EDEN LAKE is another in the recent wake of 'survival horror' movies yet it's nowhere near as good as something like WILDERNESS. That's because the director is so obsessed with conveying a moral message he messes up the film itself, leaving it a suspense-free outing that provides a timely reminder of the horrors of youth culture but doesn't really work as an engaging horror movie. In terms of the morality and the message it conveys I enjoyed it; taboo topics such as knife crime, racism, peer group pressure, gang culture, the murder of innocents, and class divide are scrutinised and it makes for very interesting, if harrowing, viewing. Take the twist ending, for instance, which is horrifying in itself and almost unwatchable, reducing humans to the level of animals.

In terms of being a horror film or a thriller, it seems pretty redundant. We've had the 'heroine battling brutes in the woods' theme done to death, and better, in the likes of SEVEREANCE and there's nothing new here. Scenes like the foot impalement are just there for the gross-out pain factor and don't further the plot in any way. There are some stand-out moments – the bit with the Pakistani boy outdoes HOSTEL PART II in terms of sheer outrageousness – and Thomas Turgoose's scene is one of the most harrowing ever. But for the most part this is par for the course, with stupid characters acting unbelievably – 300's Michael Fassbender is stuck with the thankless role of idiotic male lead and wanders around a stranger's house at one moment – and some singularly unpleasant bad guys. There's no entertainment to be found here, just grimness and depravity. I love films where the good guys finally turn the tables on their oppressors – as in HOSTEL, one of my favourites – but here director James Watkins focuses instead on his theme of innocents suffering so there isn't any 'revenge' factor to enjoy.

EDEN LAKE is gruelling and unpleasant, but watching it is an oddly detached experience. It just takes place, is over, and you're left wondering why you spent an hour and a half of your life in such depressing company. Depressing is the main description I would use for this one.

Stephen Taylor (Michael Fassbender) invites his girlfriend, the kindergarten teacher Jenny (Kelly Reilly),to spend the weekend in Eden Lake, a paradisiacal and remote place in the woods where he used to go in his childhood and that will be flooded sooner; however, his true intention is to propose Jenny. While camping at the lakeshore, they are disturbed by a gang of loathsome boys leaded by the punk Brett (Jack O'Connell). On the next day, the couple realizes that they have been robbed by the young criminals and they are stranded in the woods without their car. While walking through the forest trying to reach the road, Steve and Jenny meet the gang and they are brutally attacked. Steve is captured by the youths while Jenny is seeks a way out of the woods with the criminals chasing her.

The cruel and disturbing "Eden Lake" is impressively real, reason why I felt very uncomfortable with the wicked and sadistic story. The acting is top-notch, and the violence of the gang contrasts with the beauty of Kelly Reilly and the romantic situation that her sweet character with her boyfriend. The situations lightly recall "Deliverance" and "Red", but they are so brutal that it is impossible not feeling affected by the horror that Jenny and Steve are submitted. The pessimist conclusion is exaggerated and probably the only flaw in the story especially after the death of the great number of characters. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sem Saída" ("No Way Out")

Eden Lake is a manipulative torture horror flick whose aim is to show broken Britain in the early 21st century. Chav hoodlums running amok and their parents do not give a flying frick because they do not know right from wrong.

Kelly Reilly (Jenny) and Michael Fassbender (Steve) are a young couple who are spending a weekend away on the beach where Steve plans to propose. Nearby are a bunch of young thugs led by Jack O'Connell (Brett.) Steve gets into an argument with them over loud music and this escalates where his vehicle gets his tyres punctured and later they get into a scuffle where Brett's vicious dog dies.

Of course all this would had been avoided if Steve walked away to another part of the beach, or made a risk assessment that he would not be able to take on six thugs and a dog.

The gang hold Steve captive in a forest and inflict pain on him by stabbing him in various places, almost like they were taking part in a gang initiation ceremony. Meanwhile Jenny who has escaped just watches rather than get away and call for help and the gang then pursue her. All the time in typical horror film tropes she does stupid things. She can never get far away from a gang for starters.

This is nasty film but it is deliberately nasty. I guess director James Watkins wanted to make his own low budget version of Straw Dogs or A Clockwork Orange without the subtext of the former or the dark humour of the latter.