From the title alone I came to the very incorrect assumption that this New Zealand based horror was going to be based around someone stuck in some sort of time loop. Instead, Loop Track (directed, written and starring Thomas Sainsbury) was harder to quantify. For much of the ninety five minute run time it has the feeling and atmosphere of a horror, yet there isn't really anything on screen to back up that feeling, something that is reflected with the troubled protagonist who is convinced of a hidden danger lurking in the trees.
Ian (Sainsbury) is an anxious and cowardly man who has headed to Evers National Park in New Zealand in order to get away from people, hoping the solitude will allow him to collect his thoughts. He has chosen a loop track - a large days long hiking route that circles round in a loop through a large wood. His desire to be alone is soon scuppered with the arrival of Nicky (Hayden J. Weal - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey uncredited), an overly confident and social man who refuses to let Ian do the long hike on his own. The two soon encounter two more hikers; newly-wed couple Austin (Tawanda Manyimo - The Meg, Ghost in the Shell) and Monica (Kate Simmonds, no relation as far as I'm aware!), and they all decide (against Ian's better judgement) to travel the loop together. As the hike goes on, Ian becomes more and more convinced that the group are being followed, but his mental state also seems to be increasingly unravelling, with his paranoia and wild imagination leading the others to fear for his sanity.
Outside of Ian believing the group is being stalked there isn't much horror here for much of the run time. You could say this was a bit of a slow burn, with much of the movie just being the hike, interspersed with the group resting in cabins along the route in the evening. There is a definite comedic vibe to parts of this, with it darkly comedic that Ian wants nothing more than to be alone, yet his social awkwardness and paranoia leads to him having to travel with the three strangers. The character of Nicky was almost a comedy character, with his constant wild boasts leading to many funny moments such as him drinking river water and insisting he has an 'iron stomach'.
The element of a thriller comes from the four hikers not really knowing each other. Ian's erratic behaviour certainly ran alarm bells, and it is never really established just why he is off hiking so obviously unprepared. There are some red herrings along the way that hint other members of the group could have nefarious motives, though these are often swiftly sorted out. Ian wasn't really a likeable character, but then nor where the others.
It did begin to feel like the protagonist might make for a film that follows an unreliable narrator. The viewer is shown what Ian sees, yet it is never really clear if there is anything actually there in the long lingering shots of long pathways. It also felt strange that despite his insistence of being followed none of the other characters see or hear anything that he does. The slow burn does reach a breaking point, and while I cannot go into details for risk of spoilers, the final twenty minutes break out into thrilling action with a reveal that I hadn't been expecting, this includes some fun special effects and other such things. The whole way the film has a really nice look to it, the hiking trail is beautiful, and the feeling of isolation is well realised. Part of me did wish that there had been more given to Ian's backstory, it is never made entirely clear what is up with the character.
Loop Track was a different type of film to what I had expected, but I enjoyed the hike and especially love how the story all turned out. The characters might not have been the most likeable, but there was something amusing about Ian and his struggles to get some solitude that made for a film that captivated my attention all the way to the end credits. Loop Track came to ARROW and limited edition Blu-ray on 8th July.
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