A Real Treat - a solid action filled 90 minutes! Well done! p.s. There's blood - Olympic swimming pools full of it!

Rating: 7/10 (22 April 2013)

I'd say 7.5 out of ten - and rate this film for viewing.
Initially; fans of the pure cult 1981 low budget classic will notice that the story has changed, a little. The fragmented and often annoying play at gluing the original narrative of the earlier cult flicks is thrown out. We have stability.
Mia (Jane Levy) and David (Shiloh Fernandez) are retreating to a remote Cabin with three of her - and David's old friends. To pull Mia out of addiction and force her to cold turkey her way to a Sober life. However; when things start to get eerie and Mia is thought to be hallucinating - the Demons are granted growth and time to manoeuvre their way one by one through the gang (as we predict).
The 'book of the dead' - again, becomes a great tool and narrative aid in forwarding and handing the audience some insight into whats coming next - and often bracing us for the pure gore that follows. Something which i greatly appreciated - reading some reviews that boar negativity and blight the realism; they should have watched. The gore and range of tools used to dismember and maim our unlucky friends is imaginative; beautifully real and offers something most of Hollywood flicks can't grasp - actual fear and no CGI!
Fantastic - legendary 'tree scene' - chainsaw, pliers, machete, electric meat slicer, broken glass, a nail gun, shotgun, boiling water, broken porcelain! Imagination we have - gore we have, narrative we have, decent acting we have - direction we have - Alvarez we Have!
References and minor lines used within the picture take us back to our original love - but as we are torn through the story and ultimate countdown; i loved my predictions being wrong. No time is wasted or unpacked with action - no kitchen utensil unused.
As for the negative feedback; i do understand - no person with an I.Q over ten would have stayed more than three minutes in that cabin (but then where would the fun be in that?) Our characters grow and true colours shine, and not without some very well-done dismemberment and tactful scheming.
What id say, do your research on this one - i was pleasantly surprised and hesitant going in; but i loved it. Well worth the ticket fare and maybe something to look out for on Blu Ray - i'd heart to see some extras.
A seventy day and night shoot is extremely impressive; no CGI and realism is superb - Alvarez deploys some very vintage wizardry tricks and camera work to make the audience cringe for more! He is a born tactician. If your not all too squeamish - and want to see a 'real' horror that wasn't scripted and shot in less than three days i'd say give it a go.
Left satisfied, bloody - surprised and wanting more - bravo! It took ten seconds of the picture for me to turn to my friend saying - 'well it's already better than insidious' - 7.5/10 - a big thumbs up from me.
If your unsure upon feedback given for this picture, swings and roundabouts leave you feeling attacked with folly - or any movie - go and see it yourself - this time; it pays off! Smiles against many recent releases with poor script + narrative substance; too much money and CGI! Brilliant.
2013 has seen its first taste of a solid horror thriller - and particularly a Solid rounded feature over-all.
Any comments please feel free - thank you - karl-meister.