The other day, I watched a movie called Eden Lake，which left me completely cold, though I’m a total horror movie fan.

Released in 2008, Eden Lake is a horror film from England. It is written and directed by James Watkins, and stars Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender and Jack O’Connell. In this movie, Nursery teacher Jenny and her boyfriend Steve take a romantic trip out to a remote lake called Eden Lake, which is enclosed by woodlands and seemingly deserted. The couple's peace is shattered when they unintentionally enrage a gang of obnoxious kids. In order to revenge, the gang steals the couple's belongings and vandalizes their car leaving them completely stranded. When Steve confronts them, tempers flare and he suffers a shocking and violent attack. Until now, the couple’s pleasant trip was turned into a relentless game of cat-and-mouse. Unfortunately, Steve was tortured to death. Fleeing for help, Jenny desperately tries to evade those young pursuers and find her way out of the woods. With severe injures, she finally arrived at residential areas, asking for help. However, the terrible thing is that the owners of these houses belong to those loutish youths’ parents. In the end, Jenny was killed cruelly by those parents. The crime happened in Eden Lake may be covered up forever. What a terrifyingly brutal final result!

The movie is so realistic that I find it difficult to see that how it can be classified as horror movie. I would call it a social documentary. In every country, there are always teenage gangs who usually appeared in the streets, bars, or recreational occasions and juvenile delinquency has never been an issue to be avoided. It’s very possible for all of us to confront them, and sometimes the monsters are just too close to home.

Initially, I found Eden Lake disturbing and irritating. After pondering, however, it makes me think. What causes those kids to become so desensitized to violence? Are parents ultimately responsible for their child's actions? My answer is yes. Brett, the lead of the gang, has parents who continuously repeat the F words and show little respects for children. The only educational method they employ is yelling, scolding and beating. Particularly they still take the “my child can do no wrong!” attitude towards any trouble their kids cause. With such parents, how can you count on the kids to be good person? Perhaps the director tries to appeal to us for the importance of sound education with this extreme movie.