"Vertige" is a very entertaining movie with a lot of intense suspense in the first half that is comparable to "Cliffhanger". Apart of some generic character plays, the first half especially convinces with an interesting camera work that perfectly captures the vertigo and the fears of of one of the characters. By watching these scenes you really can identify with the character and you won't feel at ease as well. You feel as if you were climbing up the mountains of Croatia and suffering from vertigo for real. The first half also shows us many great landscapes captured by a very good camera work once again.
The second part of the movie turns from a suspenseful action drama into a solid horror movie that can be compared to the legendary "The Hills Have Eyes". The transition is well developed enough to not feel like a sudden rupture but it might still mislead some people. Those who expected an intense mountaineer feature may be mixed up and feel disappointed by the second half. Those who awaited a rather generic adult horror movie might already get confused by the first half of the movie. The mixture of both genres is very particular and I personally equally adored both halves but this experimental idea is rather courageous and might not sell well. It can be considered as a mistake from a commercial point of view. From an artistic point of view, the idea is worth it and turns out to be rather intriguing.
In this second part of the movie, there are some gore and splatter scenes but fortunately the movie rather focuses on the atmosphere and the fate of the characters than on a generic slaughter fest. The negative thing is that the fate of the main villain is not explained and the screenwriters could have created a few better ideas and a more profound character. On the other side, even though the movie has a radical change of style and genre, the flick is very dynamical and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end even though there are no big twists or surprises in the movie that might push this flick above average. The ending is a little bit too generic and has some very weak and random explanations for what we have seen in about ninety minutes.
There is a lot of potential in this feature and it's surely entertaining but it could have been better with an additional running time of maybe ten minutes and an improved ending. If you see this movie for a cheap price or if it is shown on television, don't hesitate to buy or watch this but don't spend more money on it and don't expect anything outstanding.
