MovieChat Forums > Eden Lake (2008) Discussion > Nihilistic sadism for the sake of it?

Nihilistic sadism for the sake of it?

posted 9 years ago by TheSouthernDandy
13 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone actually feel better after watching this movie? When I got to the end of it I was just left thinking "that's how you want to end this.. then thanks for nothing, movie." I'm not saying its a bad movie or the heroes should always survive. In The Vanishing for instance there's a purpose to the death of the main character that serves the plot and the character. Here they actually bent the plot in absurd and implausible ways for an end that I can only describe as meaninglessness and despair. It seems to me like cheating the audience. Besides which aren't people afraid and miserable enough as it is?

[–] zilla7777 9 years ago

I thought the ending was appropriate to the story....not all of us get a happy ending.

[–] trombleykyle 9 years ago

Around when this film was made, there was A slew of horror/thrillers that came out, that had the anti-climatic endings. Ils, Martyrs, Inside, Them, just to name A few. With how this film played out, the ending I thought was perfect. Not only did it show Sadistic kids, it showed parents protecting their young. There was absolutely no winners in this film, and that's exactly what they were going for. I wish more movies ended this way

[–] FlyingSaucersAreReal 9 years ago

What's so implausible about the ending? That they ran into relatives of the kids? It's a pretty small village. Not that unlikely at all.

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[–] ian-1355 8 years ago

Because there's not just their deaths. There's the Asian, the girl, the other lad or are yo saying all their friends and family will say it doesn't matter. Just not believable or realistic.

[–] lettyatuni 8 years ago

Because there's not just their deaths. There's the Asian, the girl, the other lad or are yo saying all their friends and family will say it doesn't matter. Just not believable or realistic.

Brett and the black kid (who was pretty sadistic too) were the only survivors from the group of kids, and so probably had only told their version of events down the phone. I reckon the other parents didn't even know about their own kids at that point.

[–] FreddyVoorheesTheThird (3) 7 years ago

The older blonde kid survived too - he was relatively reluctant at first, but came round to Brett's way of thinking eventually.

[–] amusmeci 8 years ago

Ok, what would be harder for writer? A comeuppance for the killer? Or that *beep* ending the audience received? Its rape & revenge 101, cant be easier! What about all the loose ends that were left? And with *beep* stupid lady endings *beep* these you begin to question a lot of incongruences in the movie, all those crappy non sense things that could be happily overlook if the end was smarter.

[–] GeneticSugarKane 8 years ago

I like some Horror films to have happier, life affirming endings, and I like others to have bleak, nihilistic endings. Having a mix out there keeps the viewer guessing. If they all ended in similar ways, watching Horror films truly would be pointless.

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[–] Irmgaal 8 years ago

When has the point of horror movies ever been to make people feel better?

[–] Jehosaphet (1055) 6 years ago

Just got finished watching the movie and that's my thoughts exactly. Nope, I don't think horror films are supposed to make you happy, I don't expect movies to do much more than entertain...and this movie did that, but it was a punishing watch. It punished the viewer, punished some more...and then with no payoff, just the final whiz bang punishment, it really left me to the debate in my head about whether or not movies should offer some kind of redemption at the end.

The reply to your comment about 'when have horror movies ever made you feel better', and another one about the realism...I'm not sure that addresses the main issue. As objectively as I can state here, it seems like leaving loose ends at the end of the movie like this means an inherent feeling of dissatisfaction from the viewer once its over. All the punishment the characters received during the film, we sat through that because surely it was going to pay off, and then it didn't, there was just a final bit of punishment.

Whether or not you feel better after watching a horror movie, you generally feel satisfied once the movie has ended, its been wrapped up, vengeance was dealt, the bad guy got his comeuppance. Usually, anyway. The alternative is to pile bleak on top of bleak, with no resolution, no payoff...and in a movie with this kind of intimacy between the audience and the protagonists, and the resulting empathy we have for them, that lack of resolution just leave us with a feeling of loss, which is just no way to end a movie, IMO.
I think I've concluded that happy endings are cliche for a reason...because the alternative doesn't amount to satisfactory entertainment IMO.

[–] bigbadwolf666 (4707) 6 years ago

Thats not true. I can list a whole list of feel good horror films or horror films well done. People who work on crap like this and watch are sick.

For example the first halloween is a true masterpiece and you can feel scared and good at the end without the necessity of nasty grotesqueness. Slashing and violence is okay but when you get kids, dogs, realistic rapes, demanted people succeeding I dont see the fun in that.

[–] Nicko's Nose (1651) 6 years ago

Only a complete and utter moron could possibly think anyone is sick for watching A GODDAMN MOVIE.

“I don’t see the fun in that”

It’s not supposed to be fun, Dumbo, it’s supposed to be disturbing and depressing. It’s supposed to be HORRific, that’s why it’s called HORROR.

[–] Strazdas (2328) 4 years ago

Have you seen "Salo"? Try talking about that movie in movie buff circles and youll realize how many "utter morons" there are.

Also if you want to be edgelord baiter you can also mention a movie called "warning: pedofile released". Theres a reason that movie was pulled from the shelves.