Best movie ever!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

The all predictable three unarmed, untrained girls take on, after initiating and starting trouble, 3 trained, armed army vets and naturally are able to beat them. Could of told you that 15 minutes into the movie. I suppose the "tittie" shots are supposed to help the male viewers. What a waste of film and effort. Missed Family Guy for this crap that I finally opted out on before ending. Trash.

"Black Rock" is a forgettable, derivative and largely insignificant little piece of survival horror/thriller, but it's not entirely hopeless and definitely better than most of my fellow reviewers around here claim it to be. Some of the things I read were undeservedly harsh and overly mean, especially taken into consideration that the film is never boring and contains at least a few good aspects (like adequate performances and one or two surprise twists). The basic plot is formulaic as can be, with a trio of girlfriends heading out to the island where they spent their childhood vacations together. But the times and their lives have changed tremendously, since Sarah – the blonde – attempts to resuscitate the friendship between Abby and Lou, as Lou slept with Abby's fiancée a few years ago. They run into three much younger hunters on the island, and Abby desperately feels the need to prove that she can still seduce boys. The evening ends with attempted rape and the accidental death of one of the hunters, but the remaining two want vengeance. "Black Rock" is the love-child of married couple Mark Duplass and Katie Aselton. He wrote and produced the film, while she directs and depicts one of the lead characters. Isn't that romantic? The good news is that the female characters are identifiable and realistic. They're whiny and pretty insufferable most of the time, but at least they aren't your everyday slasher stereotypes. The hunters are supposedly former Iraq soldiers, dishonorably discharged atop, but don't expect them to be mentally disturbing psychos like the Vietnam veterans in exploitation movies from the 70's. They're rather dull and spineless weaklings that can't even ambush a couple of quarreling city chicks. The film doesn't make optimal use of its remote island location and the violence is disappointingly tame. On the other hand I have to admit that, contrary to other films of its type, the deaths come as a surprise and the final shot is marvelously atmospheric.

I'd like to respond to reviewer rchoyle who asked, " I wonder if anyone else will be hating on these women?" Yes! What was everyone involved with this movie project thinking??First, these three actresses and the screenplay failed to convince me that these characters have ever been "best friends." They all appear to be self-absorbed and to have no feeling for any body else whatsoever. Their chatter chatter is vacuous and its irresponsible sexual content is disturbing.These girls could have had "stupid" written on their foreheads. These are the sort of people you might want to strangle, not root for! They go "camping" on a deserted island with no apparent thought for their physical safety overall. They invite three male strangers to join them for supper on the beach. One of them then proceeds to converse about her past casual sex. By this time, it's all too clear that there are no "good guys" and that this screenplay will bring out even worse in everybody.

Black Rock is one of those rare films that was written by, directed by, and starring the same person. Back in the early days of film, this was common, but today it's rare. While I admire all the work a single person puts into such an effort, the truth is that most of these films turn out to be a little strange, Black Rock is no exception. Three life long best friends decide to reconnect on a weekend retreat, to a small secluded island, where they had a lot of childhood memories. Once there, they run into a pack of hunters. Testosterone and alcohol mix, leading to a vicious assault, leaving one group a member short, and the other group on the run. Katie Aselton is the Writer, Director, & star of this film and while I admire what she put into it, the truth is that it was very predictable and didn't make a whole lot of sense. First of all, these three women, as children were allowed to play on a secluded island in the middle of nowhere, without supervision? It also doesn't make sense that the hunters would be there, when there was seemingly no wildlife, and of course there had to be exactly three of them. Finally, why did three women, spending a weekend alone on a secluded island, bring enough alcohol to fuel a Todd Phillips movie? The whole thing was just a little too weird to be believable, and when you add how predictable this film was, it's just a recipe for disaster. The one thing I liked was the performance of Jay Paulson. He's usually a guy who gets bit parts and guest appearances here and there, but he was very solid and the most believable of the six characters. Aside from that this is a slow, painfully predictable, mess of a film, that really doesn't have a whole lot going for it.