A Lonely Place to Die

Mountain climbers Rob (Alec Newman), Ed (Ed Speleers), Alison (Melissa George), Jenny (Kate Magowan) and Alex (Garry Sweeney) run across a suspicious pipe coming out of the ground in the Scottish highlands. They find a girl who doesn't speak English held as a prisoner. Rob and Alison make a dangerous descend to contact the authorities while the rest of the group make a long walk out. An unknown person sabotages the climb and kills Rob. The group reunites but are hunted by the bad guys.

The first hour is an amazing thriller. It's a great setup which builds up to an amazing place. I love Melissa George as this heroine. It's a great movie and then they get to town. It falters as the movie which started out as a stripped down outdoors thriller turns into a messy crossfire. There are too many new characters being injected late in the movie. It doesn't fit the other parts of the movie. It should have stayed in the wilderness. It shouldn't have a whole new set of characters. It could climax at a small settlement. This could have a great indie thriller.

What's to me has been a pretty lackluster year for gripping thrillers A Lonely Place To Die is a refreshing and well executed one that has a solid payoff. The acting was solid from everyone though their accents kind of got in the way and was distracting and sometimes hard to understand but the highlight here was Melissa George in her best leading performance yet. The balance of themes like survival, kidnapping/ransom, stalk and kill, cat and mouse, revenge and action was stellar and close to perfection and though most of that is all too familiar by now it hasn't been as effective as this one in as long as I can remember. When it gets down and dirty it doesn't hold back and I'm not saying that it's overly graphic but just very intense and suspenseful which is most of the time way better than a splatterfest but just good old fashioned. The filming of the raw, haunting atmosphere was fantastic and has edge, it was breathtaking in intensity and beauty and the fact that it jumps to different locations and not stay at one the whole time added to the thrill in a roller-coaster ride of a chase and fight for safety in a lonely place where no one can here you scream, very harrowing stuff. Overall this is the best thriller of the year and deserved to be a wide theatrical release because to me it puts the wide released ones like Drive, Hanna and the Straw Dogs remake to shame, studios back this one up now so it can get a proper wide release that it should certainly earn. Recommended! 7.5 out of 10

A Lonely Place to Die is the fourth feature from British Director Julian Gilbey. His last film was the acclaimed Rise of the Footsoldier way back in 2007. This film marks a very different change of pace for the director and what he delivers here is a striped back bare bones Horror survival thriller. For the most part ALPTD works. Its 1hr and 40 min running time rattles along at a fairly lively pace. It's the films third act coupled with its confused tone that eventually drags it down.

Mellissa George plays one of a group of five friends that go climbing in the Scottish highlands. Early on they discover a small girl buried in a box underground. They decide to free the girl and go for help. Little do they realize that the Kidnappers are in hot pursuit! ALPTD opens with a nerve rattling climbing sequence, from here it builds pretty effortlessly with a number of nail biting senses has a game of cat and mouse is played out in the Scottish wilderness. Little is actually learned about the cast but the film moves at such a pace that this isn't really an issue. Deaths come almost from nowhere and this is one of the films strengths. The fact that is fair game on any of the cast members really adds to the suspense. Mellissa George is the only real stand out from the cast and she is excellent here making the most of here thinly conceived character. She is easily able to portray both venerable and tough and this up there with Triangle has her best performance. The cinematography is amazing with shots of the mountains and scenery really adding to the isolation of their surroundings. Some of the hand-held style camera work adopted during the chase sequences adds an extra bit of flare which really lifts them above the average.

It's a shame that the film was not able to maintain the tension and suspense throughout its whole running time. The third acts arrives has the setting shifts to a local town during a Wicker man style festival. The departure from the wilderness sees the pacing almost ground to a complete halt. The direction of the film also changes. Before this there the film had more of a horror feel to it. The change in setting and the introduction of several new characters moves the film very much into the ransom thriller area. This change in tone is to serve and makes the film feel almost like two separate films in one. The third acts slow down also exposes the problems with the script. Poorly written characters being chased through the woods in a horror film is one thing, being asked to care about poorly written characters during a hostage thriller is a different story altogether. Without anyone to care about a feeling of indifference takes over. Has it stands A Lonely Place to Die is a fairly entertaining if standard film that is worth a watch. There are elements there that could have made it a lot more memorable.

Great locations and nice production with some lovely set pieces. I enjoyed this... solid film making deffo give it a while.

I was not entirely sure what to expect prior to watching 'A Lonely Place to Die'; the plot intrigued me however after reading a multitude of negative reviews I was uncertain this film would be enjoyable.

This lack of certainty was unjustified, as I found this movie very entertaining. The pacing is spot-on and the acting is solid throughout; in addition to this, the film was not too predictable, therefore I was more than happy to see this movie through until the end. Sean Harris is also, in my opinion, a key contributor to my positive opinion of this film, as he is expectantly brilliant as always.

Overall, what stops this film from being fantastic is the lack of depth, characterisation and stand-out moments, however if you are looking for an interesting, entertaining British film with a few fresh ideas and solid acting, this is worth your time.