Product Description

Nine friends retreat to an old Scottish mansion for a weekend of partying without knowing the violent history of the ancient edifice. After finding a book documenting the home's history, they find that the former owner--a Scottish patriot--had his eyes gouged out after the mansion was forcibly taken from him. As the fun-minded teens try to push the grisly story out of their minds, they are overtaken by strange behaviour that results in gruesome trouble for each of them. Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton stars in this British-made slasher entry.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65555 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-12-01
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 81 minutes

Synopsis
Nine friends retreat to an old Scottish mansion for a weekend of partying without knowing the violent history of the ancient edifice. After finding a book documenting the home's history, they find that the former owner--a Scottish patriot--had his eyes gouged out after the mansion was forcibly taken from him. As the fun-minded teens try to push the grisly story out of their minds, they are overtaken by strange behaviour that results in gruesome trouble for each of them. Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton stars in this British-made slasher entry.

Customer Reviews

unfortunate
There are three main problems with this film. The first is the lack of acting ability from the most of the cast couldn't act their way out of a plastic bag and I'm not just taking a pop at Paris Hilton (who does flakey blonde bimbo quite well- she's made a career out of it).

The second is the story. It's not that the story is a bad one, it could have made a great film, if it had been treated right. It could have been made into a dark, creepy, truly fightening film, but the (very) young producer and director seemed to be aiming for a buddy film feel. Horror and buddy film - they can mix, I've seen some good horror films that have managed it, but in this case, it was a step too far - particularly for such an inexperienced director.

The third problem (and in my view the main problem) is the characters are particularly unlikeable - it was set up at the beginning that they were supposed to be childhood school friends and the only actor that even attempted this portray this friendship was Lex Shrapnel, smiling and joking with the the rest of the cast, while the others managed to pull off an "I've never met you before and I don't like you" position with ease all the way through the film.

I admit that I bought this film (second hand) because I'm a Lex Shrapnel fan and I further admit he's been in some good ones and some bad ones, this has to be one of the worst. He tried his best but was let down by the others, and definitely appeared uncomfortable in the few scene he had with his screen "girlfriend" Paris Hilton and her bad acting skills and bimbo attitude.

One thing in Ms Hilton's favour is she dies well, and in this film she dies early.

By the end I wasn't bothered if any of them survived. There is no twist at the end. It is a very basic film that had the potential to be so much more, what a shame that the director was so young and inexperienced.

Hilton? More like an over-rated bed and breakfast!
I must confess I'd never heard of Paris Hilton until I watched this DVD - it's true, I don't get out much. I watched it because I'm Scottish and I write the odd murder mystery and ghost story, and it's always a good idea to remain aware of what's being published and filmed so you don't regurgitate something which has already been 'done to death'. Fortunately, even at my very worst, I'm unlikely to churn out anything as bad as this. It's tat, presumably quickly thrown together to exploit the apparent notoriety of the aforementioned French hotel made flesh.

Ms.Hilton makes a brief appearance before being rapidly dispatched - not before we endure a 20 minute scene-setting dinner in which the characters reveal that they are all exceedingly affluent, old school friends with no purpose in life other than to end up as fodder for a slaughter-fest. And not before the aforementioned young woman briefly appears déshabillé (almost).

Nine elegant young things assemble in a Scottish mansion to celebrate the 21st birthday of one of their number. A couple of minions serve them a sumptuous repast and leave them with copious amounts of alcohol. Ms.Hilton's escort then has a disturbing experience in a bathroom, discovers an ancient volume left over from the defeat of the Jacobites in 1746 (wrongly described as 1745 in the film), and launches into a fit of murder.

At best, it's interesting. At worst, and in the main, it's excruciating. The reason for the murderous assault appears to be some desire to pay back the English for their treatment of the Scots. Now, I might not be entirely unsympathetic to such an idea ... but, frankly, it's appallingly done. As an explanation of why this murderous spirit should return to exact retribution at this particular moment, it's extraordinarily tenuous.

In terms of horror, it's too slow, too predictable, too unbelievable, and lacks any sense of Scottishness. The mansion in which it takes place seems to have more rooms and corridors than the entire Hilton chain, never mind the Paris one. The ghost, or spirit of retribution, has probably spent the last two hundred and fifty years wandering around looking for someone to kill, and has finally got lucky ... just when there was a film crew available. Frankly, if it was going to kill anyone, it would have been the interior designers who refurbished the place!

It's difficult to sympathise with any of the characters. They're plastic. They have little to say, and, though they're pretty, they fail to capture your sympathies. You sit, praying that they'll hurry up and die just so you can discover if the end is as innocuous as the one you anticipate. One death leads to another and you wonder how the survivor is going to explain things ... "well, officer, it appears there was this troubled spirit living in a book".

Tedious, hastily conceived and constructed, lacking in any sophistication or depth (despite its allusions to existentialism and Schroedinger's Cat), and about as Scottish as Japanese whisky - i.e., no character, no flavour, and instantly forgettable. The only nightmare this will cause is angst at the realisation you wasted good money and several unrecoverable minutes of your life watching it. In short, a turkey with a kilt on (McHilton tartan, of course)!

What a waste of one of my 3 dvd rentals for this month!
Its rare that I am moved to put a review here but I feel duty bound to warn unsuspecting horror fans against wasting their time with this movie. Its only worth watching if you really like Paris Hilton and even then you can stop watching after the first 20 minutes. This honestly is fine for small children to watc - I would rate it PG - I've seen scarier Poirot Episodes on ITV!

Its run of the mill to begin with and mildly diverting - it has promise which is why I gave it 2 instead of 1 star, but it just gets worse and worse. I supoose it can't have helped that the director who was alos the writer is only 13 (well thats how old he looks and sounds in the rather rubbish extras you get on this dvd)