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 basic plot of Vertige is pretty lame and worn off considering that we are talking about a group of five mountain climbers who take an adventurous hike on a mountain path that goes overboard and turns into a fight for survival.

Its like Wrong Turn if you replace the woods with mountains. At first you think it could go a different direction because the first half works pretty well as a kind of adventure movie with mountain climbers. You get some pretty impressive climbing sequences with lines snapping and nice action mixed with beautiful landscape shots and some nice camera-work... as well as a pretty hot female lead actress (although she chose a pretty strange dress for that trip that gives the viewer some pretty nice views of her mountains too). As soon as the movie turns to be a survival horror with some mountain hillbilly maniac who hunts climbers it goes overboard. There is no resolution of the obscure guy hunting the climbers and the flashback sequences about some mishappenings in the life of the female lead who seems to be a doctor are pretty meaningless and cheap.

Vertige is a typical style over substance movie with a giant letdown in the end and a plot that is as paper thin as the clichéd character development. Anyone who has high hopes for another great french horror movie should stay away from this. The action sequences are really good but i doubt thats enough for a feature movie. first turns out closed and on further investigation becomes quite stressful when bridges break and cables burst.

A Group of friends decide to do some weekend rock climbing, to bond together through one of the friends having a traumatic experience, as her work as a nurse. What starts off as a lot of fun, turns into a nightmare when they encounter some problems, leaving them stranded on the mountain with nowhere to go. To add insult to injury, they are being stalked by a Mountain man, who doesn't like the fact that they are in his territory. Let the hunt begin!

First off, the first half of this film is absolutely incredible! The cinematography is absolutely astounding and will draw you into it from the start. The rock climbing scenes left my hands sweating, which is something that happens to me, as I have a fear of heights. So for a film to do this to me, shows how sensational the camera angles were in this very memorable experience. There were some genuinely spine tingling moments of suspense, which I can liken to the movie "Cliffhanger". You really are on the edge of your seat for a good 40 to 50 minutes. Unfortunately, when the slasher element kicks in, the movie becomes a major disappointment. The villain was not very memorable and the kills lacked creativity. The annoying characters didn't add any added incentive to feel sorry for their situation, so when the emotional scenes take place, there is just no sense of loss. As the movie ends, you will be left scratching your head, wondering how the director made a meal of what should have been a classic. Thankfully the first half of the film makes it worth the effort to have at least one viewing.

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 ...

Another french thriller, with a group of people getting themselves into trouble. Of course some decisions they make, are really bad and the peril they find themselves in, will divide them (more or less and no, no pun intended).

But what makes this worth-while are the characters and the actors portraying them. You have quite some different people and the tension in the group helps the movie move along. Which is of course necessary with a movie like this. It's not that you will really like them, but they are different personalities and everybody has at least one scene he/she can shine.

Another thing that I would like to see (maybe in the inevitable American Remake?): The movie in 3-D. There were quite a few scenes, that would have made sense in 3-D, were even the "flat" version looked "3-D-ish" ... At least that's how it felt for me :o)