Reviews

Warning: A few spoilers Not only was this film disappointing from the "ooooh all other cultures aside from American are dangerous and creepy" angle, but also because of the fact that it is the same old trope with the high school dynamics. I can watch some of them, but would it kill the writers to mix it up a bit once in a while?

My second, perhaps bigger problem with it is that they had to go and mess with the pet! I cannot stand that! Babies/small children and pets should never be the victims in horror unless we know about it going in (e.g. Cujo) Just skip this one.

This movie came on TV one evening when there really wasn't anything else on, and being a horror fan, I thought I would give it a chance. It was astounding how terrible it was! I think I watched it through to the end in order to see if it would improve. It did not. SOME SPOILERS.. The basic premise is that there is a banshee, (a large, winged creature) killing and tearing local people apart and it does this by emitting high-pitched screaming and/or ripping people apart with its teeth and claws. Strangers get stuck together after some teenagers get attacked at their campsite and some of them get killed. The survivors run until they find some houses and are allowed in by two men. In addition to being huge, fast and winged, the banshee can cause hallucinations which it uses to clone people, which then allows it to get close to its victims. This hallucination ability is loosely explained suddenly by a zoology student who states that the low frequencies the banshee emits are too low for humans to hear and it becomes a hallucination if it gets too close to human eyes.

I am not sure if the writers or the actors were bigger offenders here. Not only were the lines boring and not ever what they intended to be (cool, tough or funny), the actors were not able to convey much either. If you watch this movie, watch it with the intent to laugh AT it and you will derive much more entertainment from it. As a horror movie, which it is billed, it fails miserably.

I watched this because it was in the Horror/Suspense category. I usually read IMDb reviews by users before I decide to hop on a 90 to 120 minute horror ride. I was halfway into Eden Lake before I read a few reviews.

*SPOILERS* I started out being very aggravated by the boyfriend, Steve, not getting over his ego and as if NOT leaving after his first encounter with the disrespectful, rage-filled brats, but stopping by the house and going INTO it was out of line and unrealistic. I did feel emotion all through this and even after I read reviews, I stuck it out for the ending. My hopes were dashed not once but twice when Jenny had hope of escaping and getting SOME satisfaction or a dose of revenge. The ending was horrible and left me angry because she already went through too much. Since she clearly didn't have the weaponry or strength to confront the kids and overcome (after we saw the Beatdown Brett put on his remorseful friend), I was angry the film ended that way. It seems like they just did it to be different from the rest of the horror endings. I also hated the burning of the other kid when they burned Steve. I could overlook the other problems if the ending went differently. I do have to admit that the actor playing Brett was good because I hated him immediately and all the way through.