British Horror (The Hike) was on offer last night on the Horror Channel and never hearing of it before or watched it I decided to give it ago, I could be surprised, doubtful I thought to myself but maybe I could. As it started I quickly checked it out with a google search and maybe I shouldn’t have the first review I read was “Disgusting flick, cannot be watched without feeling nauseated. Waste of money, time, and brain-cells.” Oh well I felt committed to the film so I continued viewing.
Five women go on a hiking weekend into the wood totally dressed unsuitable and you no at some time they will be fighting for survival. Same vacation horror like two other British films that come to mind The Descent and Eden Lake,
A young soldier, Kate (Zara Phythian), returns from a tour in Afghanistan after witnessing her boyfriend's tragic death in combat. The film opens with people running about, being killed a good start. Kate meets up with four old friends and together the group of girls set off on a camping trip to a picturesque, remote area of the British countryside. She, gets in a tussle with one of the girls boyfriend could he be a baddie too early to say.
As they walk into the woods it looks like a models parade later, they walk past a cave entrance and there is a woman in distress but as she mumbles, they don’t hear her. They also come across a man and two woman looking shifty and then a group of guys in the woods doing the same has them having a fun weekend. The girls and guys start-making friends Kate sees it as a distraction to their weekend.
One of the girls looking for wood comes across one of the guys from earlier beating one out and you can see they are attracted to one another. These woods seem to be full of people and no sign of a baddie. The others come across the shifty bloke from early in the day who looks to be attacking one of the woman who was with him earlier but he wasn’t so everting a possible fight.
As night falls, one of the girls trips in a trap and is left dangling from a tree. After coming back from a walk, Kate finds the camp empty the others when looking for Charlie (Jemma Bolt). Forgetting all about her, they enjoy some skinny-dipping. So Charlie is back on their mind … and sex for some. Everything starts going wrong for the girls and it would seem the people were the baddies after all.
They are attacked, captured with Kate is left for dead after being pushed from a cliff ledge, which she survives. The girls soon realise their survival depends on each other. Guess the rest, rape, death the normal faire for this kind of films.
In fact, the whole film is relatively tame. It starts well with good pacing and a reasonable attempt at character development. First-rate camera work, top-notch music, and beautiful scenery give the low budget movie a refined, professional look. However, as the story unfolds through a series of unsurprising twists, it begins to feel rushed, and in places, it becomes difficult to follow the action. Overall, The Hike feels like exploitation / torture cinema for beginners, for those looking to gently warm to the sub-genre.
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