A LONELY PLACE TO DIE – Fantastic Fest Review

UPDATE: Sean Harris was awarded Best Actor in a Horror Feature at the Fantastic Fest 2011 Awards for his performance in A LONELY PLACE TO DIE.

A LONELY PLACE TO DIE is an exciting example of how a more direct approach to filmmaking can still be effective, despite the increasing number of stylistic and experimental films (not necessarily a bad thing) flooding the market. Melissa George (30 DAYS OF NIGHT, and TV’s Grey’s Anatomy) plays Alison, on a trek into the Scottish Highlands with four fellow mountain climbers. The story begins as a peaceful nature outing far from civilization and technology, but shifts into a deadly thriller once they discover a little girl named Anna locked away inside a 3×6 buried box at the top of the mountain.

Co-written with Will Gilbey and directed by Julien Gilbey (RISE OF THE FOOT SOLDIER), A LONELY PLACE TO DIE does a fantastic job of introducing the audience to the Scottish Highlands, an geographical locale I don’t believe I’ve ever seen on film in such glory. Beautiful cinematography from Ali Asad and breathtaking aerial photography combined with a great traditionally-influenced score from Michael Richard Plowman give the best of National Geographic a run for its money. Gilbey spares nothing while convincing us that these climbers are for real, as is the danger of climbing.

The relative serenity of the high altitude wilderness is abruptly broken by the mystery of the girl in the box. With our focus entirely shifted, the rugged pristine landscape now serves as an obstacle as Alison and the most seasoned climber Rob (Alec Newman) set out on a treacherous shortcut to reach help as the other three climbers escort Anna along a safer, but lengthier route into the nearest town. Now begins the chase.

In a similar approach to films like HARD TARGET, the antagonist’s of A LONELY PLACE TO DIE are patient, experienced hunters who track the two groups, picking them off, one by one. Discovering the connection of the antagonists to Anna is not a complicated mystery, but who the little girl is becomes a relatively important element latter in the film. At this point, A LONELY PLACE TO DIE has fully transformed into a survival story, but just beneath the genre skin is actually a story about selfless, personal sacrifice in the face of mortal consequences.

The pace of A LONELY PLACE TO DIE increases ten fold once the chase begins, making the better part of the film a slight contradiction to the title, but I interpret the title as a direct reference to the box buried at the top of the mountain. The rather lengthy chase and hunt portion of the film is extremely entertaining, but is not terrible unique on it’s own. This second act of three, however, continues to spiral deeper and darker into the source of all the carnage. By this point, we’ve already bought into the unnamed hunters’ cold, calculated methodology. The Hunters are portrayed with spine-tingling ease by Douglas Russell and Alan Steele, each pursuing their brutality from an equally disturbing but opposite angle.

Opposite our villains, we’re introduced to supplementary heroes led by Darko (Karel Roden). These black ops for hire characters serve a questionably significant role, as they enter into the story at roughly the moment the film begins to lose some of it’s steam. A LONELY PLACE TO DIE is a powerfully demanding thriller steeped in realism, but suffers primarily from one flaw… an uncertainty on when to end the story. Personally, I would have liked to see the film end at what I consider the first stopping point, but I’ll leave this decision for you to discover and decide on your own.

If you’re a fan of thrilling mountaineering dramas like NORTH FACE or documentaries like TOUCHING THE VOID, be sure you take the time to check out A LONELY PLACE TO DIE once it hits US theaters on November 11th, 2011.