ESCAPE: Out Now To Rent and Buy

Escape (2013)
Directed by: Roar Uthaug
Written by: Thomas Moldestad
Starring: Bjorn Moan, Clara Lien Sunde., Eirik Holden, Hallvard Holmen, Hans Jacob Sand, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Iren Reppen, Isabel Christine Andreasen, Kristian Espedahl, Martin Slaatto, Milla Olin, Richard Skog, Tobias Santelmann

Film: Escape

Director: Roar Uthaug

Written by: Thomas Moldestad

Starring: Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Isabel Christine Andreasen, Milla Olin, Tobias Santelmann, Hallvard Holmen, Iren Reppen, Hans Jacob Sand, Martin Slaatto, Bjorn Moan, Kristian Espedahl, Richard Skog, Eirik Holden, Clara Lien Sunde.

Rating: 15

Running Time: 76 minutes

Out now to Rent and Buy

The Film Trailer:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ozf407ofbY[/youtube]

What is it all about?

Ten years after the Black Plague ravaged their country, a poor family sets out on a journey for a new home.  On a remote mountain pass, they are attacked by a band of merciless killers led by the vicious Dagmar (Ingrid Bolso Berdal) and the only one spared is young Signe (Isabel Christine Andreasen), who is taken hostage.  At the gang’s camp she meets fellow kidnap victim Frigg (Milla Olin) and learns about a terrible fate that awaits her.  There is nothing for it but to escape, but Dagmar will not let Signe go that easily…

 The Hughes Verdict

First of all, I need to say that the comparison between Escape and The Hunger Games simply does not entice me like it should.  The reason being, I haven’t seen Hunger Games.  Now I know that it was a huge box office smash and there are many out there who can not wait for the sequel to hit the big screen, but after being bored shitless with the whole Twilight saga, I really didn’t fancy sitting through another teen angst kind of flick.

Now before your Hunger fans jump on me and send me hateful emails, I am not saying the film is rubbish in any shape or form and it well could be one of the best films I would ever have the privilege to see, but at the moment, my mind is just not ready for it, like the Harry Potter franchise, I am only up to the third film simply because if its not a horror film, then it just does not interest me.

So when my fellow HCF Critics were sitting in our office, pretending to work and not looking at porn (yes…. you know who you are…) and Bat’s voice shouted over ” Who want’s to review Escape?”  I grabbed at the chance.  Only because I knew it was the new film from Roar Uthaug and it also starred Ingrid Bolso Berdal and was written by Thomas Moldestad.  Now for many they may be asking “who the heck are those three?”.  Well for the horror fan in the know, they are the trio that wrote, directed and starred in the classic recent horror double Cold Prey, which ranks as the finest double slasher films of  modern times.

Stepping away from the cold snowy mountains and the Michael Myers type boogeyman,  Escape enters a medieval world where you would have expect Mad Max to appear at any moment.    The world we know it has been ravaged by the Black plague and the story itself is not about the Cold Prey woman on the cover who actually is playing the bad guy, but we are following the young girl Signe, whose family has been butchered by the vicious bastard gang led by Dagmar and are now after her.  So yes, what we have is a relentless chase movie and with the short running time of under 80 minutes, Escape starts with a bang, doesn’t relent and is soon over before you even can gasp a breath.

Its very rare when you moan about the short running time in a movie, especially with many directors these days not knowing when to stop (yes Snyder….I am looking at you), but with Escape you feel that there is a five star movie here that has been wasted because of the brief time the film plays out.

That may sound like I am all set to end this review with a negative rating which I am not, but you just feel that with a bit more character development, Escape would have been one beast of a movie.   If you take the bad ass character of Dagmar.  Yes she may come across like some mad evil bitch, but there is a nice side plot involving another young girl called Frigg which if explored a bit more could have given the film a much needed bit of heart that it lacks at times.

The one thing Escape has going for it though is the wonderful scenery and once again you can just see the talent of director Uthaug who like the Cold Prey films before this, shows great creative imagery behind the lens.  Its only a matter of time before Uthaug breaks through to mainstream market, his fanbase is growing and Escape will only add to the list of admirers.

The only complaint I have then is the short running time, because after the likes of The Road, Stakeland and countless others over the last few years, you be forgiven for giving Escape a miss, but not once does it feel old hat. Ironically after me spending the review criticising the running time, its because of that, the film goes like a flash and so its impossible for you to get bored.

With great fight scenes, some brilliant effects on what was a largely cheap budget and a booming electronica score by Magnus Beite, Escape is a delightful tale that may have been told before, but when its done this well, its worth telling again.  Now maybe its time I did dig out The Hunger Games, if its anything like this, then it be a belter………

Rating: