The Ridge (2005) Online

Aside from that major continuity error, this film was mediocre but in a good way sometimes.

We will start with some pros.

Not every scene was constantly dark and there were a few cool shots here and there (A pool, a small hill at the beginning, just little cool shots). The gore was very well done and looked very realistic. It had a nice mythology going (Staying true to it on the first kill made it very pleasant that the filmmakers paid attention to themselves).

Now the cons.

The awful acting from nearly everyone; only the females being decent at best. The dialog was painful to listen to and the 'character development' was cheesy and bland. The kills were uninspired and bland and they all meshed together in a very unsatisfactory way. The actions of the characters were horrendous and they really could not have done anything better to make themselves better targets.

Overall it was decent. I managed to jump twice, which I can usually anticipate quite well (Probably because I had earphones on, trying not to wake everyone up so it was a little awkward watching it on the television set with headphones).

Overall I'd give The Ridge a 5/10. It's a forgettable flick that you can rent once and mildly enjoy by yourself or bring a bunch of friends serve them some 'beverages' and you'll have a blast making fun of it.

Entertainment is entertainment either way it's entertaining. I'm Not good with profound statements so forgive me.

The film is a contemporary horror that draws from the urban legend of The Ridge Runner, a brutal killer out to slaughter anyone who settles on his land. "The Ridge" begins slow and clunky but within the first fifteen minutes the atmosphere becomes a nonstop slaughter fest. Okay maybe a bit more than fifteen minutes but the point is what starts as a questionable flick turns into a real chiller.

The story opens with the cliché set-up of friends on a getaway. Only within the first few moments of arriving to the house, nestled in the woods, things get eerie. The dialog is flimsy, random, and doesn't really seem to lead into the story, at least not until the standard "do you know a scary story" moment. That is when we are introduced to the urban legend of the brutal ridge runner. There are moments when the story, even the telling of the legend, feels contrived, but for the most part it is a plausible premise. It is obvious though that most of the writing focused on action and kills based on the weak dialog. So at first the film starts off shaky. But when the sh*t hits the fan, the film almost transforms into something totally new.

The special effects are pretty tight. The attention to presenting killer scenes and action sequences is obvious in "The Ridge". The house plays a big role in the film with so many rooms, levels and areas for the killer to pop out from, The night shooting and sound effects help create a traditional horror look, that will be recognizable to horror fans. From the moment the first body is found, explaining the eerie beginning to the film, "The Ridge" really goes full throttle giving total slasher entertainment. The soundtrack at times feels hokey-hallmark-y, but I can over look the style of music used to create an emotional continuity to the story.

Overall "The Ridge" turns into a pretty decent indie slasher film. The fact that the horror just happens, with no justification other than a faceless killer mad about loosing his land, only adds to the nightmare. There is some pretty stellar directional choices and cinematography in "The Ridge". Honestly if the dialog and first part of the film would have had the strength that pops up in the second and third act then this would have been a ten for me.

RELEASED IN 2005, "The Ridge" chronicles events when five college youths take a getaway to a luxurious vacation home on a scenic ridge and somehow incur the wrath of the legendary Ridge Runner, a murderous woodsman.

This is a micro-budge film written and directed by Brett Haley, who also stars as the semi-pathetic Blake who's rejected by the woman he craves and disrespected by his brother (Neal Bledsoe) and another dude before going off to brood. Will his suppressed rage conjure up a beast from his Id that will give birth to the rash, murderous actions he could only daydream about with his conscious mind à la "Forbidden Planet"?

I was wondering if that was how the film would pan out, but I'm not going to say.

Anyway, "The Ridge" begins with all the hallmarks of spare change budget fare, like poor sound, hand-held cams, less-than-stellar acting and dull dialogue/drama. The entire first half of the movie (43 minutes) is like this, which will tempt some viewers to tune out, but that would be a mistake because everything kicks into gear at the halfway point and Hayley's talent is showcased from there out. Seriously, the change in quality is so great that "The Ridge" is almost like two movies. Drama obviously isn't Haley's forte, but suspense/horror definitely is. The quality score by Austin Donohue accentuates the suspense.

Lydia Hyslop as Cara is a highlight; she's sweet & beautiful and (almost) worth the price of admission. Neal Bledsoe plays the main dude; I hear he went on to greater things.

Someone compared "The Ridge" to the Friday the 13th movies and said that it was better than some of the sequels. While it's true that it's a taken from the Friday the 13th mold, it lacks the budget of any of those films and is therefore one-dimensional and amateurish by comparison (the first half, at least). It also lacks the humor of some of the sequels of that franchise. It's totally serious, particular once the killer is revealed. Speaking of which, I like the fact that the Ridge Runner is presented as a mysterious killing machine with zero attempt to explain his (or her) insane actions, except for the legends spoken about him, but only in hushed tones late at night when the fires burn low.

THE FILM RUNS 87 minutes and was shot on a ridge somewhere in the East, likely Pennsylvania or New York (I don't know; I'm just guessing; there's no info about the shooting locations in the end credits or elsewhere, probably because they didn't pay for permits).

GRADE: First half C- and second half A for a balanced grade of B-

Like many of you, I came across this film in a four-pack of other forgettable B-movie horror flicks. That being said, I wasn't expecting to be entertained by any stretch of the imagination. As it turns out, I was horribly mistaken.

The Ridge (Runner) is non-stop hilarity from beginning to end. From the opening sequence where Cara and the jock playfully discuss sentence structures, to the belabored discussion of the 'mess' left by Mr. Jenkins, to Blake's inability to shut the 'heck' up, it's laugh-out-loud fun for the whole (18 and over) family.

Are there plot-flaws? Sure! Does it matter? No! The Ridge is a B-movie powerhouse filled with a few scares, quasi-decent acting, and non-stop laughing. In fact, it is a group favorite on movie night.

There is only one question that my friends and I have. During the 15-minute continuous scene at the house (btw, doesn't the house look like an Elementary School when they drive up?) when Noah, Noah's GF, and the jock are talking, does Noah in fact state "Get her, Tiger! Get her, poop!" ?? I can't tell, but it sure sounds like it. To me, that question far surpasses knowing the true identity of the Ridge Runner.

Favorite Characters: 1) The Raccoon from Blake's story 2) Mr. Jenkins 3) Noah and Blake's mom

Five friends gather together at a secluded vacation home in the remote mountains where they find themselves being terrorized by a legendary local figure known as the Ridge Runner (a genuinely frightening and impressively physical portrayal by Nathaniel Park). Okay, so the basic premise isn't anything new, but fortunately writer/director Brett Haley compensates for this dearth of originality by relating the engrossing story at a steady pace, ably building and sustaining a spooky atmosphere and a considerable amount of gut-wrenching suspense (the lengthy second half with the young adults being relentlessly stalked and picked off by the vicious maniac is truly tense, gripping, and harrowing), and making fine use of the remote woodland location in order to create a potently unsettling sense of isolation, vulnerability, and utter helplessness. Moreover, the jolting moments of sudden savage violence pack a pretty hard punch. The uniformly sound acting from the capable cast helps a lot: Neal Bledsoe as the cocky and aggressive Noah, Haley as the wimpy and bumbling Blake, Lydia Hyslop as the sweet Cara, Lauren Powell as the perky Anna, and Jesse Patch as the amiable Ethan. This movie deserves extra praise for the exceptionally well-drawn and believable main characters; the heated rivalry between brothers Noah and Blake in particular gives this picture extra dramatic substance. Eric Sheretz's sharp cinematography puts an energetic prowling camera to extremely effective and exciting use. Austin Donahue's rattling score likewise does the nerve-jangling trick. A real sleeper.

I wish I could say nice things about this movie but alas, the bad out weigh the good. The actors did a good job, They were convincing and worked well together on screen. My problem was with the story and editing. There were several bad cuts throughout the movie that distracted from the story and made me kind of angry considering the time they took to get decent angles and have a decent cast. The story was solid however, I would have liked the "Ridge Runner" to be built up a bit more, his hood was way too big and made him look comical rather than intimidating. There were a couple of decent scares and the dialogue wasn't so bad that I felt myself wanting to fast forward. I really wish the filmmakers took the time to get an editor who actually knew what they were doing.

Note to Producers: Next time show some skin. Especially when you have a character take her bottoms off in a pool only to have her bottoms back on in bad editing. It is annoying and distracting from the story. I would have given you at least one more star if she was actually naked.

Poorly acted, written and directed. No sexual chemistry between the characters. No attempt at any racial inclusion. Boring and awful in every level.

Cabin in woods, cue spinner, and we get axe slasher. Noah (Neal Bledsoe) and his girlfriend Anna (Lauren Powell) go to his parent's secluded mountain home, one that is much nicer than anything I have owned or will own. He also takes a long his brother Blake (Brett Haley) an obnoxious, rejected, frustrated individual who is frequently called a DH. To pour salt in the wound his ex-gf Cara (Lydia Hyslop) comes along as well as a college jock friend (Jesse Patch) who wants to hook up with Cara.

The film opens with bad acting, bad dialogue and a lame soundtrack and doesn't get any better. There is a story about a Hunter who kills people on the Ridge and that is our killer introduction. Normally these types of films show a killing in the beginning to peak out interest and then relate it later on. This one did not. The killings took place in the dark and were not graphic, even with an axe.

The biggest horror was when 4 people were all screaming and talking at the same time. The film attempted to get sexy as Anna takes a dip in a striped bathing suit. She removes her bottoms, which are now flowered and tosses them at her boyfriend, then a moment later has on the original bottoms. Like Ed Wood would say, "Who would notice?" That is how bad the directing and editing was on the film.

Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

A group of friends arrive at a secluded mansion in the middle of the woods in order to unwind for the weekend. But when they arrive, they find the place trashed. After cleaning up, they settle down & tell stories about the Ridge Runner – a crazed survivalist who slaughtered his family before disappearing in the area some years ago. At first, the night goes along nicely but when they find the corpse of the house's caretaker in the pool, the Ridge Runner appears & begins slaughtering his way through the group.

The Ridge is an ultra-low budget slasher film conceived as a copy of the Friday the 13th series, except without any hockey-masked killers roaming about, instead having a mysterious survivalist assaulting the cast.

For the first 45 or so minutes, nothing happens. Writer-director Brett Haley, who plays the group's most anally-retentive member, writes poor dialogue & has no idea on how to carry the film along without resorting to dull writing. The dialogue that appears in the film seems forced & the background story about the Ridge Runner that they mention is not very interesting.

But once the corpse in the pool is found, the film switches gears. Haley might not know how to write good dialogue, but he knows a thing or two about staging brute force shocks. Haley milks the surroundings for all the suspense that he can get – this film has more jumps in its final half-hour than the entirety of most of the Friday the 13th sequels. Not just that, but Haley also turns expectation on its head by featuring a rather unconventional final survivor. Despite its low budget The Ridge is a much more authentic slasher film experience than most of the Friday the 13th sequels.

Five college students gather to spend the weekend at an isolated mountain retreat. Two are brothers; most are friends. Yet when they couple up, one will inevitably be left out, scorned not merely by the woman he loves but by his own brother. As he broods alone at midnight, will his suppressed rage engender a monster from the Id who will enact the fantasies of vengeance he wouldn't dare entertain in his conscious mind? Alas, no. But when he recounts an urban legend about a hunter who terrorizes the unsuspecting denizens of the local forest, we know that another sort of rampage can't be far behind.

'The Ridge' provides a measure of entertainment value, though perhaps not in the way its creators intended. Its premise, performances, and production values inspire laughter more than terror. But it does feature solid pacing, and it effectively suggests what it can't graphically depict. In the end, only its technical limitations truly set it apart from its big-budget brethren. Hackneyed plots and amateurish acting are, after all, the lifeblood of horror cinema. So if viewers find too much fault with this hopefully-witting B movie, they ultimately have a problem with the genre, not 'The Ridge.'

I admit that I watched this only because I am related to its leading man, Neal Bledsoe. He has since moved on to projects far more likely to burnish his reputation. But 'The Ridge' could rise again, as a re-released DVD prominently featuring his image in order to capitalize on his subsequent stardom. It happened with Naomi Watts's pre-fame thriller about a homicidal elevator, 'The Shaft.' When that happens, Neal will know he's truly made it.

Worse movie I've ever seen. The sound quality was poor, the script was even worse, and the acting was pathetic! Even the ending sucked pimentos! Obviously Neal Bledsoe has gotten much better, he couldn't have gotten any worse, that is for sure. Acting was way over the top when it came to fear ... totally over-exaggerated to the point that I couldn't watch the entire movie. I have far too much respect for my to put it through the torture of watching a film of this caliber! The sound reminded me of early soap operas ... empty. The scripting wasn't even worth calling this a B movie. All in all, walk away ... you'd get more entertainment by watching a dripping faucet.