Chernobyl Diaries

CHERNOBYL DIARIES

I wanted to like it. I tried to like it. I didn't like it. 

Nothing to mimic...Photo by Heather, seeing Battleship.

2012, Horror/Suspense, Rated R

Distributed by Warner Bros.

          Horror movies don't do much for me usually. There has to be something there, behind the gore and scares, that makes the film worth watching. It can't be chock-full of cliche Hollywood horror moments. Many horror films these days are just gory and dumb. When I see trailers for films like Chernobyl Diaries with awful names and no stars, I am skeptical. Everything about Chernobyl Diaries seemed like a gimmick to me. Pretty much everyone knows about Chernobyl, so that's their vehicle for a few cheap scares and gore galore. It wasn't until about halfway through the picture that I realized it was no ordinary horror film.

          You've got your American tourists in Europe: two girls and a guy. They meet up with the guy's brother who lives two hours outside Chernobyl. They take a tour with another European couple and a guide named Uri through Pripyat, the town where Chernobyl workers lived and abandoned overnight when the reactor malfunctioned. They call it "extreme tourism". I call it extreme idiocy.

          This is my main problem with the movie. It takes the whole "people are stupid in horror movies" to a new level. Don't go to Chernobyl, simple as that. I have no sympathy for these characters at all. They all deserve their grizzly fates. But once you put that aside, as I eventually did, you'll see there are some excellent characters and supremely well-crafted suspense at work. Besides the idiocy of agreeing to take a sketchy tour through Chernobyl, everything evolves quite naturally from dangerous fun to near death. The way the characters react to the situation once they are thrown in headlong feels very realistic. I enjoyed that aspect. Also, it was nice to the see the worst actor in the film die early.

          The suspense really builds to an excruciating level until about two-thirds in. Once you realize Chernobyl Diaries is succumbing to uninspired Hollywood cliches, the suspense fades. Up until that point is a showcase of extraordinary camera work. This movie is the perfect blend of standard Hollywood and experimental handheld cinematography. Many scenes are filmed in one continuous take that demonstrates how talented the cast truly is. One in particular, when they realize their van has been sabotaged, is very intense. The characters go from happy-go-lucky to "we're trapped in Chernobyl" all in one shot and it's incredibly convincing. All the actors deliver pitch-perfect performances as are on display in this and many scenes like it.

          For me, the movie was excellent until what is chasing and killing them is finally revealed. I won't say what it is, but it's not even remotely surprising for this kind of film. It could have been anything until an hour into the movie and that's what kept me interested. Once I realized it had been done before, I lost quite a bit of stamina and began to wonder when the credits would roll. The ending especially was just daft. Many times it could have been different, but veered right off into familiar territory. The menace that is killing the main characters is incredibly cliche, but the execution of the film itself was hyper-suspenseful and well-crafted.

          This movie was an intense experience, one I can't say was bad or boring or uneventful. I don't like the film Chernobyl Diaries but I enjoyed the experience of watching it for the first time. And I really mean experience. This film is also unique in that it subtly follows one of the characters through the whole movie. Whenever the group splits up, the camera goes with one of the original American girls. Once it leaves the others it does not return to them until she does. At one point she is alone in an abandoned kitchen being stalked by something grotesque and bloodthirsty and the camera never leaves her side. You see the others trying to motion for her to follow, but only from her point of view. It was an interesting aspect to the film. It was consistent and made many scenes that much more terrifying.

          Side note: If you really still want to see this movie, you should go now. It will be so much better in the theater than at home. It's an experience made for the big screen.