Black Rock

This film seems to be a rip-off of the British movie THE HIKE, which came out a year earlier and has pretty much exactly the same storyline (although the unfolding action is different, obviously). This is slim, independent film-making with a small cast and smaller budget. Three girls decide to go out into the wilderness for a camping trip, only to meet a trio of ex-soldiers, and things unfold from there.

I disliked this film from the opening scenes, and that's down to the script. The dialogue given to the main characters is puerile and you end up hating them from the outset. What's with that one girl pretending she had cancer in order to emotionally blackmail the others? It's pretty sick and you lose all respect for that character despite the best efforts of the actress playing her.

The story that unfolds is very predictable, with tons of these "survival horror" type films having been made in recent years. You don't care about the predicament of the leads and everything that happens feels stale and too well telegraphed in advance. I burst out laughing at the gratuitous nude scene and at the artifice of the ending where you can easily guess what happens. Non-existent acting, a horrid script, and unlikeable characters sink this from the outset.

Three girls decide to go away for a weekend to an island known as Black Rock they visited as children. Once there, they meet three soldiers on a hunting expedition who have been discharged dishonourably from the army...

Black Rock for the most has decent enough acting, and I was drawn to it by a review on one of the horror podcasts I listen to. On there it was described as "a movie you wouldn't want to watch on a Sunday morning with a cup of tea" which of course was the time I chose then to watch it.

Sadly, there's little here that would offend a parish vicar. It's a plot by numbers excursion of girls attacked, girls fight back. And while I wouldn't say it was totally boring, there was little in the way of tension, gore, or thrills watching it. When it comes to "horror" these days (years?) you really have to look to Europe for anything of substance, and it seems ironic that somewhere like mild and cultured France can spit out horror which would give your grandma a heart attack while America gives us something like this PG fare.

Black Rock is really only recommended then if you have 90mins to kill and can't find anything better.

Three women around the age of 30 partake of a reunion vacation to a Maine island where they hanged out when they were girls and had a fort. Sarah (Kate Bosworth) masterminds the event with the hope of reconciling the estranged Abby (Katie Aselton) and Lou (Lake Bell). The camping trip starts well enough, but things go awry and it turns into a survival situation.

"Black Rock" (2012) is a life-or-death backwoods drama/adventure/horror in the tradition of "Deliverance" (1972), "The Edge" (1997), "Nightmare at Bittercreek" (1988) and "Backcountry" (2014). While it lacks the budget of the first two, it's at least as good as the latter two.

These types of flicks are about being backed into a corner in the wilderness and finding your instincts to survive at all costs, including your primitive rage to kill if necessary. This one's totally realistic and very well done, not to mention pleasantly streamlined.

The film runs 1 hour, 20 minutes, and was shot around Milbridge, Maine.

GRADE: B+

This is the story of three women that were once really close friends that decide to get together on a remote island in Maine to reconnect. Very swiftly their idyllic trip falls apart when they run into some men with nefarious intentions. The women must come together like never before to survive and outwit their hunters.

This is not a great movie, but it is definitely good. As other reviewers pointed out, it is formulaic, but aren't 95% of the movies out there? The three lead actresses do a great job and there are some legitimate tense moments.This is a great movie for you to shut down your brain and go on a thrill ride.

I went into this with no expectations and Black Rock is a decent little Indie thriller with some good suspense-filled moments. The story revolves around three long-time friends, two of whom are feuding who camp out on their old stomping ground of Black Rock to reconnect only their party is interrupted by three men who we learn have been dishonorable discharged from the army and aren't exactly friendly.

All hell breaks loose and the three heroines are hunted down. It's nothing we haven't seen before but the poor reviews are surprisingly poor for what seemed like a decent little movie. It has its flaws but character and the suspense are both there and the ladies Aselton(Abby) who also happens to be the director gave it a solid effort. Lake Bell (Lou) with and Kate Bosworth their roles exceptionally well for this story which never goes too over the top and stays believable for the most part.

It won't be winning any major awards but in my books it was a good survival story which had me interested all the way to the end.

6/10 (though rated 7 because it was better than people say it is)