Image copyright © by Marcus Trahan

A Perfect Getaway

(2009)

When I say this is a better-than-usual thriller involving people out in the wilderness in mortal danger for their lives, you should bear in mind that the bar for that sub-sub-genre of scary movie has been set very, very low. That said, I have to say I enjoyed it up until the usual last ten minutes, when events blast their way over the top and into la-la land. But before that, the development was good, as three couples meet on a hiking trip on a remote trail on Kauai and it seems likely that one of the couples was involved in a gruesome murder a few days ago on Oahu. But which one? There is more characterization that I’ve come to expect, and the solution, when it comes, seems to be honestly arrived at, though unlikely. Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich are quite good. I have to mention a bit of psychotic-killer trail lore here for the ladies in the audience, though. If you’ve just pinned a homicidal maniac to the ground with a knife through his hand, don’t run off and leave the knife sticking in him so he can pull it out and come after you with it. Stomp on his face and push him off the cliff he’s hanging over, okay?