If you have seen the trailer for Chernobyl Diaries, you will know that four young Americans go on an unofficial tourist excursion to Pribyat, the (supposedly) deserted town which was evacuated suddenly when the neighbouring Chernobyl reactor went up the Swannee. You will also know that Pribyat doesn't appear to be as deserted as it was made out to be, and things go horribly pear-shaped.
The film itself doesn't really give you much more than that, it just gives it to you over a longer period of time. Having seen the trailer, my money was always on radiation-raddled mutant cannibal survivors, but I won't tell you whether I was right or wrong.
This film was co-produced and co-written by Oren Peli and, like his Paranormal Activity films, it subscribes to the theory that less is more. Thus there is a lot of exploring, creeping around derelict unlit buildings, escaping from pursuers who are mainly noises, and the like.
This is a really dark film in terms of not very much light rather than tone, although it is not exactly cheerful. Anyone who has watched more than half a dozen horror films from The Evil Dead onwards will recognise this as a variation of the last-man-standing Cabin In The Woods genre, with a rather different setting.
The ending doesn't really provide the payoff the audience is entitled to.
I read a lot of reviews of horror films, and some people get upset because a film doesn't turn out to be what they wanted it to be, and I think that is going to happen here. On the other hand, I think it turned out to be exactly what it intended to be - a fairly low key, mounting dread, unnamed pursuit kind of movie with an unusual and effective setting.
The film itself doesn't really give you much more than that, it just gives it to you over a longer period of time. Having seen the trailer, my money was always on radiation-raddled mutant cannibal survivors, but I won't tell you whether I was right or wrong.
This film was co-produced and co-written by Oren Peli and, like his Paranormal Activity films, it subscribes to the theory that less is more. Thus there is a lot of exploring, creeping around derelict unlit buildings, escaping from pursuers who are mainly noises, and the like.
This is a really dark film in terms of not very much light rather than tone, although it is not exactly cheerful. Anyone who has watched more than half a dozen horror films from The Evil Dead onwards will recognise this as a variation of the last-man-standing Cabin In The Woods genre, with a rather different setting.
The ending doesn't really provide the payoff the audience is entitled to.
I read a lot of reviews of horror films, and some people get upset because a film doesn't turn out to be what they wanted it to be, and I think that is going to happen here. On the other hand, I think it turned out to be exactly what it intended to be - a fairly low key, mounting dread, unnamed pursuit kind of movie with an unusual and effective setting.