Clever storytelling and that final sequence brings it full circle. This film is a social commentary on the importance of parenting, and the state of youth violence in the UK, and other parts of the modern world.
You know the difference between your argument and all the people criticizing the film on this board?
Yours actually sounds intelligent. Like you've actually thought about it.
Everyone else is saying the same crap about it all being oh so horrible with the characters doing stupid things. As if they'd be able to keep a perfectly clear head in such a frantic, terrifying situation and do exactly the right thing to render everything hunky dory.
But what I suspect one of the main issues is, is that most people on this board are American. And Americans have absolutely no idea about chav culture. It's a very British thing. They don't realise how completely unpredictable, unreasonable and animalistic chavs can be. And that these people actually exist in this country. So it doesn't really scare them in the same way. They don't get it.
Using chavs as the 'monsters' of this horror film was a masterstroke because we identify with this fear in the UK. We encounter them daily. And the film is about the clash of cultures.
I mean, if i go to a beach somewhere and kids are playing loud music, i would just relocate.
This qoute I think is a perfect example of how they just can't identify. If the couple had moved, that could have goaded the chavs into screwing with them more. There is no sensible reaction.
It's this the film captured so well, as well as the fact that it is absolutely unrelenting without being afraid of being downright nasty, dirty and raw. All the things this sort of horror film needs to be, rather than all the sanitized CGI drivel so many people are used to these days. I guess it's no wonder so many people find it repulsive.
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himiyio
7 years ago
Hey there, thanks for your reply.
Actually "chav" was a word I was trying my best not to use (haha!), but having lived/studied in an English town 1 hr outside of London, there were moments where these small gangs gave us a bit to worry about. They hang out in packs, just like in the film and while some are of school-going age, they seem to be hanging out with older youths as well. Our student housing compound is fenced, with a security guardpost every mile or so. I wondered if it was excessive until we heard some houses were broken into, or used as a party/binge drinking space. There were about 2 cases of rape, committed by non-students as well.
I suppose the locals were not open to the idea that their town's university had attracted so many people and diversity. So that definitely put a separation between the locals and the students/faculty members. I recall an incident where we were told by a mother (with 2 small kids) to "Go home, foreigners!" on the way to the supermarket. The kids (prob age 7 to 10) stuck out their tongues, gave middle fingers.
It rings so true that when watching this film, it gave me chills. I believe it all simmers under a thin skin of civility, and just out of instinct, i remember very clearly to always be extra polite and never speak in our mother language, for fear of upsetting someone unintentionally.
This was around 2009-2010, so not sure if things have improved since then!
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JustinJackFlash
7 years ago
Actually "chav" was a word I was trying my best not to use (haha!),
Haha, sorry, dude. Well, it's out now.
I suppose the locals were not open to the idea that their town's university had attracted so many people and diversity. So that definitely put a separation between the locals and the students/faculty members. I recall an incident where we were told by a mother (with 2 small kids) to "Go home, foreigners!" on the way to the supermarket. The kids (prob age 7 to 10) stuck out their tongues, gave middle fingers.
That's terrible. I'm ashamed of my country sometimes.
It all stems from upbringing and peer pressure. That kind of hate and prejudice is all they know. And they genuinely believe everyone else thinks exactly the same as them and acts exactly the same. They don't understand that most other people think and act logically and civilly. Which is why in the film they get so aggressive. They don't understand why the couple are speaking and acting in a totally different way to them. And the only one of the gang that wants to kill the couple peer pressures the others into it.
There were a lot of other films at the time that dealt with exactly the same scenario such as 'Them' and 'The Strangers'. But Eden Lake was the only one that got to me because I immediately recognized it. It's fear was real. And I think that's what makes the best horrors.
It rings so true that when watching this film, it gave me chills. I believe it all simmers under a thin skin of civility, and just out of instinct,
Yeah, which is why I don't think you can really get this film unless you have experienced it. And yeah, it's instinct because it's all they see and hear from the moment they are born. They also do it because they don't want to look bad in front of their friends, who would probably beat them up if they didn't.
i remember very clearly to always be extra polite and never speak in our mother language, for fear of upsetting someone unintentionally.
It really sucks that you should have to act that way.
This was around 2009-2010, so not sure if things have improved since then!
Alas, it's unlikely. After the whole Brexit crap hate crime has gone up a fair bit. Or so I hear.
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