WILDERNESS

"I thought this island was supposed to be deserted"

When a group of young offenders are taken to military boot camp on a remote and uninhabited island, they are just glad to be out of prison for a while. When one of them disappears, Jed (Pertwee) the only prison officer with the group gathers together a search party only to discover a severed arm and a body that looks like it has been attacked by animals. As they head to camp they realise they are been followed, not by the animals that attacked the body but a man.

With British horror movies enjoying a resurgence, can 'Wilderness' enjoy the same success as hits like 'Dog Soldiers', 'Severance' and 'The Descent'?

With Hollywood relying on remakes of classics and sequels and Asian cinema becoming very samey as of late, the British film industry is returning horror to its low budget, creative roots. Mimicking what happening in the US in the 1970s, horror is returning to its roots. With gore and blood by the bucket load, British horror is remembering what made the genre so inventive during the 70s, story. Moving away from the usual conventions that Hollywood continues to stick with, British creative teams have injected comedy and character development into the mix.

After making a slight impact with World War One trench horror 'Deathwatch', Michael J. Bassett returns to the horror genre and makes a little more of an impact than he did with his first out. Leaving the supernatural behind, Bassett and his creative team follow the Hollywood conventions by putting teenagers in harms way on a deserted island but instead of them been high school students they are young offenders. Again they are been stalked by a crazed killer but instead of him just a crazed murderer, he is a trained special forces killer who uses attack dogs, crossbows and booby traps to slaughter his victims. This is a creative take on a genre approach that Hollywood has flogged to death over the years.

Bringing the gore and escapism to the screen is a talented young cast of up and coming British actors and actresses. Richie Campell, Lenora Crichlow, Adam Deacon, Karly Greene, Toby Kebbell and Luke Neal bring the young prisoners to life and approach their roles with honesty and passion. With none of them clambering for attention and none of them are star names, so this makes for a ensemble feel to the group and they play off each other, as they need to do for the characters and the story. There is also good support from Alex Reid and British horror veteran Sean Pertwee.

'Wilderness' shows again that the British horror movie is capturing the independent feel and spirit that was so abundant in Hollywood during the 70s and early 80s. While the story might not be the most original, it is a creative take on the premise, which is made all the more better by the performances of the talented young cast. With enough blood and gore to bring in the horror fans, this is a movie that might not live with you for a very long time but it will provide enough scares to keep on the edge of your seat until the final scene.