45,000 years ago a small (and conspicuously multi-ethnic) group of humans arrive on the shores of a cold, wet land and determine to make it their own. But when it becomes apparent they are being spied upon - and one of their number disappears from beneath their collective noses - it seems likely whoever (or whatever) already lives there is unwelcoming.
Horror is a genre pretty much as old as cinema itself, so it must be difficult to do anything new with it: by setting their story in the far-distant past, the writers have certainly provided a new twist. But that innovation is outweighed by the predictable, which may or may not keep horror fans happy: there is the tense scene where a child goes missing but is playing a joke; there are several shots of characters being knocked to the ground in what initially seems a threatening manner but is actually a friend saving them; and the identity of the final adult survivor will surprise very few viewers. The mystery's ultimate solution does not stand more than cursory examination - and as for the moral of the story (because there is one, oh yes indeed), it is so blindingly obvious and delivered so clunkingly the viewer feels he has been battered about the head with a prehistoric stone club.
But there are several good points about the film: the menacing atmosphere is maintained mostly with sound and shadow - the threats themselves rarely appear on-screen (which, given one of them looked like a live-action Fred Flinstone, is a good thing). The made-up language in which the characters speak adds to the authenticity (although will put off viewers who do not like sub-titles). This film is worth seeing at least once.
Horror is a genre pretty much as old as cinema itself, so it must be difficult to do anything new with it: by setting their story in the far-distant past, the writers have certainly provided a new twist. But that innovation is outweighed by the predictable, which may or may not keep horror fans happy: there is the tense scene where a child goes missing but is playing a joke; there are several shots of characters being knocked to the ground in what initially seems a threatening manner but is actually a friend saving them; and the identity of the final adult survivor will surprise very few viewers. The mystery's ultimate solution does not stand more than cursory examination - and as for the moral of the story (because there is one, oh yes indeed), it is so blindingly obvious and delivered so clunkingly the viewer feels he has been battered about the head with a prehistoric stone club.
But there are several good points about the film: the menacing atmosphere is maintained mostly with sound and shadow - the threats themselves rarely appear on-screen (which, given one of them looked like a live-action Fred Flinstone, is a good thing). The made-up language in which the characters speak adds to the authenticity (although will put off viewers who do not like sub-titles). This film is worth seeing at least once.