A Lonely Place to Die (2011)

Directed by Julian Gilbey. Starring Melissa George, Ed Speleers, Sean Harris, Karel Roden, Alec Newman, Kate Magowan, Garry Sweeney, Eamonn Walker, Holly Boyd, Stephen McCole, Paul Anderson. [R]

A group of mountain climbers in the Scottish highlands discover a girl buried alive in the middle of nowhere, soon after are pursued by her deadly kidnappers. Okay thriller starts well enough, even though the characters are poorly defined (for these sorts of minimalist exercises in tension, bold and simple strokes work best, and this is a drab, reticent bunch); loses a lot of its cloistered anxiety once new characters start stealing the spotlight and the action moves out of the wilderness and into a small town during a festival. Periodic white-knuckle suspense and the refreshingly indiscriminate dispatching of the “good guys” are outweighed by implausibilities and a cold heart without purpose—hardly anyone reacts when their friends/accomplices start dropping like flies. Well-made on a tight budget; it’s a shame it peaked so early and peters out well before its one-ending-too-many.

51/100