The first hour of this movie is brilliant - stunning aerial photography, a well-cast group of actors, and a script that is driven forward by that most essential of ingredients: conflict. I found myself thinking, "This is what I wanted 'The Descent' to be!" But then it all falls apart during the third act as the story leaves the mountains behind and turns into generic action movie #3042.
There is a lot to admire in this; the performances, the camerawork and the director's control over the tension of the action but unfortunately the adrenaline the film oozes does not extend until the ending. Overall, it's a very well made film but the finale lacks a killer instinct and becomes all too obvious.
Just like many superb thrillers coming out of the UK these past few years, "A Lonely Place To Die" is dark, devious, and refreshing. A fresh enough story that takes us through even fresher locations - namely, the gigantic Scottish mountains. The whole thing is rendered even more stressful with the remoteness of the locations, and the evil that just seems to ooze so naturally from the bad guys is icing on the cake.
I came to this movie pretty cold - all I knew in advance was the title and the poster design - and I liked how the movie kept unexpectedly changing gears on me in terms of genre. The element of surprise made for a pleasingly thrilling ride. Not a great movie, but a solid one, backed up by spirited perfomances, splendid cinematography and a really rather terrific soundtrack. Thumbs up!
