Petrifying stuff

Rating: 9/10 (11 March 2006)

I was really looking forward to this after seeing director Alexandre Aja's 'Switchblade Romance' (or 'High Tension' as it is also called) last year, which was one of the best horror films i've seen, so if he did half as good a job here then it would still be worth seeing.
Being a big fan of horror i stand by the principle that there isn't a horror film out there thats too scary. I still believe it but i fail to see how they can get much more scary than this.
It starts off quite slow, which will be obvious to everyone, but this allows us the rare interaction we want with the characters that we grow to like. The victims are not stupid teens or just any random people just so they can be horror victims. They are a "normal" down to earth, stereotypical family that we care about, which does work well.
Much like 'Wrong Turn' the villains also have their own personalities and qualities that we , sort of, reflect on, and again it works.
There is not much originality in this film as far as the gore and violence goes but when it hits you, it hits you and you know it. There is lots of blood and graphic gore continuously through the second half of the film and, by this point, the tension has been built up really well ready for the big scares.
One thing that really did surprise me was that the ending had a really emotional touch, that i wont say any more on but i found it a really good and clever idea that did work, at least for me anyway.
Ultimately i really enjoyed it, in fact i thought it was petrifying stuff that i don't recommend you see, i insist you see. Brilliant Horror.