I wanted to but couldn't!

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

THE HIKE is another nastiness-in-the-woods slice of British horror. The template for this one seems to be EDEN LAKE, which is ripped off continuously, particularly at the climax. The storyline involves a group of girls who decide go off on a trip into the deepest darkest woods (shades of THE DESCENT in the group dynamics) only to run foul of some nasty blokes for whom rape and murder is the order of the day.There's one decent twist in this film's storyline but the rest of it is a complete dud if I'm honest. Like a lot of modern horror flicks, THE HIKE mistakes unpleasantness for scares, and watching women being raped and abused isn't much fun. The brooding set-up is effective enough but the second half falls apart completely. The whole thing is shot in the dark with lots of shaky-cam work as interchangeable characters run around and kill or are killed in turn. You won't give a damn what's going on because by this stage the storyline has dwindled away and the viewer is left watching cheapjack trash.

Yes, they can! The fundamental problem of this movie is that it is not a movie as such. It is very boring nonsensical soft core torture porn or something like that. There is no reasonable story for the girls that will be raped and killed nor for the guys who will rape and kill them. They just do happen to meet and soft core torture porn will happen.None of the characters are believable or interesting. It is mostly running in the woods, screaming, some bondage play in the mud and such. The movie could be roughly compared to Lake Eden but in comparison to that the Lake Eden has interesting characters, plot and very disturbing message.Surprisingly enough the movie does not even have any thrills, it is very predictable. It promises something for horror fans, for thriller fans and even for the porn consumers, but fails in all the aspects. There are no sympathetic heroes so you do not feel anything. It is just very boring, somewhat disgusting flick. What a waste of time!

I have a friend who, like myself, is an avid horror fan. Any subgenre, any style, any language, any budget. The main difference is that my pal actually BUYS every DVD of these films. He has literally thousands of titles in his collection most of which I have never heard of. Such is the case of THE HIKE.I'm writing this only minutes after I watched the film-indeed I was logging on to IMDb even as the final credits were still rolling. I found it to be an interesting, disturbing and sometimes quite brutal tale, full of twists and turns that simply won't let you go till the final shocking moment.One element of the film which really got my attention was the incredible camera work (and the editing.... lingering on certain shots.... just that *moment* longer... whoa!) yeah. I actually found myself involuntarily invoking Hitchcock in my mind as certain scenes played out during the first third of the film. These scenes are particularly harrowing because we the viewer are being shown almost continuous and subtle clues that Something Isn't Right Out Here, yet the poor girls are clueless - not because they are stupid but because they are utterly unsuspecting that anything is amiss. One such scene is one where the gals are seen at a good distance from the camera, crossing a wide dry gulch. They are distant enough for their chatter to be indistinct. The camera slowly changes depth of focus, bringing the sounds with it, until we are very close to the camera indeed, where we vaguely see the outline of a young woman lying on the forest floor where she gasps and chokes her life away, all the while the lead gals frolic in the background...Yeah, I enjoyed it. All the elements that make a film "good" to me hit it just right - especially the plotting, direction and camera work.I give it a 73/100

Kate, played by Zara Phythian, meets up with five old friends after the sudden death of her partner, together the group of girls set off on a camping trip to a picturesque, remote area of the British countryside. As night falls they are attacked and captured, 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. The Hike blends, I Spit on Your Grave with The Decent and is the first feature film written and directed by Rupert Bryan. Hostel favorite, Barbara Nedeljakova, won best supporting actress at The British Horror Film Festival for her role. The movie begins with a gripping cold opening scene and slick opening credits. The five women that make up the group about to embark on their journey all look very attractive, are dressed to kill, if not somewhat inappropriately for hiking, in skimpy clothes and high heels. Their questionable acting coupled with the unimaginative dialogue are initially easily forgiven, as most fans of the genre would just assume these girls have been chosen by their readiness to take their clothes off and shoot scenes of graphic violence. This is not the case. In fact, the whole film is relatively tame. It starts off well with good pacing and a reasonable attempt at character development. First-rate camera work, topnotch 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 easily follow the action. On the whole, The Hike feels like exploitation / torture cinema for beginners, for those looking to gently warm to the sub genre.