The “you should have never been there in the first place” school of horror goes something like this:  Happy young couple or solitary traveler goes for vacation in some remote part of the countryside, usually rural America or in the smaller villages of Europe, and runs afoul of the locals who make it a point to punish the interloper(s) for their trespass.  The same themes are explored in such varying films as Deliverance, Straw Dogs, Calvaire and The Wicker Man (the good one with Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee).  Eden Lake, a recent entry into the Dimension Extreme brand of films, falls into the familiar territory of this xenophobic horror film.

Jenny and Steve (Kelly Reilly and Michael Fassbender) are on their way to a weekend holiday, leaving behind them the day-to-day woes and escaping to the country.  Steve promises Jenny a wonderful weekend at a quarry, and his promises are not in vain.  He has brought Jenny to Eden Lake, a beautiful patch of land surrounding the titular body of water, but the signs and construction site portend upcoming development of the area – 50 executive homes, to be exact.  And the spray painted message to the developers on the back of the sign advertising the development is none too welcoming, either.

As Steve and Jenny relax on the sliver of beach bordering the lake, the first stirrings of trouble begin as they see a young buy harassed by a rough group of young punks, led by the foul-mouthed and quick-tempered Brett (Jack O’Connell).  Steve lets the behavior slide, postulating that “boys will be boys”.   When the diminutive gang, none of them older than sixteen by appearances, disturbs the couple with blaring music and raucous behavior, Steve asks them to turn down the music.  He is quickly rebuffed and sent back to Jenny.

Things escalate when the kids steal the couple’s car and take it for a joyride.  When Steve confronts the kids around their campfire, a struggle ensues, a knife appears, and a beloved pet ends up dead.  Steve’s accidental murder of the pet sets in motion a series of vengeful acts by the kids, leaving Jenny on her own and Steve bound by barbed wire as the kids take turns cutting into him with knives and boxcutters.  The film quickly becomes a struggle for Jenny to stay alive as she is pursued by teens who are determined that both she and Steve never leave Eden Lake alive.  

Writer and director James Watkins made his directorial debut with this film, and has written the script for The Descent 2, as well as serving as second unit director on that

The problem with Eden Lake is that it tackles familiar subject matter, i.e. the strangers in a strange and very dangerous land, and adds the wrinkle of having children as the antagonists, but otherwise it treads trodden trails.  Not that that is necessarily a bad thing.  Watkins populates his film with some tense scenes and nasty surprises, especially in the last reel, and there are some nice moments between Jenny and Michael which serve to make these people more real than cookie-cutter heroes in many horror films.  

I like Watkins’ sure sense of where he was going with this film, although some early notes fall flat

violence and territoriality despite age as suggested by Michael’s early reaction to the kids, but this falls by the wayside as the film embraces its role as a chase film, albeit a brutal one.  If violence directed towards children disturbs you, and it should, be warned that there are scenes of that nature here, although, between you and me, those kids were asking for it.  Eden Lake serves as a competent scare film that is better than average on most counts, and serves up its premise well.  You can do a lot worse than a visit to Eden Lake, just watch out for the locals.

that “boys will be boys”.   When the diminutive gang, none of them older than sixteen by appearances, disturbs the couple with blaring music and raucous behavior, Steve asks them to turn down the music.  He is quickly rebuffed and sent back to Jenny.

I like Watkins’ sure sense of where he was going with this film, although some early notes fall flat later, especially the suggestion of male violence and territoriality despite age as suggested by