative idea in your life, so you watch Predator and decide it's so awesome you're going to remake it, except you don't have a monster, a jungle, special effects, actors, soldiers or talent. This is what Battleground is, a poorly hacked together rip off of Predator (with a bit of Hobo with a Shotgun). Scene for scene, line for line, Battleground tries to wear Predator's shoes and what is baffling to me is how so many people involved in the making of this film could have gone along with it. Was this really how the director wanted it? And they actually spent money to make this? Congratualtions, you've made it that much harder for real film makers to get funding.

A desperate gang of violent criminals rob a bank . Escaping they lie low in a wooded rural backwaters . Preparing to leave they find themselves being stalked by an unseen foe and fighting for their lives

There's something rather confused about this film at a production level . It does confound expectations and I immediately thought I might be watching a Tarantino wannabe where some desperate criminals falling out amongst themselves then having to pool their resources against a supernatural foe . It does have a RESERVOIR DOGS feel to it for about five minutes then turns in to something along the lines of PREDATOR or SOUTHERN COMFORT . The problem is the plot turn of the villains being hunted down by a deranged Vietnam veteran is played far too soon so any potential surprise or suspense is soon lost . The idea of men being hunted in an unfamiliar hinterland seems to have bored the production team and therefore need to bring in a different element - one of torture porn with a scene stolen from THE DEER HUNTER

I don't want to totally condemn the film out of hand . It's a Canadian low budget get feature ( The Canadians accents are noticeable when characters say " About " ) but it's far from the worst film broadcast on The Horror Channel . The technical aspects such as cinematography and editing is more than competent but does show a rather clumsy approach to the storytelling almost as though the production team are very unsure what type of film they're making and has an underdeveloped feel . It's probably summed up by the title of the film which according to some sources is either celled BATTLEGROUND or SKELTON LAKE

Which is a hard hitting drama, in the same mould as 'Southern Comfort'. Quite brutal in parts and concerns a crazy Vietnam vet, holding out in a forest and slaughtering anyone who dares tread on his territory. A well worn scenario but one that is worth telling over and over. Some excellent action throughout but i get the feeling iv'e seen it somewhere before. The low score here seems mighty harsh and 'Battleground' is a well made, exciting film.