O Acampamento

Saw this recently on a pirated DVD. It is about a couple who retreat to the woods on a romantic camping trip. Things don't go well....... Nowhere close to Eden lake, Preservation or Storm warning. These names should be suffice to explain in short what this movie is about. In Eden lake, the tension, violence n the ending was shocking. While in Storm warning, the gore n the killings were brutal. Preservation was decent but Killing ground failed to impress. Well, it wasn't boring or messed up but at times i found it hard to sit through certain scenes. Two things i cannot bear even on screen is rape n any harm towards kids. Thankfully the director avoided abusive scenes but even some off screen scenes were a bit too hard for me. The character development of the bad guys were done well. They are given nearly as much screen time as the main leads. The bearded villain looked like Mel Gibson from Blood father. The movies non linear approach to story telling might appeal to some viewers but there isn't any originality in it.

Killing Grounds was, at first, a tough watch for me. Seeing how much realism and detail was added to the scenes made me truly feel bad for the victims. One of my favorite parts about this film was their use of the past and present families and showing the stories connect with one another. On top of this, props to the creators not using cheesy jump scares to try and score a cheap shot with the audience. Instead they help develop all of the characters so you feel for each one, good and bad.

Overall, a great twisted horror film that will keep you engaged at all parts, with a bit of a lack luster ending.

7/10

When you watch a large variety of movies something you come to notice is that every different country makes films very uniquely. I've come to find that I quite like Australia's way of story telling. Their characteristics are likable and realistic characters, they're not afraid of extreme violence and they like to have a little bit of a psychological edge to their story. All three of those traits are apparent in 'Killing Ground' which turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable experience.

I didn't go into the film with a lot of hope, simply because it looked low-budget and I am finder it harder and harder to come across good quality, low-budget films. It really pleasantly surprised me however. It gets off to a very patient and slow start with almost no action taking place for at least the first 30 minutes. Usually this would be an absolute killer for any horror/thriller movie, but on this occasion the characters were strong enough that I could enjoy that period of the film regardless.

I like a film that isn't afraid to be bold and this is certainly one of those. It's a film that doesn't want to be forgotten about any time soon. It wants to stick with you for a while to come. Not simply by having some pretty explicit violence at times, but more so by the psychological twist that is created near the end. The whole film is quite masterfully put together. One not to be missed.

Sometimes going camping might not be the best idea. Especially if you pick the wrong spot. The movie tries to be smart about the beginning and the setting and it does work for a second. But you will get what they do with the two parties at the beach in no time. What you make of it and how you react to this is up to you (that's if you like the editing).

The acting is decent, but the movie does feel to be longer than it actually is. Not really a feel good movie overall of course, but you'd wish it would speed up a little bit. It's predictable overall which I won't hold too much against the movie. But it is dreadful in a bad way and it doesn't really add anything new. So as someone else suggested, there are way better entries, with similar topics that are way better

Aaron Pederson came off Mystery Road and Goldstone for....this? He should be hitting Hollywood with his talent, but instead he'll settle for a script with little originality or imagination, and fellow great actors wasting their talents. Harriet Dyer is a terrific performer and has shown her charisma on the shows No Activity and The Other Guy, but is only required to be frightened wife captured by a maniac here, big boost into cinema that one is. Aaron Glenane is a convincing psychopath, but his and Pederson's characters are given no motivation or explanation for killing, they just do it for a laugh it seems. The only praise this deserves is for its beautiful cinematography, given the proper cinematic look with a proper film camera and lenses, rather than the grainy fly on the wall style that outstayed its welcome years back. Shows off the amazing countryside but then again does little with it but put in a hackneyed story and boring characters. Another miss for Aussie film. Except for people who love watching people get shot in the head.