Wilderness (2006)

Juvenile delinquents are sent to a small British island after a fellow prisoner's death, where they have to fight for survival.

Director:

M.J. Bassett (as Michael J. Bassett)

Writer:

Dario Poloni

Stars:

Sean Pertwee, Alex Reid, Toby Kebbell

Cast

Cast overview:
Sean Pertwee	...	Jed
Alex Reid	...	Louise
Toby Kebbell	...	Callum
Stephen Wight	...	Steve
Luke Neal	...	Lewis
Ben McKay	...	Lindsay
Lenora Crichlow	...	Mandy
Karly Greene	...	Jo
Adam Deacon	...	Blue
Richie Campbell	...	Jethro
Stephen Don	...	Dave's Father
John Travers	...	Dave
George Shane	...	Governor
Gordon Fulton	...	Boat's Captain
John Rea	...	Counsellor John

Storyline

In a juvenile detention center, inmate Dave commits suicide after being abused with his friend Lindsay by sociopaths Steve and Lewis under the indifference of the other cellmates. The governor sends them to an uninhabited island to improve their relationships and characters under the command of tough monitor Jed. They meet a camp of female delinquents under the command of veteran soldier Louise and they camp in another area. However, when they are attacked by a pack of dogs and a mysterious man with a crossbow wearing camouflage, they join forces fighting to survive, under the leadership of Callum.

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Plot Keywords:

island | survival | bully | juvenile detention | prisoner | 

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Taglines:

It's not about revenge. It's about punishment.

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and gore, language and a scene of sexuality

Did You Know?

Goofs

Louise talks about serving in the 7th Armoured Division in Basrah, Iraq. The 7th Armoured Division was disbanded after the second world war thus making it impossible for her to have served within this division.

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Alternate Versions

The distributor had requested the film be considered for a '15' when it was seen by the BBFC in the UK, but the language in the film was considered too strong for '15'. The distributor chose to reduce the very strong language in the film's final edit, leaving a single use of 'c**t' where there had originally been four uses.

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Connections

References Battle Royale (2000)

User Reviews

A horror movie where most of the characters are villains

I had a bad feeling about this movie during the first minutes, even though I had read the plot before. It seemed like a gloomy drama about the life of a bunch of young prisoners, that would end up having almost no room for horror whatsoever. I feared that "Wilderness" would turn out to be one of those films that frantically try to give a lesson about life or something like that. Appealing as that may sound, it didn't look much like a horror movie to me at first and I was very close to leave it unfinished during the first minutes. Fortunately, I was patient enough to realize that I had a pleasant surprise ahead of me, when all of a sudden, the locations changed and the circumstances became far more dangerous than they are inside a prison. So for those of you who think this is probably a movie with a profound message and a big amount of drama, sorry to disappoint you, but this is more than anything a flick meant to be enjoyed by gore lovers.

In "Wilderness", a bunch of violent prisoners are sent to an isolated island, after one of the interns commit suicide. It appears that the young cell-mate, whose name was David, felt forced to take his own life, due to the constant, aggressive harassment that he used to suffer from his fellow inmates. The idea for the educational little trip, is to build some self-respect and learn a few things about the values of life, with the object of achieving a better relationship with the others. However, these nasty young rascals won't hesitate to show their true colors as soon as they disembark and they even have the pleasure of coming across a bunch of pretty female convicts from a different group. The whole point of the trip gets quickly forgotten, but a new lesson regarding survival is what the inmates are forced to learn, when the figure of a mysterious hunter appears out of nowhere and starts to chase them for no evident reason.

Essentially, "Wilderness" is a movie that is probably not meant to be taken very seriously. It is on the whole an entertaining gore fest with some of the most enjoyable and brutal scenes that can be compared to "Battle Royale", "Wrong Turn", "Friday the 13th" and "Il Camping del Terrore" by Ruggero Deodato (although many people would probably disagree with that). Nevertheless, in the end, it manages to achieve its own dazzling and yet simple denouement, where the mysterious surroundings is revealed in a very simplistic and crude way. The filming location is pretty much one of the highest points of the film. The idea of a killer running wild in an isolated island full of enormous trees and bushes, pretty much creates this unsettling atmosphere of being actually locked up, and the characters somehow appear in real danger for the first time. This is rather ironic, considering that the film takes place in jail during the first minutes. With nothing else to add, I highly recommend this film to anyone who is in the mood for amputation, narrows, bear-traps, fire and wild dogs on the loose.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 August 2006 (UK)

Also Known As:

Wilderness

Box Office

Budget:

GBP3,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$566,098

Company Credits

Production Co:

Momentum Pictures, Baker Street, Ecosse Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1