Offering a little slice of horror to start off the summer, writer/producer Oren Peli (the brain behind Paranormal Activity) revisits the found footage phenomenon and presents us with a collection of nasty-looking nuclear mutants on a European vacation. Many audience members are more than a little burnt out on the found footage structure but given our reliance on technology and social media these “self-shot” films are going to be more and more visible. They cost little to produce; are all about the “now”, and they often turn a profit – proving to be critic proof.
Chernobyl Diaries is no different. Admitting that, it must be made clear that Peli gets a number of things handled correctly. Suspense? Check. Terror? Indeed. Life-threatening adventure? Yes and yes. Surprises? Maybe not. Logic? Sometimes. Yet, for the footage to ultimately work and survive much must be made of mood and atmosphere. Here, Chernobyl Diaries absolutely delivers. Pripayt, a bedroom community for the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, is a great landscape of isolation to explore. Evacuated 48 hours after the 1986 disaster, the sense of dread and confinement smoking out from the disaster site is quite unsettling.
I’m not sure visiting the site of the Chernobyl disaster is on anybody’s bucket list but four American tourists – Chris (Jesse McCartney), his girlfriend (Olivia Dudley, and her best friend (Devin Kelley) - decide to make the trip regardless of the danger. It’s called an Extreme Vacation and, after being talked in to it by Kiev resident Paul (Jonathan Sadowski), a tour guide named Uri (Dimitri Diatchenko in a great scene-stealing performance) sneaks them into the ghost town.
Of course, Pripayt is not as abandoned as we are led to believe and witnessing the curious creatures that remain is part of the intense squeeze-and-skirm mojo the film emanates. While we may know what is likely to happen to these tourists – who pick up two more victims before the action really picks up – and we may know for what reasons, director Brad Parker keeps the action far from the mutants and keeps his audience on its toes.
Remember why The Descent worked so well? The filmmakers capitalize on the feeling of isolation swathed on so thick it is almost palpable with much of Chernobyl Diaries. The film isn’t without its faults – mainly in the format as there really is little “new” brought to this particular subgenre – but the film is decent enough escapism to provide a few genuine chills.
Summer just got spooky.
MPAA Rating: R for violence, some bloody images and pervasive language.
Runtime: 86 mins.
Director: Bradley Parker
Writer: Oren Peli; Carey Van Dyke; Shane Van Dyke
Cast: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal; Dimitri Diatchenko; Olivia Dudley; Devin Kelley; Jesse McCartney
Genre: Horror
Tagline: Chernobyl Diaries
Memorable Movie Quote: "Have you heard of extreme tourism?"
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Official Site: chernobyldiaries.warnerbros.com/index.html
Theatrical Release Date: May 25, 2010
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: No details available.
Synopsis: Chernobyl Diaries is an original story from Oren Peli, who first terrified audiences with his groundbreaking thriller, Paranormal Activity. The film follows a group of six young tourists who, looking to go off the beaten path, hire an "extreme tour" guide. Ignoring warnings, he takes them into the city of Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but a deserted town since the disaster more than 25 years ago. After a brief exploration of the abandoned city, however, the group soon finds themselves stranded, only to discover that they are not alone...
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Blu-ray Details:
Available on Blu-ray - October 16, 2012
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, German
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; French: Dolby Digital 5.1; German: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Single disc (1 BD); UV digital copy
Region Encoding: A
Do not adjust your television screens! Yes, the picture is dark. It’s designed to be and should be experienced as such. The 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer is a booming hit that retains its dark edges with solid blacks and shadows and manages to get its scary job done. Early on, there are some great and colorful scenes showing off the movie’s foreign location with vivid nighttime shots. Images are detailed and there’s a natural aura to faces throughout. With heavy fog scenes and a grey locale, the film is a marvel that it retains its darker shapes so readily. Dialogue is clear throughout the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack BUT there is a weak immersive quality that makes for a bit of a disappointment audio-wise. This puppy should be booming with kicking lows and it doesn’t do it aggressively enough.
Supplements:
Commentary:
Special Features:
Yawn. While the packaging comes with the Blu-ray, a DVD copy of the film, and a code to stream it via UltraViolet, there’s very little in the way of supplemental material. These featurettes are so short there’s little to say about them other then they are what their title suggests they are: a mock commercial, a brief look at Chernobyl, and a deleted scene. Fans of the movie will be interested the most in the strange alternate ending that is slightly more interesting that the theatrical version.
- Uri's Extreme Tours Infomercial (1 min)
- Chernobyl Conspiracy Viral Video (2 min)
- Welcome to Kiev (1 min)
- Alternate Ending (2 min)
