Fridae

Of the two horror films opening this week, EdenLake is the vastly superior one.

Directed by James Watkins, this well-crafted British chiller stars Michael Fassbender and Kelly Reilly as a loving young couple who plan a relaxing trip to Eden Lake, hoping to get away from demands of their city lives. But their peace of mind is quickly destroyed when a sadistic gang of teenagers arrive with a boombox, a savage dog and some knives�

Despite the sometimes obvious dialogue ("We have to do something!"), EdenLake actually does a neat job of keeping up the tension and jolting its audience frequently. The cast is uniformly good and believable, and the direction and cinematography are fairly slick.

But frankly, after WolfCreek, Funny Games, High Tension, Hostel and the endless Saw sequels, we wouldn't be surprised if audiences have had enough of these psychologically-intense nightmares. Some will enjoy this edge-of-the-seat, nail-biting stuff; others may just get a headache.