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Paradise Lost - Extreme Edition (Unrated) [2007]


RRP: £17.99
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It would seem paradise is,nt twice as nice after all
Review date: 2008-08-30 Rating: 8 out of 10

During my forty odd ( very odd) years on this increasingly water logged planet we call earth i haven't travelled as much as i would have liked. Mainly because I'm too lazy and frugal but watching films like Paradise Lost means I'm also unlikely to travel for fear that some hideous fate will befall me. With Slovakia off the menu after the torture porn of Quentin Tarantino Presents : Hostel [2005] [2006] I could be forgiven for being in mortal fear of visiting Brazil lest i am abducted for sinister reasons.
The premise for Paradise Lost is efficiently simple. American Alex( Josh Duhamel) his sister Bea(Olivia Wilde) and her flighty pal Amy (Beau Garrett) are on a bus with two would be English lothario,s Fin( Desmond Askew) and Liam (Max Brown) , when the bus driver speeding along the narrow mountain roads totals the vehicle. Rather than wait hours for the next bus they trudge on to nearby beach where they discover a bar staffed by incredibly nubile and friendly locals. This is great they think and things get even better for Alex when he meets Australian back-packer Pru (Melissa George) who he immediately gels with . A party breaks out when night falls and before you can shout Alan Partridge like -spiked - the friends wake up sprawled on the beach realised that they've been drugged and all their gear has been nicked. However missing shorts and passports are the least of their problems as what ensues involves abduction and lots of nasty sharp implements in soft yielding flesh.
This is a highly efficient thriller that eschews many of the visceral thrills of contemporary horror films -though one scene it must be stressed is extremely gory- this is the extreme edition however though in truth it,s not extreme at all . Most importantly what befalls the travellers has a believable ( well almost) socio-political genesis based around exploitation of smaller countries( economically not geographically) and America's mistrust of the world post 9/11 which shunts it up a level from gratuitous horror/ slaughter fare. This is helped by Stockwell actually shooting the film in Brazil so it feels empirically right.
This doesn't mean that Paradise Lost is perfect however. The abduction of the gang is elongated and nonsensical -why not just take them after they have been drugged?- and it far to readily gives in to cliché- you know who will die almost as soon as you meet them and the resolution is too easily achieved . The film is pretty well acted though and some of the scenes are proficiently handled by director John Stockwell( an underwater chase is pulse thumpingly claustrophobic ) Overall Paradise Lost is a lean mean efficient melding of thriller and horror though in truth it's not horrific enough to put me off visiting Brazil. Given the chance I'd be there like a shot......or indeed to Slovakia ...i don't believe everything i see in the movies.



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Reviews


Better than expected
Review date: 2008-08-11 Rating: 6 out of 10

A group of young people on holiday in Brazil narrowly survive a bus accident and are then left stranded in the middle of nowhere for 10 hours while waiting for the next bus to arrive. They do a little exploring and come across a beach and a bar and make the most of their time by swimming, drinking and partying. They are then drugged and wake up with all of their belongings stolen. Little do they know that the locals not only want their belongings but also their internal organs.

I had low expectations for this, giving that similar films like Hostel and the more recent Saw film have been nothing more than average, but this wasn't the torture porn horror that I was expecting to see, rather a tense and exciting thriller that was actually quite good.

The storyline was pretty basic but was well executed, building the story up slowly but still managing to keep my interest throughout. It also had a fairly decent reasoning for the killings, rather than just mutilating the tourists for the sake of it. The actual torture scenes were not in it all that much either, so if you have seen the trailer, it is very misleading in that sense, but all the better for it really.

There are some pretty gruesome effects but nothing that hasn't been seen before and there isn't anything at all original about it. However it is a fairly enjoyable horror while it lasts with lots of shocks and scares and plenty of eye-candy too for us guys with some hot young women running about in tiny bikinis for the whole duration of the film.

Overall this is well worth a watch if you like thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat and are genuinely quite scary if you imagine yourself in this kind of situation. Definitely worth a rent, at least.


Decent But Unoriginal Horror
Review date: 2008-06-08 Rating: 6 out of 10

A group of backpackers are stranded in a remote region of Brazil when their bus is involved in an accident. They decide to head to a nearby beach to relax until the next one comes along 10 hours later. What they find at the beach persuades them to stay a little longer than intended. The only problem is that the sexy girls who work behind the all night party bar are secretly plotting to drug and rob them but unfortunately this will turn out to be the least of their worries.

Does the plot sound familiar? A group of good looking travellers stumble upon paradise but paradise is hiding a nasty secret? Paradise Lost could have just as easily been named Hostel 3 but don't let that put you off. This isn't a bad film in it's own rights. There are some good scenes and there is of course the added bonus that Melissa George and her attractive co-travellers are all wearing micro bikinis the whole time.

The movies initial theme of isolation, foreboding and panic is soon forgotten to be replaced by some nasty, gory violence. After the robbery, the film loses it's momentum a bit but is rescued by a very cool underwater chase through some pretty scary looking caves. All in all, Paradise Lost is nothing new but it does do a good job with a familiar plot.

Like this? Try: Hostel

not bad, but not that great
Review date: 2008-06-06 Rating: 6 out of 10

this was a fairly mediocre film. It paced relatively slowly and had only a few gory parts. All together it was a fine watch, but i would not revisit it again!!

way better than hostel
Review date: 2008-06-06 Rating: 4 out of 10

this is rubbish but compared to other horror movies like hostel part 2 this is a much better trip,it delivers the gory goods and unlike hostel 2 this film is actually suspenceful in places

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Melissa George
Josh Duhamel
John Stockwell
Olivia Wilde
Desmond Askew

Creators:
Melissa George (Primary Contributor)
Josh Duhamel (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Lions Gate Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Lions Gate Home Entertainment
EAN: 5060052412980
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2007-10-08
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 93 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)

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