Eden Lake (2008)

I'm not really sure what I can tell you about Eden Lake without some major spoilers, so I'll keep it brief: Eden Lake is an intense, violent, disturbing and mostly well-produced horror film that will stick with you whether you want it to or not. If you haven't seen it and intend to, read no further. Spoilers abound!

Jenny and Steve are a young couple driving through England looking for a nice romantic getaway. We know there's going to be trouble very early on when a radio show discusses child truancy and its consequences. (Why the couple wants to listen to this during a romantic outing, I can't imagine.) Steve knows of a nice, quiet hidden place called Eden Lake and drives there only to find that Eden Lake is soon to become a gated community that will probably force out several of the fairly low-income families already living in the area.

The lake itself is indeed beautiful and Steve and Jenny have it all to themselves until a group of teenagers with a mean dog and a loud radio show up. There's a brief confrontation and the couple decides to leave.

But they come back. Steve is full of indecision, not wanting to stir things up, but also wanting to hang onto the privacy that was his and Jenny's. The kids steal Steve's Jeep, so Steve can't ignore that. He has to get involved. When he discovers the house where the kids hang out, he sneaks in to confront them, but finds himself in way over his head.

This is where both the real drama and the moral dilemmas of Eden Lake really take off. At this point, neither side is in the right; the kids have stolen Steve's car, but Steve has illegally entered someone's home. The stakes are raised even further during a fight between Steve and the kids where the teen leader Brett's dog is killed. Both sides are right and both sides are wrong. Then things begin to go terribly and tragically wrong for both sides.

You could make the case that the kids (apples who don't fall too far from the parents' tree) are simply fighting back against two people who represent the type of people who are ultimately about to remove them from their homes. But it goes far beyond that. Eden Lake shows the lengths that the sadistic Brett will go to, making videos of each of the members torturing Steve, claiming that they're all in this together. Most of the answers come in the last few minutes of the film when we meet the parents, the creators of the true nightmare.

The acting and cinematography are excellent. At first I wanted to know more about the parent/child dynamics, but when the film was over, I realized I probably knew everything I needed to know. I felt manipulated by director James Watkins, especially by some of the implausible deaths, but I must admit Watkins took me out of my comfort zone and gave me a lot to think about.

Eden Lake is filled with graphic violence, much of it inflicted on children. Let me make it clear: children are killed. Horribly. If you've read this far and are looking for a typical horror movie, this isn't it. Don't see this film if you're looking for a happy ending, justice or mercy. You won't find any of it.