The King of the Hill (2008)

And his day got off to such a promising start. After stopping at a petrol station, a man finds himself propositioned to have a quick bit of nookie in the ladies toilet by a sexy young brunette. RESULT!! Unfortunately, he later discovers she's nicked his wallet and lighter. Oops. Still, on the road again, he sees her turn off and decides to pursue her vehicle... and before long, in circumstances too convoluted to explain, both are forced to team up as they find themselves stranded in the wilderness, being shot at by unseen snipers. Quite a turn-up for the books, eh? Known as 'King Of The Hill' here in the UK (But with no connection to the TV show of the same name) this is a nail biting thriller with a very small cast, but an abundance of tension and realism. The aspect I most enjoyed was the way the participants were fleshed out, as despite being on the run for the most of length we discover a lot about them through their words and actions alone. Even the main 'villains', who we don't meet until late on, and their own unique perspectives. This is crucial to the movie's success as if it was a simple chase between two sets of caricatures with no discernible personalities, it wouldn't be half as absorbing as it clearly is.People get hurt, tired and frustrated. Their very lives are on the line. They never know where the gunmen will crop up next. The terrain they have to trek through is inhospitable too, to say the least. It's all done with miraculous skill by the director, as the stakes are raised with every scene. Make sure you go to the bathroom beforehand... you're not gonna want to tear yourself away for a minute. A great thrill ride, and a smart one as well. 7/10

Maria Valverde make for a sympathetic pairing, wisely the film doesn't stop to long to give them a relationship but they have a certain mild chemistry that makes their bond under adversity a compelling one. For around two thirds or so of its length King of The Hill is rather great, hardly earth shattering in its events or approach but sufficiently well handled that it really stands out, unfortunately it doesn't end the same way. Like most films of its mysterious ilk, there's a "big reveal" here, and it's deeply ill-advised, an attempt at sombre significance that flops hard. A turn in events that would be unlikely and fairly tricky to pull off even if it were a significant part of the film from the start, here the film expects us to just buy the plot turn and then continues in the same uncompromising vein as before. To say much about why it doesn't work would be going into spoiler territory and since other have enjoyed this much more than I and not been troubled by the finale I won't divulge events, but for me it was daft verging on laughable, it not only took all the wind out of the film's sails but also rather tainted what had gone before. A saddening turn of events, as I wanted to dig this one and it came close to being a winner, but I can only go by my final impression, which was one of disappointment. A 5/10 then, even though for a fair amount of the runtime this is more like a high 7.

A film that builds on pretty well through the first forty five minutes or so just does downhill by making that one distinct narrative shift - revealing the identity of the assailants. Till then its a motley group desperately struggling to outwit some faceless gunshooters knowing only that if it exposes itself in that deep jungle it'd be dead meat. When the numbers dwindle, the camera moves on away from the hunted to the predators (this is so funny as though making an announcement that the arena is set). I just know its who v/s who and what the outcome will be. In fact disturbing as it seemed when I found out what the killers were upto and their movies per se , the straightened out revenge take isn't what I wanted. But it seemed all laid out. Disappointing!

And I'm not talking about the movie, but about the main character. I'm not sure if that was the intention. Of course he is portrayed as a coward. But all his actions and of course his back story lead to the fact that you most likely will hate his guts. Or at least I did, I heard from others that they didn't mind that much or didn't really bother to think about it.The theme (and a bit of a surprise if you will), is the big selling point of the movie. But it only works the first time you watch it. I "had" to watch it a second time, when they showed it at the Fright Fest in London (I had watched it earlier on DVD). I have to admit, that I only realized how much I hated the main guy, when I watched the movie the second time. So maybe you should only watch this movie once and be done with it. It's more than good enough for one watch :o)