The Last Great Wilderness

This movie was billed as some kind of modern-day wicker-man, but it instead fails to be anything of the sort.Its not entertaining or scary in the least , the only reason it even qualifies for an 18- certificate is because of 5 minutes of mild nastiness right at the end. The movie builds tension and you wait fixed to the screen for the bad stuff to begin in the lonely lodge deep in the Scottish highlands. Instead you get a few mysteries which end up in nothing and are unresolved at the end, and a bunch of guys dressed as tarts at a funeral. The Wicker man this ain't, people. If you see the case in the video store, don't be fooled by the guff on the cover, because The Last Great Wilderness is the last great disappointment.

THE LAST GREAT WILDERNESS is a different sort of movie. There's a gentle warmth about it that is jarringly interrupted by jolts of graphic sex and disturbing, sadistic violence. There's also a thick atmosphere of dread that's broken up by a cast of oddball characters and humorous bits.

Charlie (Alastair Mackenzie) is the driven, damaged center of the story, on a voyage of danger and discovery.

If you enjoy neo-gothic ghost stories or subtle, suddenly shocking thrillers, then give this film a go...

"The Last Great Wilderness" was touted as both a horror movie and a thriller, especially with its poster and DVD cover featuring Alistair Mackenzie toting a shotgun. Suffice to say, Mackenzie's character is wearing a dress at the same time as carrying the shotgun, which is as good an indication as any of the film's rather insane trajectory.

It has an obviously improvisatory feel - when one character makes a confession about the nature of his fantasies, it's hard not to imagine that this really is the first time that the other actors have heard about it (which makes the scene work very well). Other reviewers have already nailed the wayward charm of this cracking movie - though it meanders through any number of genres, with signposts for a dozen other movies, what holds it together is its vicious sense of humour. Worth seeing for the overwhelmingly sinister atmosphere, some superb performances, and an entirely unexpected and shockingly tender love scene which instantly makes the usual Hollywood soft-focus look irredeemably artificial. It's not without flaws, but "The Last Great Wilderness" is nevertheless rivetting, and hopefully not the last great independent British movie.

I don't want to say this is a bad film because I think I was expecting too much from it. A couple of reviews had lead me to believe it was similar to 28 Days Later and Dog Soldiers (Both of which I really enjoyed).

The film began well enough and I think it is an interesting idea. However, by the closing credits I was left underwhelmed, disapointed and most importantly confused.

Maybe there was some signifigance to the ending but if there was, I sure didn't get it.

Despite this, I would say it is definatley a film worth watching.

I thought this movie was excellent in every way. I didn't find it a one-actor movie at all. Although it focused a bit on Charlie, Vince and all the characters in the lodge were just as important. I thought all the actors did a great job. (I've not seen Monarch of the Glen, but I want to now!) Wonderful movie...wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Hopefully at least a few people outside of Edinburgh will see it! :)