Special Features:

• Director’s commentary
• Making of A Lonely Place to Die
• The Challenge of the Alps
• UK Theatrical Trailer

Cast

Melissa George

Ed Speleers

Eamonn Walker

Sean Harris

Alec Newman

Karel Roden

Kate Magowan

Garry Sweeney

Stephen McCole

Paul Anderson

Holly Boyd

Trailer

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A Lonely Place to Die was another of those titles which I watched for review without knowing anything about it except it starred Melissa George, the title sounded promising and it seemed to be about rock climbing/mountaineering, something which has been the topic of some excellent films such as Touching the Void, North Face and Vertical Limit. Despite not being a great fan of Rise of the Footsoldier, Julian Gibley's previous film, I went in with high expectations.

 

Like his other films, Julian Gibley co-wrote this with his brother, Will and, until the end credits rolled and going through the extra features, I was unaware the two were keen rock climbers who were some of the stunt doubles for the climbing scenes, so a degree of this must have come from personal experience and fears.

 

It begins with a group of climbers, Alison, Ed, Rob, Andy and Jenny, who have travelled to the Scottish Highlands for some challenging near-vertical rock faces. In a remote area without any cellular coverage, they are very much alone but, having been in similar situations before and with Ed and Alison wanting to move on from here and take on the north face of the Eiger, Andy and Jenny are reassured by the presence of the two more experienced climbers who worked out the best place to climb, the best way to get there and the route back to their cottage.

 

On the initial climb, Ed loses his footing and slips but, thanks to the ropes and secure anchoring, no harm is done and the four make it to the top successfully and interact. Taking a breather before moving on, Ed needs to relieve himself and, when looking for a nearby tree, hears and indistinct voice from somewhere. After persuading his friends it isn't a prank, they join him and trace the source to a metal pipe protruding from the grass. Digging around, they find a hatch which opens to reveal an underground plywood chamber where a young girl has been imprisoned for some time. Animalistic at first, she begins to bond with Jenny. As the girl, who they discover is called Anna, doesn't speak a word of English and Ed, who recognises her accent due to a tempestuous relationship with a former girlfriend, reckons is from Croatia (he only knows 'how to score a threesome' in Croatian), they think she's been kidnapped and put their, decide to take her with them and take her to the authorities.

 

However, this journey won't be easy as the two kidnappers turn up and, after despatching with two hunters, go after the group with high velocity rifles wanting to get the girl back and get rid of the witnesses. Splitting up, with Andy and Jenny taking Anna the long way round whilst Ed and Alison take the more direct route, which involves abseiling down a huge cliff face, so they can call Mountain Rescue and have the others picked up by helicopter, trouble begins almost instantly during the abseil.

 

On the run from two ruthless killers, the group (whose numbers dwindle during the ordeal) do everything they can to live and keep Anna alive and away from her captors, dodging gunfire and navigating the difficult terrain along the way. Meanwhile, a mysterious care with three men of unknown origin and motive, one of whom, Darko, has an Eastern European accent, is being driven around with one of the men preparing a briefcase full of €500 notes (the preferred currency of the criminal underworld) with a tracking device.

 

A Lonely Place to Die could have been a straightforward film about a rock climbing expedition going very wrong but, as that has been done before, something else is needed. Therefore, the change in direction when the group find a young Eastern European girl buried and apparently kidnapped takes the film in another direction, especially when the kidnappers want the girl back and will stop at nothing to retrieve her. There are several scenes with nailbiting tension, linked together in a way so there is a 15-20 minute section where it's almost impossible to look away and your pulse and respiratory rates will probably be affected!

 

This level of suspense and terror isn't maintained as the film progresses into intrigue, with the survivors not knowing who they can trust and where to go, especially when the local town is in the middle of a carnival with fireworks, masked performers and fire eaters. Even though the pace drops, you're never quite sure which way events will go and, even though genre rules apply throughout and no single plot twist caught me unawares, I was often guessing as to what would happen next.

 

Melissa George is, thanks to her performances in films like Triangle, Paradise Lost and 30 Days of Night, the most recognisable actor on show and seems to be establishing herself as a reliable genre figure. Kate Magowan, who I recognised from Stardust, is very good as Jenny and, as the two kidnappers, Sean Harris (Creep, Outlaw, Harry Brown) has a perfect face for the role and Stephen McCole, who I last saw in Crying with Laughter, has the perfect build and demeanour for his character. Karel Roden is always a reliable screen presence and his portrayal of the mysterious Darko is suitably powerful and ambiguous.

 

Julian Gilbey hasn't made a genre classic but, with a standout central performance by Melissa George and periods of outright terror and unbelievable tension, the film is solid and extremely watchable, moreso if you haven't seen enough thrillers to know the 'rules' and the way in which such films generally play out. As I said, I wasn't surprised by the plot developments, but watched it with someone who isn't accustomed to highly placed thrillers and she was shocked and taken aback but, after some deliberation, thought it was brilliant. It is a film I liked very much and plan to watch several more times in the near future.

The Disc

Extra Features

The commentary by Julian and Will Gilbey is an informative and well delivered track, with the two talking about casting, the locations and how the stunts were undertaken, with them doing some of the climbing stunts and using their own footage in the film.

 

The Making of A Lonely Place to Die (1:10:00, SD) takes you through pre-production, production and post-production, beginning with Julian and Will Gilbey saying where the idea came from, how it was developed into a full screenplay and their scouting around Snowdonia, Ben Nevis and other mountainous regions in the UK. This has footage from them abseiling and rock climbing and from the film to show how their scouting footage is similar to that in the finished film. It then goes on to casting, with more from the Gilbey brothers and actors such as Melissa George, Ed Speleers Kate Magowan, Stephen McCole and Gary Sweeney, who thankfully don't just give 'puff piece'/EPK soundbites, but genuinely interesting material.

 

The making of thing goes on to show how the stunts were done, with people jumping off cliffs onto piles of cardboard boxes, to the location shooting where the actors climb, abseil and swim in the river, not to mention dealing with the huge numbers of midges and ticks, one of which gave Will Gilbey Lyme disease! It finishes with a look at the weaponry, the nighttime parade, a look at Julian Gilbey as a director, with the cast (and Will, who was the second unit director as well as co-writer and editor) talking about what it was like working with him, before finishing with a look the underwater shooting and the visual effects work.

 

The Challenge of The Alps (16:53, SD) charts Julian Gilbey's challenge to climb three huge peaks in the Swiss and Italian Alps, all about 4000 meters (13,000 feet) high, including the Matterhorn and the Eiger. It is well narrated by Gilbey and footage from the camera on his helmet is quite spectacular. He did this to raise funds for Cancer Research UK and there is a link at the end to donate.

 

UK Theatrical Trailer (1:52, HD)

The Picture

Shot with HD cameras and encoded in MPEG-4 AVC 1080p, the visuals are consistently impressive, with taut editing ensuring the pacing is appropriate to each scene and never drops to a point where the film drags.

 

The location shooting in Scotland pays dividends as the scenery, with snow capped mountains, spectacular vistas and wooded areas with nearby rivers and waterfalls really add to the opening section. The colours are extremely well presented: solid, vibrant and realistic, with naturalistic skin tones. When it comes to bloodshed, digital effects are used sparingly and the SFX make-up and sound effects make some of the injuries all the more effective.

 

I had no idea there was any VFX work done in post-production until I watched the making of and I'm constantly amazed by the digital effects which just blend in flawlessly to the point where you don't notice them – always a good sign. These effects really add to the viewing experience and, I didn't know otherwise, I would have thought everything in the film was 'in camera'.

The Sound

You have the choice of DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or LPCM 2.0 stereo and, considering the number of scenes with wind blowing around, gunfire and other effects, the frontloaded nature of the 5.1 track is surprising, with the rear surrounds employed less than I expected. However, the subwoofer is used frequently when you select the 5.1 surround track and adds a great deal to the action sequences.

 

Both audio tracks do a great job with clear dialogue and atmospherics coming through the front surrounds without any distortion or dropouts. The LPCM stereo track just about has the has the edge in terms of clarity, but doesn't have the resonance of the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, so both have their positives and I'd have difficulty choosing which one to go with for my next viewing – a good dilemma.

 

The sound mixing, effects and score are all excellent, making the climbing sequences and those in which the group are chased by the gun-toting kidnappers all the more effective. The music, by Michael Richard Plowman, always suits the scene in which it appears and can be subtle or loud depending on the visuals, always complementing the on-screen action and generally ensuring the action has as much impact as possible.

 

There is a very good (LPCM stereo)  audio descriptive track and well written, faithfully translated and clear English HoH subtitles available to cater for visually impaired viewers and those who are hard of hearing.

Final Thoughts

A Lonely Place to Die is an extremely impressive piece of filmmaking which, in just about every scene, belies its small (£4 million) budget, looking like a film made with nearly ten times that. With Melissa George sending in yet another memorable performance as the strong protagonist, her reputation as a skilled film actress continues to grow and Home and Away seems further away than ever!

 

With superlative picture quality and good, but not great, sound, this is a nerve wracking thriller and a fine cinematic experience. Although the extra features menu may not look like much, the 70 minute making of provides a huge amount of information about the shoot from beginning to end, much more comprehensive than your average featurette and the director's commentary is also revealing.

 

All in all, this is a disc which you should (at the very least) rent or buy 'blind'. You'll find yourself watching it more than once, especially after watching the making of and listening to the commentary.