Customer Reviews

High Lane [Import]

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High Lane (original title: Vertige) tries to pack the action and thrills of two different horror films into one. The first half of the film is a true winner, especially effective for those of us with a deathly fear of heights; the second half isn't bad, either, with its liberal dose of gore and a splash or two of victims behaving badly, but it's definitely a step down from all that has come before. The real bad guy of the film is rather generic and boring, but the film makes up for this somewhat by the villainy that sometimes emerges from characters we are supposed to be rooting for -- and I think that's a nice touch indeed. Just when you start thinking a certain character isn't a complete douche after all, he proves you wrong.

So, five friends decide to do some rock climbing and aerial sightseeing in the Croatian mountains. Actually, it's two couples plus a former boyfriend of one of the girls (who somehow managed to invite himself along for the trip). The presence of her ex Guillaume doesn't seem to bother Chloe (Fanny Valette) too much, but current boyfriend Loic clearly isn't happy about it at all. Heck, Chloe's the only reason he's here to risk his life climbing mountains to begin with, and now this ex-boyfriend shows up and puts him to shame in every way possible (heck, Loic even makes me look like a manly man). Now, Fred and Karine (Maud Wyler) are all about the adventure. Given the fact that they are French, they are incredibly brave. While most people with half a brain would turn back when they see that the trail is closed, Fred talks everyone into climbing a sheer rock face and doing what they came to do. It turns out that the trail was closed for a reason, so the group has quite an adventure on their hands. Prepare for a great mix of beautiful scenery (but it's not Croatian, as the movie was filmed in the French Alps) and harrowing action shots that will have my fellow acrophobics squirming in their seats. If High Lane had just stuck to this nothing-but-a-rope-between-you-and-a-big-sharp-rock-thousands-of-feet-below premise, it could well have been an incredibly intense and effective thriller -- unfortunately, the story morphs completely at the mid-way point into just another Wrong Turn copy-cat, leaving most of the chills and thrills behind. Yes, the special effects and the gore are well-done, but the villain is bland and the action far too generic. The only suspense or surprise comes when a character does something really stupid or downright vindictive. I liked the ending, though, as it did at least show a tiny bit of originality.

The first half of High Lane is A-level work, but the second half deserves several comments in red ink. It's unfortunate because everything (except the dubbing) was going so well. There is also the matter of Chloe's flashbacks to a traumatic event in her life, which only works to a certain degree and could (perhaps should) have been removed from the plot, but I can live with that. High Lane isn't all it could have been, but it's still an impressive and sometimes quite thrilling horror offering from director Abel Ferry. I hear that Fanny Valette is a real up-and-coming actress in Europe, as well.

Very exciting film-- much like The Descent, the first part of the film deals with (instead of underground, claustrophobic spaces) rock-climbing, vertigo, high and very scary situations. Then, suddenly, it transforms into a bloody thriller with the remaining cast members running for their lives.