Review - Wilderness.

Directed By - Michael J Bassett
Starring - Sean Pertwee, Alex Reid, Toby Kebbell, Stephen Wight.

A juvinile prison guard takes several of his young inmates to a deserted island where they find themselves hunted by a man with a crossbow and his pack of blood thirst dogs.

Another film I stumbled upon quite a while ago on netflix. I seen it was British and starred a few actors and actresses I knew so gave it a whirl. It opens to a young prisoner being beaten by his fellow inmates. The first scenes display a campaign of bullying against the young man, Davie and his only friend inside, Lesley until Davie finally cracks and is found dead by the newest inmate, Callum (Kebbell). After Davies father visits the prison the governor demands the senior warden (Pertwee) takes them to "the island". At the island they seem to bond, or not so much at camp before they find a group of female inmates and their warden (Reid). When Callum finds a homeless man dead and rather torn up he is accused of the murder before the group are attacked by a mystery man with a cross bow and several nasty dogs under his command.

This isn't a complex film. No twists for you to see coming or complicated story lines. Simply just twisted justice and lots of killing! There are some great kills, a man is eaten alive by dogs, a girl hung from a tree and set alight by a cool booby trap. You can completely switch off and enjoy this film for what it is. Some people might find it a bit cliche, and honestly, sometimes it is. Despite that, it's a good time. Character development is there, but there is little of it but it doesn't feel like you're missing out on anything. You know who you want to feel sorry for and you know the ones who deserve their fate.

Cinematography wise, its basic but effective. A nice bloody POV shot of the dogs ripping into someone is the highlight for me. Lots of long shots show off the idyllic scenery.

In short, Wilderness is a fun flick that can be enjoyed without thinking too hard. A nice refresher for me personally given the subject matters of other films I've been watching lately. I really enjoyed this film, it's not without its flaws. Some parts are a bit hammy and could have been written better and sometimes it does get a bit cliche. However, I still felt it worthy of a buy and now sits on my shelf.

My rating. 
 7/10