Five mountain climbers come across an eastern European girl buried in a chamber in the Scottish Highlands.

As they try to get help, they are being picked off one by one by the ruthless kidnappers.

Until only Alison (Melissa George) is left with the young girl. By which time she has made it to the village where a pagan festival is taking place.

With the kidnappers after her, the only assistance she may get are the people hired to negotiate with the kidnappers and retrieve the girl. She is the daughter of a Serbian war criminal.

This low budget thriller has marvellous views of the Scottish Highlands. It really is great photography.

In some ways the early part of the movie recalls two Sylvester Stallone films. Cliffhanger and First Blood. It also pays homage to movies such as Deliverance and Southern Comfort.

A Lonely Place to Die is a gripping Scottish Discomfort led by frightening ruthless villains played by Sean Harris (Mr Kidd) and Stephen McCole (Mr Mcrae) who are no strangers to these types of kidnapping.

In fact Mr Kidd has a chilling speech of a boy he kidnapped and made the mistake of bonding. When the parents did not pay up he made sure he killed the boy quickly and painlessly while playing football.

The conclusion of the story takes place during the Beltane festival with innocent bystanders getting shot. It is a weaker part of the story but it does allow other characters to come together for the finale.

The festival itself is another homage, this time to the folk horror of The Wicker Man. Thankfully the original and not the Nicolas Cage abomination.

The trailer for this film made it look like an excellent little low-budget mountaineering thriller, set in the Scottish wilds. Melissa George and buddies being stalked by a gang of human traffickers, no doubt being picked off one by one by a rifle with telescopic sights. Hard to get wrong, right? Well, no, actually, because A LONELY PLACE TO DIE is the perfect example of a good premise going astray.

The opening sequence of this film could accurately be described as nail-biting. The subsequent events, setting up the characters and then the big twist in the woods – all are portrayed accurately. The chase through the wilderness scenes are fine. Then, at around halfway through, this film suddenly falls to pieces. The writers just haven't got a clue how to sustain momentum. The action moves to a town, and that turns out to be the worst possible thing they could do, because then it becomes a ludicrous shoot-em-up.

Melissa George, by now a seasoned veteran of horror/thrillers, makes for an engagingly tough heroine. Sean Harris has always been an ice-cold villain and doesn't disappoint. But wait, what's all this? A whole new trio of leading characters, brought into the action late on, suddenly taking over the limelight? Despite Eamonn Walker being a gifted actor, the shift in focus just doesn't work. And if I see ONE more scene in which the characters meet up with a cop who then gets shot, I'll scream.

By the end, this is tripe of the highest order, and a real disappointment. It started off so well too. Once again, check out the Spanish thriller KING OF THE HILL to see how it SHOULD be done...

Mountain climbers Rob (Alec Newman),Ed (Ed Speleers),Alison (Melissa George),Jenny (Kate Magowan) and Alex (Garry Sweeney) run across a suspicious pipe coming out of the ground in the Scottish highlands. They find a girl who doesn't speak English held as a prisoner. Rob and Alison make a dangerous descend to contact the authorities while the rest of the group make a long walk out. An unknown person sabotages the climb and kills Rob. The group reunites but are hunted by the bad guys.

The first hour is an amazing thriller. It's a great setup which builds up to an amazing place. I love Melissa George as this heroine. It's a great movie and then they get to town. It falters as the movie which started out as a stripped down outdoors thriller turns into a messy crossfire. There are too many new characters being injected late in the movie. It doesn't fit the other parts of the movie. It should have stayed in the wilderness. It shouldn't have a whole new set of characters. It could climax at a small settlement. This could have a great indie thriller.