WE may debate the ethics of basing a horror film on the nuclear meltdown that hit Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986. But as audiences, we do not deserve the pain that the filmmakers put us through. Now, that is unethical.
Wikipedia says the disaster is widely considered to have been the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. It adds that the official Soviet death toll of 31 is disputed, and long-term effects, such as cancers and deformities, are still being accounted for.
Chernobyl Diaries is simply a rehash of zombie movies, with the only difference being its location. It's written by Oren Peli, who created the Paranormal Activity series, and is directed by Bradley Parker.
A group comprising four Americans, a Norwegian and an Australian hire a thuggish-looking tour guide, Uri (Dimitri Diatchenko), who specialises in extreme tours, to take them to visit the abandoned town of Pripyat, which used to house workers of the nuclear plant.
The first sign that there's trouble up ahead is the presence of an army blockade, but the shrewd guide takes a back road, stopping to take in the scenery and admire a deformed fish.
The Pripyat in the movie is desolate, but I think it'd make interesting abstract photography, as did one of the four Americans in the tour.
Their stroll through the empty blocks of flats is broken by a bear attack. They head back to their van, but its wires have been eaten. How someone or something did that is unexplained.
Soon, a melange of problems descends on them in the dark, and the guide is killed while an American is injured.
The others seek to find help in the morning and come across a parking lot with abandoned vehicles in it. I presume the vehicles have been abandoned for some time, so it's a surprise when one of them finds a torchlight in perfectly good condition.
The four Americans are played by Olivia Dudley, Devin Kelley, Jesse McCartney and Jonathan Sadowski.
Dudley is pretty and bosomy in an unbuttoned blouse, so it's a shame the filmmakers didn't keep her character alive for a longer period.
The zombies come out at night, so there's a lot of running by the remaining tourists.
And in one scene that probably derived from watching Will Smith's I Am Legend (2007), the zombies even set a trap using a girl to draw attention away from their intended human victim.
The movie's secret, that the town is inhabited by humans affected by the radioactive fallout, is illogical.
How did they survive for so long without attracting attention? Can they really copulate with each other to get babies? What about the zombies who escaped from the Russian holding centre?
www.jeffleemovies.com (FB and Twitter)
Wikipedia says the disaster is widely considered to have been the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. It adds that the official Soviet death toll of 31 is disputed, and long-term effects, such as cancers and deformities, are still being accounted for.
Chernobyl Diaries is simply a rehash of zombie movies, with the only difference being its location. It's written by Oren Peli, who created the Paranormal Activity series, and is directed by Bradley Parker.
A group comprising four Americans, a Norwegian and an Australian hire a thuggish-looking tour guide, Uri (Dimitri Diatchenko), who specialises in extreme tours, to take them to visit the abandoned town of Pripyat, which used to house workers of the nuclear plant.
The first sign that there's trouble up ahead is the presence of an army blockade, but the shrewd guide takes a back road, stopping to take in the scenery and admire a deformed fish.
The Pripyat in the movie is desolate, but I think it'd make interesting abstract photography, as did one of the four Americans in the tour.
Their stroll through the empty blocks of flats is broken by a bear attack. They head back to their van, but its wires have been eaten. How someone or something did that is unexplained.
Soon, a melange of problems descends on them in the dark, and the guide is killed while an American is injured.
The others seek to find help in the morning and come across a parking lot with abandoned vehicles in it. I presume the vehicles have been abandoned for some time, so it's a surprise when one of them finds a torchlight in perfectly good condition.
The four Americans are played by Olivia Dudley, Devin Kelley, Jesse McCartney and Jonathan Sadowski.
Dudley is pretty and bosomy in an unbuttoned blouse, so it's a shame the filmmakers didn't keep her character alive for a longer period.
The zombies come out at night, so there's a lot of running by the remaining tourists.
And in one scene that probably derived from watching Will Smith's I Am Legend (2007), the zombies even set a trap using a girl to draw attention away from their intended human victim.
The movie's secret, that the town is inhabited by humans affected by the radioactive fallout, is illogical.
How did they survive for so long without attracting attention? Can they really copulate with each other to get babies? What about the zombies who escaped from the Russian holding centre?
www.jeffleemovies.com (FB and Twitter)