The Canyon (2009)

I normally don’t do the spoiler thing, but I sort of have to here.  So I guess you have been warned.  Let me start off this review by letting everyone know that this isn’t a horror movie.  While not obvious the trailer and promotional materials do hint at the Canyon being a horror film.  This is actually a fish out of water survival story about a couple of city people heading off to the Grand Canyon and coming face to face with Mother Nature.  Nick and Lori have eloped and as part of their “adventure” decide to follow Nick’s dream of taking a mule trip into the Grand Canyon.  Unable to get a permit they end up drinking in a bar where they meet up with a crusty old guide named Henry (played by the always awesome Will Patton).  Henry agrees to take them into the canyon, and even takes them off the beaten path for a special experience.  Here is here the movie kind of hints at Henry maybe being a bad guy and that he is setting them up.  But what happens is that there is an accident that leaves Henry hurt, and them stranded without their gear.  The rest of the movie is Nick and Lori trying to survive in an environment that they were unprepared for. 

So again while the Canyon isn’t a horror film I enjoyed it for what it was.  This is a grueling and nasty little movie about how unforgiving the wilderness can be, and how badly most of us used to modern conveniences would do dealing with it.  One of the things that I thought was going to annoy me actually ended up being interesting.  As each day passes they put up on the screen that it is now Sunday or Monday.  Like I said initially that annoyed me, until I realized that it was sort of reinforcing how quickly everything goes to hell.  So it kind of won me over at that point. 

The movie is very long at over an hour and a half, but it never felt slow to me.  There is always something interesting happening on screen and the cast really does a fine job with their roles.  As good a Patton is this movie is really carried by Eion Bailey (Nick) and Yvonne Strahovski (Lori).  I remember Bailey from Band of Brothers, where he did some decent work in the supporting cast.  Here he is very convincing and does well with the charcter.  As a big fan of the show Chuck it was nice to see Strahoviski in another role that sort of stretched her abilities.  Now I’m not sure how hard the shoot was, but both do a wonderful job with characters that are put thru hell.  By the end of the movie they look exhausted and I totally bought them being stranded. 

There are some decent special effects here.  You have some gruesome looking snakebites, and a couple of dead wolves that look fairly good.  But the best effects gag in the movie is incredibly nasty and had me cringing.  For the first time in any review that I’ve ever written I’m just going to mention it and let you guys discover it for yourself.  Much of the power of the Canyon comes from this effect and it’s aftermath, so I can’t bring myself to spoil it.  All I can say is that I recommend the Canyon.  It is another entertaining release from the fine folks over at Magnet.  For more information check them out at http://www.magnetreleasing.com/index.html

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2009 John Shatzer