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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Starz / Anchor Bay
Salesrank: 24077
Released: August 9, 2005 |
| Our Price: $4.60 |
| Used Price: $5.00 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Two teenage boys driving to the beach run into trouble when they accept the invitation to a party from two teenage girls.
Genre: Horror
Rating: UN
Release Date: 9-AUG-2005
Media Type: DVD
The Locals Reviews:
I forgot how good this is! 
2009-12-06 - This is one of those reviews where I feel kind of limited in what I can say about the movie itself because I don't want to give anything away.
But it does have suspense, great characters, a good storyline and never succumbs to a common flaw of many modern horror movies. Far too many horror movies these days try to explain the mysterious elements of their stories but fail to provide an explanation that makes sense. The element of mystery is usually scarier anyway. We know that there's supernatural elements, and how they work as much as is necessary. It doesn't matter that we don't know why they work they way they do or how they came to be.
The bad? Well nothing serious; the only minor problem is that a couple of times things we learn could have been more effective if they'd been delayed slightly.
It had actually been about sixteen months since I last saw this flick and I forgot how great it is.
You need to pay attention to it, but it will pay you back. 
2009-12-01 - The Locals (Greg Page, 2003)
Every once in a while there's a scene in a movie that really affects my rating, even though what catches me has absolutely nothing to do with the movie in any way; it's just some tossed-off comment or other that gives me another view of a different culture or what have you. There's a great scene like that in New Zealand filmmaker Greg Page's amusing supernatural comedy/drama/thriller The Locals; the two main characters, Grant (John Barker, from Eddie's Million-Dollar Cook-Off) and Paul (The Tribe's Dwayne Cameron), are talking about the former's recent breakup. Grant dances around the subject for a while, but finally reveals that his girlfriend broke up with him because he didn't like The Lord of the Rings (the movies, not the book). Paul scoffs in disbelief, not that his girlfriend did such a silly thing, but that Grant didn't like The Lord of the Rings. I was momentarily amused and ready to write the whole thing off and go on to the next scene, but then I thought about it a little more, and realized that in New Zealand, that might actually be a valid reason for breaking up with someone. After all, Peter Jackson's vast, sweeping magnum opus is not only three very pretty films in New Zealand; for a number of years, it was a very large part of the island's economy, as well as being a paycheck for a large number of New Zealand actors and actresses (including more than one of Cameron's costars from The Tribe). So, yeah, in America, it;s the equivalent of dissing General Motors, not because you have some major ideological claim against them, but because their cars just don't excite you all that much. So I had this minor, but noticeable, shift in cultural consciousness while watching the film that I don't really expect anyone else to get while watching it, and that probably throws off my rating, but so be it. I love little epiphanies like that, and am more than willing to give credit where credit is due. (It also helps this movie that I'm a slavish Tribe fan, and so Dwayne Cameron in anything will up its stock for me automatically.)
The plot: Grant and Paul head out to the coast to do some surfing in order to take Grant's mind off his recent breakup. The two of them get lost, however, and end up on a dead-end road in the middle of nowhere. All well and good, time to turn around and find the highway again, except that two lovely young things, Kelly (30 Days of Night's Kate Elliott) and Lisa (Aidee Walker from the upcoming Drop Dead Gorgeous in her first big-screen appearance), come along all decked out in eighties finery and invite our boys to a nearby party. Just the thing, but while Grant and Paul are following the ladies, they almost get sideswiped by a crazy driver and end up in a ditch. They head off to look for some help, but stumble upon a farmer slitting his wife's throat. He sees them, and the bulk of the rest of the movie has Grant and Paul trying to evade a posse of local vigilantes who want to make sure the secret stays buried. That, however, is only the tip of this particular weird iceberg...
No, I know what I just described does not sound like a comedy/drama kind of thing, but while I'm sure this was originally marketed as a thriller, it just doesn't feel like one. Yes, sure, there are car chases and people chasing other people with big knives and stuff that blows up, but you should realize pretty early on that not all is as it seems here, and there's a greater mystery underlying it all. That (as well as a growing relationship between Paul and Lisa as the two sets of friends bump into one another again and again over the course of the evening) quickly becomes the focus here. I know I should probably be castigating Page for not being able to keep all these eggs in one hat successfully, but as a mystery picture, with the exception of some silliness in the final few minutes that tears a huge hole in the entire plot, it works relatively well once Page starts throwing curve balls at your head. As well, the main characters are quite well-written, as are some of the supporting characters, which makes it easier for the audience to get more involved with this thing than they otherwise would. Not a bad little movie at all this, though you should go in with no expectations as to what you're getting; it's much more fun that way. Needless to say, as well, it's a must for Tribe fans. ***
REVIEWS ARE OVER RATED 
2009-11-11 - This movie is pure garbage, a waste of time and money. The review are over rated I put it in the gargabe. I would not make anybody watch this piece of .......
CONFUSING!!!! GOES NOWHERE
2009-09-29 - The word on this film was positive, but the film is a negative. Confusing goings-on with a clunk of an ending. This one goes straight to resale after a boring and laborious one- time viewing . A NZ flopper!
YOU MUST ADD THIS FILM TO YOUR HORROR COLLECTION!!
2007-07-07 - Have you ever watched a movie and then just sat there and thought, WOW!! THAT WAS AWESOME!! Well, THE LOCALS is that kind of movie.
THE LOCALS is an amazing film on so many levels. This was my first dip into a New Zealand horror film and oh, what a ride!! Another amazing fact, this was writer/director Greg Page's debut feature film--the man has mondo talent--Hollywood should take notes!
I slipped onto THE LOCALS by accident. I was skimming through the horror titles and for some reason, it caught my eye. Thank the lucky stars it did. The plot starts off simple enough--Grant has been dumped by his girlfriend so his best friend Paul convinces him to go on a surfing weekend. They meet some girls who invite them to a party, but unfortunately they have an auto mishap with a ditch. Don't cha just hate it when that happens? I know I do, especially when it's late at nite and I'm on a dark deserted road. The boys take off down a dirt road to try and find help, instead, they find trouble. While peering in a window, they witness a farmer murdering his wife. Unfortunately for them, he sees them also.
Now, I know that you probably think that you know how the story ends. I know I did. I was wrong. THE LOCALS has more twists and turns than you can imagine. The story was fresh with a supernatural element. The gore factor was surprisingly limited, but there was such an atmosphere of evil and the potential for violence, I held my breath through most of the film, just waiting for the axe to fall. And the bonus was I actually cared for the characters, I was rooting for them. I can't tell you the last time I actually felt that way about horror film characters.
So, give THE LOCALS a chance. Add them to your horror collection and I think you'll agree--this is an instant modern horror classic. An amazing piece of film. I can't wait to see what GREG PAGE does next for an encore.
BUY THIS MOVIE!!!!
