These are some expanded thoughts from this mini-review at HorrorSquad.
I haven’t seen
LONG WEEKEND, Colin Eggleston’s original 1974 Ozploitation film about a couple who venture into the wild for a few days only to discover that Mother Nature’s creatures great and small don’t take kindly to their intrusion, so I can’t speak as to how different Jamie Blanks’ update on the film is. However, I imagine it can’t be too different considering the screenwriter
Everett De Roche can be found over at IMDb
stating, “I wrote both the original and the remake, and yes, Director Jamie Blanks insisted on a verbatim version, although I was able to insert a few more spooky bits.” Now that begs the question of whether or not a near verbatim remake was necessary at all. Again, I can’t attest since I haven’t seen the original for comparison, but what Blanks delivers is an interesting enough diversion from typical stories of this ilk.
I don’t think NATURE’S GRAVE, as LONG WEEKEND has been retitled by Screen Media Films for distribution in the States, is as engaging as Blanks and Roche’s last collaboration, STORM WARNING, but it’s a likeable adult take on the nature-gone-amuck subgenre. This isn’t some Syfy Saturday premiere of all animals versus all humans, it’s a scaled story of a couple going through a severe rough patch in their relationship that happen to be assaulted by eagles and ants and mysterious shadows in the water. James Caviezel and Claudia Karvan are both good in it and there is a palpable air of dread to the entire thing that I admired more on a second go, after I was no longer expecting all animals versus all humans.
