Young, High and Dead

Director(s) - Luke Brady, Jonathan Brady, Daniel Fenton, and Thabo Mhlatshwa (Rev)
Starring - Hannah Tointon (The Children, The Lost Future), Louisa Lytton (American Pie Presents: The Book of Love), and Philip Barantini (Band of Brothers)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "You are never too young to die"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The British sure do know how to entertain their audience.  I can list television shows like Doctor Who and films like Shaun of the Dead for days but my point still stands. British films usually rely heavily on atmosphere and sets to set the mood.  Those that have seen any Hammer Horror flick knows exactly what I am talking about.  The gothic atmosphere works wonders on the viewer and is extremely affective when trying to scare them.  We fast forward to now and the films coming out of the U.K. are now mixed with humor or covered in originality.  I have seen my fair share of British horror and I can honestly say I liked a great deal of them.  So when I was asked to review this flick by the head honcho at Horror Society I jumped at it.  Hell, who wouldn't want to see a flick called Young, High and Dead? 
     The film follows a group of twenty-somethings as they plan a weekend camping trip full of illegal substances to celebrate the engagement of two of them. However, a night of partying and debauchery turns deadly when the clothes of a small child is discovered near their tents.  Things then turn bleak when it is discovered that their campsite was once the site where a pedophile killed a small girl.  The group starts to fight amongst themselves and they wonder off to sleep.  They awaken to the sound of chains and discover that they are now facing their own mortality.
      Some movies have everything going for them but fail to pull it all together for something entertaining.  The first 20 or 30 minutes are extremely boring and hard to watch.  I actually had to re-watch it because I lost focus and my mind wondered off.  If the first quarter of the film was cut and shortened this film would actually be a little decent.  The film did have the mood and atmosphere that I would expect and the perfect slasher look and feel that I love but it was just too damn boring.  The acting is hit or miss in this one.  In some scenes I was really impressed with the cast and what they were able to accomplish.  However, in other scenes I was laughing at how awkward they were interacting with each other.  A little experience would have went a long way in these particular scenes.  The story, though nothing new, could have made one hell of a slasher flick.  The whole "killer pedophile" angle was extremely morbid and dark.  I really liked that aspect of the film.  However, it does unfold poorly on film.  The last few minutes of the film made the story worthwhile but it was hard to watch over an hour of boring dialogue to actually get to the good part.  The film also needs a better score.  After the opening scene I wanted to turn the movie off because it was giving me a headache.  If you can not afford more songs to play in your movie at least pick one that will not make the viewer's ears bleed.  Finally, the film does have a decent body count but most of the kills are off screen or during the night when it is too dark to see.  Overall, this film had what it takes to be something amazing but fell short.  A lot of editing could still save this one.  Until that is done I do not recommend this one.