Blood Trails
By Oz Brown, Blockbuster.co.uk

Cycle courier Anne has a brief fling with stranger Chris, and, in an effort to assuage herself of the guilt, heads for the mountains with her boyfriend, Michael, on a cycling trip. Things take a menacing turn, however, when the couple are stalked by a silent-yet-lethal Chris, whose goal, it seems, is to hound Anne and continue the twisted affair. What transpires is a frantic chase through the mountains as Anne desperately tries to reach safety before Chris can catch up with her.

To label this movie as a modern day slasher would be incorrect -- there are a few gory moments but most of these are implied or happen off-screen. Also, the victims number but a handful. It also avoids the "mixed-bag" character clichés of that genre -- it's fundamentally one against one here. Instead, it aims more for the brooding atmosphere of something like Deliverance -- for the most part the focus is on the Anne and her ever desperate struggle to evade her stalker.

A pleasing aspect of this movie is the LACK of music used -- the sounds of the natural surroundings and Anne's panicked breathing elicit more emotion than orchestration could manage in this situation, and contrast nicely with the hectic opening city scenes.

Rebecca Palmer handles Anne's descent into panic well and Ben Price portrays Chris with understated menace, natural not overacted.

Worth a watch.

This title has been rated 49 times.