Vertige (2009)

Director:

Abel Ferry

Writers:

Johanne Bernard (written by)
Louis-Paul Desanges (written by)

Release Date:

24 June 2009 (France)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Plot:

A group of friends on vacation decide to venture onto a trail high up in the mountains that has been closed for repairs...

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title

Cast

Justin Blanckaert	...	Anton
Nicolas Giraud	...	Fred
Raphaël Lenglet	...	Guillaume
Johan Libéreau	...	Loïc
Fanny Valette	...	Chloé
Maud Wyler	...	Karine

Also Known As:

Ferrata (France) (working title)
High Lane (International: English title)

Runtime:

France:90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

South Korea:18

Company:

Sombrero Productions

Enjoyable!

Another reviewer compared Vertige to Deliverance but nothing could be further from the truth. Deliverance is a dark drama reflecting on civilization and nature.

Vertige is a more conventional action horror movie that has more in common with The Hills Have Eyes, Wrong Turn and The Descent. Like the latter, Vertige is divided roughly in two parts. In the first part, we are introduced to a group of young, outdoor-loving people following a challenging mountain trail. This is where we as the viewers are introduced to this group's different character dynamics and relationships. Many scenes in the first half are rather interesting, sometimes thrilling and even downright spectacular. It's no stretch to say the film truly earned its title (Vertige, vertigo) here. All the tension is created by the various passive obstacles our group face, much like the Descent.

In the second half, things turn for the worse. As the threat takes the form of an intelligent, active villain hunting down the group, trying to pick them apart. Unfortunately, this villain is rather weakly sketched and poorly played. It also seems like the producers ran out of budget. Where the climbing scenes were breathtaking in the first part, the fight scenes and chasing in the last part are uninspired and bland.

I kept expecting all the challenging background in the first hour to resurface one way or another in the latter stage of the movie but it never happened. You're just left with an almost standard slasher movie. A poor take on Chainsaw Massacre and so on...

I'm giving this movie a 5 because it has an interesting premise and some great early scenes but the rest really disappoints. If you're a big fan of the movies I mentioned above, this might be worth a rental. If you hate that kind of stuff, you might be better off passing on this.

PS: In the genres listed, horror should definitely be added as it has all the tropes found in stuff like Wrong Turn, Chainsaw Masssacre, etc...