Written and directed by James Watkins (Writer of The Descent 2)
Primary school teacher Jenny (Kelly Reilly) and her boyfriend Steve (Michael Fassbender) head out of London for a weekend break at a beautiful secluded lake. Steve has chosen the romantic spot, and is waiting for the perfect moment to surprise Jenny with a marriage proposal.
They pitch a tent, go swimming, sunbathe, and enjoy the peace – until it is shattered by a group of rowdy, threatening teenagers. When Steve confronts the group about their behaviour, a fight breaks out, and Steve accidentally kills gang leader Brett’s dog.
Suddenly the couple’s idyllic getaway turns into a survival nightmare, as they are forced into the forest to escape the vengeance of their pursuers. Separated from Steve, Jenny has to draw on unknown reserves of strength– and mercilessness – to survive.
Also starring Jack O’Connell (Skins) and Thomas Turgoose (This is England, Somers Town).
Eden Lake turned out to be a harder film for Drew and I to watch and review than expected. First all there was the preconception that this was going to be a slasher flick of some variety, not one of Drew’s favourite genre’s. Me, I’m usually less fussed about the quality of a film and I’ll watch it right to the end.
At first Eden Lake felt like it was trying to be one of those American horror movies where a couple, family or group off friends venture of the beaten track and encounter a situation that will ultimately end up with a body count. This did not bode well for us viewing the movie as it didn’t feel right for that sort of story to be set in Britain. As we started to get into the main part of the story, a gang of youths testing the boundaries of a couple camping on the shores of Eden Lake, we started to get very uncomfortable. I think we tried to dismiss this feeling with our preconceptions that Eden Lake was trying to be the English equivalent of Wrong Turn, with happy slapping teenagers instead of mutants. It was at this point that we stopped watching the first, no frills time coded, check disc we were sent and returned it to the promotional company.
Not long after and we were offered the chance to see the final DVD copy that’s out on 19th January 2009 and so I thought, “why not?” and decided to give Eden Lake another viewing. This time I thought I’d start with the extras, featuring interviews with the stars and the writer/director James Watkins. It was this interview with James that helped me understand why we felt uncomfortable watching Eden Lake. It was too close to home…
Kelly Reilly as Jenny
The director himself tells a tale of an encounter he had, where he is forced to think whether to say something to intimidating teens or to just leave it. We ourselves have been in the same position before Drew and I made the move to creamy Devoniashire. We used to lived in urban London, and quite a posh bit at that. However, as is mostly the case in an inner city, there are always areas of poverty and trouble right next to the nicer parts of town. In the year before we left London a gang of youths made living on our road a nightmare. A car was set on fire almost spreading to a building via a tree, neighbours windows were smashed, cars broken into and the block was cordoned because of a fire at an garage which contain welding equipment including acetylene gas. For us it was one of the worse times we had at that house.
Seeing a gang of youths terrorising people in Eden Lake was not entertainment to us. It was, albeit an exaggerated one, a view of what occurs in inner cities, what occurred on our road. Gang culture, binge drinking, violence, all topped off with recording crime on camera phones for uploading to YouTube. It is a painful reminder of the generational divide between adults and the young. Gone is any respect between the two, only to be replaced by fear and loathing.
What makes Eden Lake even more horrific is the setting for the tragic events in the story, the countryside. What should have been an idyllic weekend away from the city in the countryside begins with obnoxious behaviour and theft, culminating in confrontation and death. Placing the events away from an inner city environment and taking it into the English countryside, a place of rural peace makes for more disturbing viewing.
Jenny and Steve fooling around in the Lake
The adult actors, Kelly Reilly and Michael Fassbender do a very good job as the teacher turned survivor and the brave or indeed foolish man who stands up to the young group. However it is the teen cast who do a fantastic job of playing the troublesome group, leaving the viewer shocked as the events fold out. Of note is the leader of this gang, Brett (played by Jack O’Connell), who in one point of view scene is seen punching and kicking the audience a la Vinnie Jones’ Big Chris from Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In fact I think Jack O’Connell is more ferocious as the violent teen, making for a much scarier scene.
Ultimately, as is the case from films in this genre, there is a twist at the end of the story. Given it’s more rural setting, where communities are closer and pull together in times of trouble and need, perhaps it is not surprising that Jenny and Steve find themselves in a lot more danger than first thought.
I’m very glad I gave Eden Lake a second viewing, as uncomfortable as it was, and heartily recommend it.
Released on 19th January 2009, Eden Lake is an exceptional British horror movie. Terrifyingly realistic, it feels like it could easily have been based on a true story. A shocking view at the gang culture in Britain today.
Thomas Turgoose as the youngest gang member Cooper
DVD/Blu Ray Extras
Interview with James Watkins / Interview with Kelly Reilly / Interview with Thomas Turgoose / Interview with Michael Fassbender / Interview with Christian Colson / Behind the scenes / Q & A with Director James Watkins / TV spots
Theatrical trailer / Extreme trailer / Subtitles for HOH
Tech specs
Release Date: 19th January 2009
Region 2
Cert: 18
Feature Running Time: 87 mins approx
Feature Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Colour PAL
Audio: Stereo, 5.1
English Language
