User Reviews

Another reviewer compared Vertige to Deliverance but nothing could be further from the truth. Deliverance is a dark drama reflecting on civilization and nature.

Vertige is a more conventional action horror movie that has more in common with The Hills Have Eyes, Wrong Turn and The Descent. Like the latter, Vertige is divided roughly in two parts. In the first part, we are introduced to a group of young, outdoor-loving people following a challenging mountain trail. This is where we as the viewers are introduced to this group's different character dynamics and relationships. Many scenes in the first half are rather interesting, sometimes thrilling and even downright spectacular. It's no stretch to say the film truly earned its title (Vertige, vertigo) here. All the tension is created by the various passive obstacles our group face, much like the Descent.

In the second half, things turn for the worse. As the threat takes the form of an intelligent, active villain hunting down the group, trying to pick them apart. Unfortunately, this villain is rather weakly sketched and poorly played. It also seems like the producers ran out of budget. Where the climbing scenes were breathtaking in the first part, the fight scenes and chasing in the last part are uninspired and bland.

I kept expecting all the challenging background in the first hour to resurface one way or another in the latter stage of the movie but it never happened. You're just left with an almost standard slasher movie. A poor take on Chainsaw Massacre and so on...

I'm giving this movie a 5 because it has an interesting premise and some great early scenes but the rest really disappoints. If you're a big fan of the movies I mentioned above, this might be worth a rental. If you hate that kind of stuff, you might be better off passing on this.

PS: In the genres listed, horror should definitely be added as it has all the tropes found in stuff like Wrong Turn, Chainsaw Masssacre, etc...

When I heard about some french horror situated in Croatia, I was overjoyed. Beautiful Croatian scenery combined with exciting climbing scenes coupled with a classic slasher plot line.. perfect movie for the Sunday night.

Boy, was I wrong.

First of all, yes, I knew beforehand that the movie was an utter ripoff of Descent/Wrong Turn. However I like both of those movies and am not necessarily against ripping off if it is done well - after all, it's hard to film a slasher flick and be original. Unfortunately, Vertige does it anything BUT well.

Right off the bat, we are introduced to the most unlikeable bunch of future cannon fodder you have ever seen. It doesn't help that they are as one-dimensional as possible - you have a "climber", "climber's girlfriend", a girl who is a "doctor", "doctor's hunky ex-boyfriend" and "doctor's current vertigo-ridden boyfriend". This is as far as the movie goes with characterizations. Oh, and I forgot, they are also utter morons with a survival instinct of a lobotomized dodo. It also doesn't help that the actors portraying those characters, are, well, let's say that they should perhaps try to find some other ventures in the future. Especially the vertigo guy who constantly mixes "being scared" expression with the "heavily constipated" one.

After realizing that, barring some miracle, I'm stuck with these folks for an hour and a half, I at least settled in the notion that I will be looking at some nice Risnjak scenery. Tough luck - whoever made this flick probably chose "Croatia" and "Risnjak" purely because they sound sorta exotic - the scenery doesn't look anything like Croatia's National Park of the same name - strike two.

But there's the plot, right? *Sigh*. Our gang decides to go via some "closed down" route with the "longest footbridge in Europe". By the way, Croatians have built this longest footbridge as a part of the route that goes absolutely nowhere. This is a plot point.

Once they cross the footbridge, it falls apart despite being clearly shown as made from shiny new parts and having at least five redundant safety wires. Well, that's Croatians for you, not only do they build Europe's longest footbridges to nowhere, they also create bridge support points out of legos and spit.

This is the first half of the movie, with the thrills mostly having to do with the oh-so-irritating vertigo guy hyperventilating and falling over ledges (remember, legos and spit). The second half introduces some insane Croat called Anton Zukarech (which sounds as Croatian as "John Wayne", but I digress). This guy starts killing the poor French idiots, because, uh, well, just because. And it's hard NOT to root for him because our hikers do all but tattoo "cut here" lines on their necks and bicker about who gets to bite the dust first.

The rest of the movie is mostly listening to groans and screams, watching our heroes acting like idiots some more for the plot to plod forward, witnessing painfully obvious continuity mistakes (trivia fact: in Croatia it takes ten minutes to go from midnight to high noon) and God is this movie ever going to end.. Anton, man, what's taking you so long?

After the last scene (groan), cue the final insult - the director chose to inform us that there are "3270 unexplained disappearances in the Balkans". I don't even have to check for the fact that this talentless hack pulled this number out of his ass, mostly because "Balkans" is probably the hardest geographical region to define and would hardly be used in any statistics. I guess he didn't want to anger the Croats too much and blatantly fabricate some statistical data about imaginary disappearances in Croatia itself. Too late, he already angered not just Croats but everyone else duped into seeing this dreck.

I have utterly disliked this movie. There are no scares, no thrills, there is some gore if you are into that sort of thing, but most of the time the movie is nearly unwatchable. The protagonists are paper-thin characters who are so unbelievably irritating you are actively rooting for Anton to put them out of their misery, which cannot happen soon enough. Seriously, seeing this movie through in one sitting is an exercise in masochism.

I give it a 2/10, mostly because it's short and some of the scenery is nice (although it's not Croatia but French Alps). But you are SO better off watching Descent or Wrong Turn instead. Or any other American slasher B-movie for that matter.

P.S. In the last five years, 1,457 French doctors had random flashbacks that have had nothing to do with anything whatsoever.

For the first half of the movie it was an interesting and good suspense story, about a group of carefree youthful friends who go on a mountain climbing adventure, and the obstacles they encounter on their more perilous than anticipated day trip. Disregarding that the route they want to climb is closed, they boldly and perhaps foolishly, go on and start their climb.

This is where the movie is well done, with breathtaking and scary camera shots of the ground far below as they make their way across thin precarious ledges on the mountainside and the sense of danger is prominent and sustained, until finally they end up at a rickety and dangerous looking rope bridge they must cross. All this is interesting to watch, especially for those who like outdoors adventures, added to this is a character who is more timid than the others in the group and is scared of heights, who has troubles navigating these perils which adds more tension to these scenes.

However, after they cross the rope bridge, which ends up being a thrilling and tense scene, the movie turns into a stupid generic horror film of a backwoods crazed maniac who lives on the mountain and he begins to hunt them down. The killer is not scary at all, and played by a guy who looks like some goof ball lumberjack and its quite disappointing when he is revealed. The characters also start to make really dumb decisions as is typical in horror movies, and basically the entire second half of the movie is a total dud, and can be skipped without missing anything good.

So I think this movie is actually worth seeing for the first half alone, which was surprisingly gripping when it involved the human drama of navigating a difficult mountain climb.

Based on a true story which was widely talked about in France;for people who do not know about this strange disappearances,there are lines at the end of the movie which informs them:as they know nothing about what actually happened to them (only one body was found), the screenwriters had a free hand to build their story.

On the plus side ,they took advantage of the stunningly beautiful landscapes ,filmed with taste :a splendid cinematography;the first half is,by and large ,successful ,if we except the inevitable love relationships and other bickering ; the scene on the footbridge climaxes the movie,and without the intervention of a bandit ,of a villain ;definitely not for people who suffer from vertigo.

Things begin to deteriorate at the beginning of the second half although it begins well enough with the mantrap scene ,where the enemy remains invisible , and anguish is created by the huge trees towering over the unfortunate victim's head.

Afterwards ,it's downhill :it's another horror movie ,with all its clichés:the least one is to make a man of nature a poacher/monster (a hackneyed trick since the much better" deliverance" ); the screenplay which was clear,becomes muddled , and one does not care anymore about the hikers ;as far as Anton is concerned , no clues about his past,which must have been less rosy than those of the five French ramblers .No explanation for his terrifying face .He was born a monster ,wasn't he?

I watch many horror films on the Horror channel and most are dreadful (e.g. Camel Spiders) whilst a few are genuinely entertaining - this to my mind is one of the entertainers; even with sub-titles! Basically the first half is a tense climbing film and the second half is a better-than-average slasher film.

The Good: 1. The acting was excellent, scenery stunning, the climbing well filmed and, refreshingly, the characters were not a bunch of annoyingly moronic teens drinking and partying themselves to an early grave; although I did find Luke irritating at times and rather immaturely (but manfully) I thought Chloe extremely sexy with her low-cut top and kept hoping for more......

2. I find sheer drops and hanging over precipices bowel loosening so for me this film gains credit for delivering two types of scares: the hanging-from-a-rope-over-a-2,000ft-drop type and the someone-is-hunting-me type; though the first scared me more.

3. The fight scenes on 'the rock' were bloody, brutal and the characters looked as if they were fighting for their lives (apart from item 2 in the 'mildly annoying' below).

4. The use of sound to induce dread; the dentist drill as the first girl was killed, the sound of steel instrument being drawn and the thud of bodies as the two climbers hung in the cellar.

The Mildly Annoying: 1. Why was Fred running through the trees when he was caught in the trap? Why did he not immediately throw down the rope to the climbers below? 2. An inability to finish the job. Both Luke and Chloe die because they were not willing to kill the killer. Luke had the advantage when he was hitting the killer on the head with a stone. Why throw away that advantage (literally) and crawl to the edge of the precipice? Chloe decided to show compassion and leave the killer alive behind her.

3. Is it likely that the killer could loosen or cut a steel cable (carrying Chloe) with what looked like a small home-made knife?

Overall a superior film of its genre and well worth a watch.

A group of friends go on what was supposed to be a nice mountain climbing expedition/vacation in Croatia,, but when unforeseen equipment problems arise it has everyone feeling a bit on edge (pardon the pun)

This film actually had a rather promising start. The scenery was beautiful, the fist action sequence was thrilling and I started to get hopes for this film. Shame on me, for no sooner than I was getting good will that the film took a drastic Wrong Turn and became a lame cheap Hills Have Eyes clone. Between that sad turn of events coupled with an over reliance on one particular song, the taste for this film soured.

My Grade: D+

It's a sort of french DELIVERANCE I am going to talk about.

A group of mountain climbers - three boys and two gals - are trapped in the middle of nowhere, between cliffhanging and a sadistic, vicious serial killer who intend to kill them all. The characters are well described, perhaps more than other films of this kind usually do. And, as in DELIVERANCE, the leader of the group, the muscular and brave "warrior," is wiped out, just in the middle of the story. And that let the suspense take place. We wonder what the hell will the others do to survive without their leader. Remember Burt Reynolds in the John Boorman's masterpiece.

The settings are awesome, natural, of course. The movie shot in the Alpes. And, as many french - and not American!! - movies like this, there is no happy ending.

So good....

Descent meets Vertical Limit.

Awesome cinematography, great directing, and great acting actually makes up for a corny plot and poor character development. Young friends venture out on afternoon mountaineering trip, that turns very bad. I watched the Netflix version, and I think it was dubbed into English. If so, it was done very well. After 10 minutes in, I completely forgot about the fact that it was dubbed. Overall, a solid 8-9. Yes, it's missing character development, and the plot is corny. But, there's never a dull moment in the whole movie, and it will have you gripping at your seat. Combine that with the BEAUTIFUL cinematography, and it's a must-see.

This french offering doesn't deserve the vitriol spewed at it by some reviewers who couldn't even be bothered watching the entire movie,if you don't watch it all you shouldn't be reviewing it. Some of the scenery shots are spectacular and very well shot and the location just stunning,making it onto my list of places I want to visit.The movie was somewhat cliché'd,but all movies are,I've never seen a completely original movie in 53 years and suspect I never will,however,what it does offer is non stop action and some great acting by Fanny Valette (Chloe) and Justin Blanckaert (Anton),particularly later in the movie during the fight scene,so convincing and vicious I would almost swear these two despised each other in real life.The other three male characters don't deserve much of a mention as they were bland,jealous,lying and murderous characters with nothing redeemable about them.If nothing else you won't be bored watching it unless you want to be a sad armchair critic who is unable to enjoy a movie for picking it to pieces instead of just enjoying it for what it is.

This movie started off excellent. The shots of the mountains and the beauty of nature shown through that first half of the film was just amazing and breath taking !! This movie has one of my favorite French actors Johan Libereau (Loic- or Luke)and the movie started out exciting, fresh, full of adventure, and was thrilling keeping me wanting more. When the leader (Fred) got caught in a bear trap I was tense with excitement, and wondered what they would do next. Then it went down hill right after that, and it just plummeted. I quite caring about the movie about 2 minutes after Fred got dragged away. It went from a great cinematic French experience (despite the terrible English dubbing) to a terrible wannabe-American-terrible C rate horror film. Loic became really annoying and whinny, ruining the talents of Johan (Les Temoins,Douches Froides,Q,and Un Coeur Simple). The flashbacks of Chloe and Im assuming her brother or former patient didn't match with the storyline in my opinion. Did I mention that the version I watched had terrible English dubbing ? The killer wasn't scary or intimidating, and the deaths the cast experience are ridiculous, especially Loic's and Karines. This movie goes from epic to worthless in a 3 minute span, I would suggest only watching the first half and not disappointing yourself with the rest.

Skilled climber Fred and girlfriend Karine, with friends Chloe, Guillaume, and Luc take a hike in the mountains. IMDb claims the film was shot in the French Alps; the scenery is impressive. However, the titles and dialogs say that that they are in Croatia, 'leaving civilization.' That was a bad sign.

Early on, their path is marked as blocked. They decide to rock-climb above the blockage and proceed on the chosen path down line of the blockage. That looks rather iffy to me; the terrain takes some serious rock climbing skills. Further, Luc has vertigo, and should have turned back to wait in the vehicle. Also, someone is following them.

After a sturdy-looking suspension bridge breaks, nearly killing Karine, they must press on to a pass. After that, at a critical turn, the climber's cable is no longer anchored. The leader, Fred, goes high, again attempting to go above and around the problem. He succeeds, but Luc and Guillaume are left dangling when more pitons pull out. Fred gets caught in an animal trap. Karine and Chloe rescue the dangling Guillaume and Luc via a rope.

While waiting in the trap, Fred gets a clue that perhaps he is not alone. The other four finally head for Fred, but he has been dragged off. Apparently these folks have never heard of tracking a blood trail while it's still light out. Chloe falls into a pit trap. Karine goes in after her, and extricates her from a spike. The men pull them out. Darkness falls; they keep looking for Fred in the dark as the rain starts. Whoever has been hunting them shoots Karine through the thorax with a barbed arrow, and cuts the rope joining her to Chloe.

Things get worse for the group. Will any of them get out alive?

-----Scores------

Cinematography: 8/10 Loved the 2.35 aspect ratio. The mountains and the woods were beautiful, and the camera work was professional. There was a little camera shake now and then that did not improve the viewing experience.

Sound: 7/10 The dubs really were not good. The incidental music and sound were hit and miss: some right on target, some seemingly pointless.

Acting: 7/10 Perhaps not Academy Award performances, but rather good.

Screenplay: 2/10 This film starts nicely enough, but borrows much too heavily from the Wrong Turn series. Whatever demons Chloe seemed to need to exorcise early on are not revealed completely, but they killed her in the end. The portrayal of a love triangle was weak.

During the first half things were quite interesting, and when the group initially gets into trouble when the bridge they're walking on starts to collapse, things get quite tense.

The characters are quite varied really, consisting of one enthusiastic guy, a girl who is (was?) considering quitting her nurse job, that girl's whiny boyfriend, her ex-boyfriend who's easygoing but occasionally tries provoking the boyfriend, and another girl who's personality isn't distinct...

Things get worse for this group of characters as a killer is in the area, using the abandoned hiking path for a hunting ground.

Things get worse in another sense, actually, because while offscreen this villain was probably more effective. Unfortunately just before he appears, one character does something very stupid, which drags the film quality down somewhat. I'm not going to spoil it specifically but someone acquires the stupidity level often found in villain characters populating Syfy-commissioned films.