Wilderness Reviews

Complete Rubbish

I can't believe I went against the ratings and still rented this movie, I just wish I could give it a lower rating then 1 star.

The problem was I had seen the trailer and thought it looked great, but the acting is no better then you would expect from a daytime soap, and although it looks like a horror, the deaths have about as much realness to them as a old school hammer horror, and also you kind of want them all to die.

My advice is, steer well clear of this film, unless you've run out of drinks coasters.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Low budget british horror,damn good though!

In this movie Scum meets The Dangerous Game,meets turkey shoot.

a bunch of unlikable yobs(except 1 of them) are taken away to a remote island for teambuilding,what they didnt count on was a killer on the island,looking for revenge.

Gory,with some shocks and scares,and with Sugar from Sugar Rush,and the actor who played Anthony from dead mans shoes Toby kebell.

An effective low budget british horror,and damn good though!

Unoriginal

This film started off well enough, with a bunch of young offenders being sent to an uninhabited island as a punishment. Once there they start being stalked and picked off by an unseen killer. The teens are all such obnoxious, vicious little yobos that I didnt care who died first - so long as they all did! The plot borrows heavily from films such as Dog Soldiers, Bay of Blood and... in fact hundreds of other films -but without the fun and originality. Derivative, poorly acted, and uninspired. Poor film, but if you enjoy limp horror films with Sean Pertwee then this is for you

One man's wilderness is another man's theme park

Wilderness is an effective and brutal thriller/horror movie. The premise is straight forward - a group of juvenile offenders and their keeper are sent to a wild desolate island as a sort of punishment. After the first night one of them disappears and the killing begins. It is brutal, violent, fast moving and visceral.

In Wilderness you can expect the usual flawless performance from Sean Pertwee, and Stephen Wight does extremely well (very bright future ahead, me thinks). It is very gritty and the gore is quite spectacular.

Although the film is very entertaining, it does have its shortfalls. There are no real surprises and the fact that one man was 'supervising' half-a-dozen or so violent inmates doesn't quite compute. Although the movie was fairly intense it could, and should have been more so. You can see obvious Dog Soldierisms but fails to compare and the conclusion was a little disappointing.

Overall, I thought 'Wilderness' was generally very good, but it could've been quite a bit better. Glad I've seen it and would recommend anyone that hasn't, to do so.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Gripping and well created lower budget horror

When searching for a gritty and tense action horror you have to search through a fair few American teen slashers before you find anything remotely gripping however taking a look at the more recent English movies can be far more fruitful and this movie is another shining example! Wilderness is your typical English horror; the drama is intoxicating and the action is up front and in your face often using a fly on the wall approach that enhances the realism even with the most elaborate of plots. Wilderness follows the story of a group of teenage delinquents sent by their detention centre to a remote island for a character building exercise following the death of a fellow inmate. The group, compiled mainly of your archetypal unsavoury type, soon realise they are not alone on the island in what is ultimately a gripping and well created lower budget horror. Although the primary plot is simplistic the smaller less noticeable subplots are worth looking out for as you almost enjoy the sorry demise of the young offenders, the character of Calum whose presence in the group is through choice and necessity rather than a lack of morals and so on. Overall I would fully recommend this to most people, in particular to fans of the English horror style and horror fans in general, the pace is quick and the drama entertaining whilst the low budget actually serves the film well as it does in films such as Dead Mans Shoes & Dog Soldiers. A strong 4 stars.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Gripping and well created lower budget horror

When searching for a gritty and tense action horror you have to search through a fair few American teen slashers before you find anything remotely gripping however taking a look at the more recent English movies can be far more fruitful and this movie is another shining example! Wilderness is your typical English horror; the drama is intoxicating and the action is up front and in your face often using a fly on the wall approach that enhances the realism even with the most elaborate of plots. Wilderness follows the story of a group of teenage delinquents sent by their detention centre to a remote island for a character building exercise following the death of a fellow inmate. The group, compiled mainly of your archetypal unsavoury type, soon realise they are not alone on the island in what is ultimately a gripping and well created lower budget horror. Although the primary plot is simplistic the smaller less noticeable subplots are worth looking out for as you almost enjoy the sorry demise of the young offenders, the character of Calum whose presence in the group is through choice and necessity rather than a lack of morals and so on. Overall I would fully recommend this to most people, in particular to fans of the English horror style and horror fans in general, the pace is quick and the drama entertaining whilst the low budget actually serves the film well as it does in films such as Dead Mans Shoes & Dog Soldiers. A strong 4 stars.

fab kebab

Call us uncivilized savages if you must, but who honestly doesn't enjoy raw and barbaric adventure-movies in which the blood and violence literally bursts from the screen? In case you were thrilled by movies like 'Battle Royale', 'Blood Camp Thatcher' or even the more classic milestone 'The Most Dangerous Game', you simply have to see 'Wilderness'; a brand new British survival-horror effort directed by Michael 'Deathwatch' Basset. After the suicide of a fellow inmate, a troop of juvenile delinquents – for whom all hope for rehabilitation was given up long time ago – are sent to a prison island for a severe lesson in elementary life-values. On the island, however, a mad-raving psychopath lies in wait for them and even the innocent guards and some random girls become defenseless targets. Trained and equipped like an experienced hunter, the killer annihilates nearly the whole gang by using deadly booby-traps and ravenous dogs. As you can derive from this brief plot description, originality isn't 'Wilderness' biggest trump and the script doesn't even bother to keep the killer's identity secret for a long time. But seriously, who cares about aspects like these when a film is so adrenalin rushing and blood-soaked? The 'hunting humans'-premise is mixed with the textbook 80's slasher plot of a revenge-seeking killer, but you aren't given a chance to grumble about the banality, as there is gore and excitement everywhere! The island itself is a captivating location, resulting in masterfully choreographed sequences and some utterly imaginative booby-traps. Unlike in his previous film 'Deathwatch', Michael J. Basset definitely doesn't cut back on the blood & gore here, and we're gladdened with close-up shotgun action, amputated body parts, chopped of heads and loads of aggressive dog-action! The character drawings are very well processed and Basset fully uses the nihilistic and totally lackadaisical nature of youthful criminals. These young social outcasts don't care about anyone but themselves and pretty soon there are sub plots involving betrayal, jealousy and cowardly behavior. The sound & visual effects are terrific and Peter Robertson clearly has a talented eye for versatile camera-work. Following films like 'Dog Soldiers', '28 Days Later…' and 'The Descent', this 'Wilderness' is yet another piece of evidence that the British horror industry is working on a remarkable revival nowadays. Highly recommended!

Dead man's shoes / lord of the flies

This is a very good thriller. The plot has many twists and turns and the chracters are well drawn and well acted.

Dead man's shoes has a very very similar theme - revenge. both are gorey but compelling viewing. The actor who played Anthony in Dead mans shoes is also the star of Wilderness.

My only problem is with the motivation of the killer...

AL

Intelligently scarey

Some great acting from Toby Kebbell as a yobbo with hidden depths, and also Sean Pertwee doing his usual gravelly voiced hard man turn. Enjoyably gruesome special effects (especially the trap outside the evil dead type woodside cottage) and realistic scarey dogs. Some of the characters were a bit one dimensional, but this did not stop the film delivering great Friday night entertainment. And there was even time for a bit of sexual chemistry alongside the bloodshed - the main homophobic baddie definitely had the hots for his thuggish sidekick!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Reminds me of dog soldiers

Group of inmates get sent to the middle of nowhere for a team building exersize, they get picked off one at a time in very grisly fashion. Sean Pertwee shines in this as he does in dog soldiers adn event horizen as the prison officer overseeing this group of young offenders.

The thing thats strikes you about this film is how believable the offenders are they are all so horrid you want to see them die. They play thier parts perfect and to the point where you think back to your school days and think i knew a horrible git like him.

The kills with the dogs are very gory, Its pretty obvious who is doing the killing from the outset , This is not as good as dog soldiers but it is bloody good watching all the same!!!!!!!!!