A Lonely Place to Die is not afraid of cinematic stereotypes

Director: Julian Gilbey
Starring: Melissa George, Ed Speelers, Sean Harris
***

There is much to admire about Julian Gilbey's action thriller. Lush Scottish vistas, a great premise and an all-action plot that races along are all present, but this is offset by poor character development and a lack of originality.

It's a schizophrenic film that is part Cliffhanger, part The Descent and part Commando - it's not afraid of cinematic stereotypes. Starting off by using the dangers of rock-climbing to create exhilaration, the mood changes when five friends discover a young Eastern European girl buried alive in the middle of nowhere.

From this rich premise, it descends into a run-of-the-mill action adventure in which super snipers chase the climbers while the evil head honchos get mad behind the scenes.