Vertige

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

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")

The film starts like an exciting hiking trip which has quite a few impressive sights and scenes in the beginning, you will root for the characters... Then at some point midway it turns into a horror in Wrong turn style... Generally I enjoyed the film but the illogical actions of all heroes annoy the hell out of me... There is another film called " A Lonely place to die" much more intriguing ...

I stay wondering why so many directors and screenplay writers of wannabe-horror movies ruin the good ideas they have in the beginning. This movie starts really good, it seems to deal with hobby mountain-climbing and interpersonal tensions. Indeed, mountain-climbing can turn out to be real horror if you are not particularly good at it and if you take a closed (certainly not without a reason) path. In the first 1/2 hour of the movie, nice camera shots and great landscapes convey a feeling of vertigo and a vague sense of danger - which is very, very credible in the given situation. Things can go wrong, ropes can tear, vertigo can drive you to madness, you can get lost in the mountains, there can be a tempest - all that is horror, because it is likely to happen in real life. So WHY the hell is there any need for "boosting" a life-like situation with some maniac moron hunting the characters? WHY do they always turn a real horror situation into a stereotyped, paper-thin, seen-over-a-thousand-of-times slasher? It is the same with "The Descent" which had excellent premises to get really scary (in the end, there are not many things as gruesome as being trapped in some huge subterranean labyrinth of holes without any map) but instead, decided to put in some stupid monsters which ruined the whole suspense and the sense of horror. Horrific are only things which seem realistic or in some way convey the sense of the possibility to get realistic. There is no need for additional "boost"! Folks, show me a horror movie based on completely natural premises and the appropriate development of characters in the given situation - and I will sing you a love song. But it seems easier to get some mad hunter or monsters in than to develop real tensions and real situations.

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.