MIFF MOVIE REVIEW: KILLING GROUND



8/10

Young couple goes on a trip to an isolated beach and discover that they are not alone. Someone else had put up a tent there and then abandoned it. As time passes by and the owners of the tent do not return, the newcomers start to suspect the worse. Then all hell breaks loose… 

If you are a horror fan like myself you'd know the premise of KILLING GROUND. It all had been done before. What makes this movie stand out is its extreme realism and "no holds barred" attitude. It is at times a hard, edge of the seat viewing, but a rewarding one in the end. KILLING GROUND shows how good a survival movie could be if it is well scripted, acted and doesn't try to cash in on cheap tricks.

The story moves back and forwards, explaining bit by bit what happened to the first family and adding a sense of danger to the present. The villains are despicable, but down to earth real, which makes them even more terrifying. The performance of Aaron Glenane is particularly good. He gives us a small town psychopath, for whom murder is nothing but a daily routine. 

The film does not shy away from gore moments, but does not glorify them. The pictures our mind can draw are much scarier than what's on screen, and it's what makes KILLING GROUND tick. 

With all its tension KILLING GROUND is a pretty much conventional survival horror film, but there are so few good ones out there. You may complain about its "unoriginality" but it is a horror movie you won't soon forget.

QUICK FACTS

During Q&A director Damien Power said that the inspiration for the film came to him as an image of an abandoned tent and a thought – what the worst could have happened with its owners?

While shooting a film, Damien Power wanted a viewer to feel that "the rule book of horror was thrown out of the window" and that "no one is safe".


KILLING GROUND will go on general release in 2017.

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