I just watched this last night on DVD and I was pleasantly surprised by how taut and tense the film was. The atmosphere created by the location of the film play a major role in the creepiness factor here - rock faces look twisted and contorted, the murky green of the water becomes steadily more and more foreboding and the general sense of isolation is excellently conveyed by the sweeping vistas of the lovely aerial shots. I think that some audiences might not like the fact that much of the background of the characters is only hinted at and not spelled out. If you are observant you will pick several things up about the various people on the tour boat but, having said that, some things are left completely unexplained. I think that this works to the films advantage, though. A lean running time is a key factor in making a film like this work and 'Rogue' ticks this box by clocking in at just over 90 mins. The music of the film merits special mention, too. Often a film like this suffers from having no distinguishable score to carry it but 'Rogue' has some quite lovely pieces accompanying many scenes. If anything, I found the final act of the film (in the Croc's lair) the least satisfying part of the film. This third act feels like an incongruous mainstream gesture in an otherwise smart horror flick. I also detected perhaps a wee nod to Lee Tamahori's extremely under-rated man vs. nature flick 'The Edge' here. Overall, the tension of this film is great and the performances of the actors are uniformly solid. A good horror flick.
Review of Rogue
