_**When a horror legend suddenly becomes REALITY**_

Five college youths take a getaway to a luxurious vacation home on a scenic ridge and somehow incur the wrath of the legendary Ridge Runner, a murderous woodsman.

"The Ridge" (2005) is a micro-budge film (costing just $2400) written and directed by Brett Haley, who also stars as the semi-pathetic Blake who's rejected by the woman he craves and disrespected by his brother (Neal Bledsoe) and another dude before going off to brood. Will his suppressed rage conjure up a beast from his Id that will give birth to the rash, murderous actions he could only daydream about with his conscious mind à la "Forbidden Planet"?

I was wondering if that was how the film would pan out, but I'm not going to say.

Anyway, "The Ridge" begins with all the hallmarks of spare change budget fare, like poor sound, hand-held cams, less-than-stellar acting and dull dialogue/drama. The entire first half of the movie (43 minutes) is like this, which will tempt some viewers to tune out, but that would be a mistake because everything kicks into gear at the halfway point and Hayley's talent is showcased from there out. Seriously, the change in quality is so great that "The Ridge" is almost like two movies. Drama obviously isn't Haley's forte, but suspense/horror definitely is. The quality score by Austin Donohue accentuates the suspense.

Lydia Hyslop as Cara is a highlight; she's sweet & beautiful and (almost) worth the price of admission. Neal Bledsoe plays the main dude; I hear he went on to greater things.

Someone compared "The Ridge" to the Friday the 13th movies and said that it was better than some of the sequels. While it's true that it's a taken from the Friday the 13th mold, it lacks the budget of any of those films and is therefore one-dimensional and amateurish by comparison (the first half, at least). It also lacks the humor of some of the sequels of that franchise. It's totally serious, particular once the killer is revealed. Speaking of which, I like the fact that the Ridge Runner is presented as a mysterious killing machine with zero attempt to explain his (or her) insane actions, except for the legends spoken about him, but only in hushed tones late at night when the fires burn low.

THE FILM RUNS 87 minutes and was shot on a ridge in Iron Mountain, Michigan, which is located in the northwestern part of the state near the border of Wisconsin.

GRADE: First half C- and second half A for a balanced grade of B-