Film Review: Cherry Tree Lane

30th September 2010

I must say I was quite impressed by this movie. In my opinion I saw it almost as a British version of The Last House On The Left (remake), except… well the Cherry Tree Lane story plays off in a house and it’s a little tamer.

Writer and director, Paul Andrew Williams (London To Brighton, The Cottage), did a fantastic job in keeping me intrigued as to what the hell is going on in this thrilling movie. Although the milieu is not as vast as one would expect, they used the space quite well and in the end the message came across I think.

The cast played their roles pretty well, but Jumayn Hunter (Eden Lake) gave by far the best performance. He is very memorable and oddly convincing as to playing the bad guy. Rachael Blake (Derailed) showed her obvious ability as a professional actress throughout the movie, but then at the end her Ham-acting got the best of her and I simply shook my head. As for the other actors, I simply have to say they did what they had to do and kept me entertained.

However I must again criticise the ending… The film ran only 117 minutes, the ending was too open for my liking and I’m sorry (I’m trying my best not to write any spoilers in the review), but whoever tried to do something like that to my family would definitely feel my wrath… which would be slow and painful and far more bloodier than it was in Cherry Tree Lane. I feel that perhaps Paul Andrew Williams could have put in an extra 20 minutes of revenge into the film, maybe showed that the older generation isn’t as weak as what the younger generation might think. That’s only a suggestion.

Other than that little rant I feel it’s definitely worth a watch and I’d personally like to see more of Jumayn Hunter. He could certainly turn out to be a big name on the ‘villainous character’ list, which has names like Arnold Vosloo, Anthony Hopkins and Jack Nicholson proudly on display, if he harness his acting talent a bit more, maybe work on his accent and pick the right roles. Hollywood should take notice.

So yes, give it a watch, disregard the lack of blood and gore and of course the ending and keep in mind the fact that most of the actors are newcomers or still haven’t had a lot of experience in the industry and you’ll be just as impressed as I was.

RATED: 6.5/10

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