DEVILS PASS: 2013: HORROR: Sticking to my steady diet of horror movies every night since October 1st, I've been trying to find some obscure ones to recommend. It's been somewhat difficult but I dug into Netflix and kept cuing up different types of horror movies and came across two which were interesting. The first is Devils Pass, directed by Renny Harlin, who also directed Die Hard 2.
Line 'em up and let's get to some horror..
It takes on a psuedo documentary style in which the characters are trying to uncover the mystery of the disappearance of scientists in the Dyatlov Pass incident, which is a true story about an expedition that turned into a catastrophe. As the movie progresses, the viewer gets to see the action both in third person and as first person. In some ways this gives the movie more of a direct impact. This style, while nothing new, presented some excellent effects during the end of the movie.
Sure, they look happy now, but guess how many are still alive at the end.
The character development was acceptable, letting you know just what you need to know about the characters in order to actually care when they go through the terror that awaits them. One of the positive aspects of Devil's Pass is that it doesn't waste any time getting the players to Russia where the action takes place. Since the location of the incident is high in the mountains, they are forced to hike up on foot. The scenery was excellent at this point and there are many great shots. As soon as they start, things go awry.
Up they go, but will they come down?
Ignoring all the warnings of various locals on their way to the mountain region, the college students start to realize that perhaps they made a mistake after their first night of camping. They find a huge foot mark that seems inhuman. While I was watching this, I thought this part was a little cliche, but as the movie progresses, it becomes an important plot development.
After the first night, things start to go wrong for the students.
Since they are filming a documentary, the shift becomes largely first person now, with one of the main characters, JP, doing the filming. At first, it was a little abrupt switching between third person to first, but it became smoother. The second day proves worse for the expedition, because unexpected phenomena manifests making their GPS, compasses, and other instruments fail. In addition, there is radiation on the mountain.
Their equipment starts to malfunction when they arrive at Devils Pass.
After the second night, an avalanche kills one of the students and injures another one. It appeared like it was intentionally done by others trying to keep the students away, but away from what? It turns out that there is a bunker hidden at the site. At this point, this is all I want to say about the actual movie, because it has some unexpected plot twists and the ending is pretty good. This is where the movie really gets it teeth though, so it's worth mentioning what impressed me.
They find a bunker and are forced to go inside.
The part in the bunker was intense. It starts out completely dark and they are locked in from the outside by the military who was trying to kill them outside. Now, all the filming is done in first person, which make the scenes even more creepy. The lights start to go on but often blink on and off, creating more tension. As they go deeper, they start to realize that they aren't alone in there.
The scenes in the bunker were well done.
This was the high point in the movie and I dare say one of the better uses of light/ darkness with aspects of being chased and claustrophobia that I have seen in awhile. The director took advantage of the first person perspective here. Once the creatures come out, the movie takes on its true horror element with bravado. The creature looked gruesome and had some interesting abilities.
The creatures looked gruesome and their abilities were a nice touch.
At this point, the director gives us an interesting explanation governing the demise of the scientists in the Dyotlov Pass incident because the students discover some items hidden away in the lab. While it was very far fetched, it made for an unforeseen twist in the movie. It also set the stage for a great ending.
As they start to find out what happened, they start to die.
Since the whole point of the movie is trying to understand what happened to the lost scientists, I won't give anymore of the plot away. While this movie didn't blow me away, I can recommend it, since the ending was so compelling and it was based on actual events: 63%
WAKE WOOD: 2011: HORROR: Once I started watching Wake Wood, I immediately thought that it was very similar to Pet Semetary. In many ways, I wondered if it was a complete copy of the movie or if it was different enough to stand on its own.
Wake Wood was similar to Pet Semetary
Ignoring the similarities though, I tried to watch the movie on its own merits but kept wondering just how far this apparent plagiarism was going to go. Although the director David Keaton presents a good movie with some great special effects and camera shots, did he think that no one was going to notice this?
The scenery in Wake Wood set the stage.
One of the things that stands out immediately in watching this movie is the scenery. Keaton has a keen eye for setting the stage for a suspenseful, scary movie. A couple lose their daughter and they tempt fate by delving into a pagan ritual to bring her back. But is she going to be the same? Ok, at this point, I have to ask, isn't this the EXACT plot of Pet Semetary?
After losing their daughter they want to bring her back to life..
The movie takes a bit of a different turn here, instead of having to bury the girl in a grave, they have to use a fresh corpse and artifacts of the actual body of the deceased child. The parents dig up the girl's grave in the rain and take off one of her fingers. I will note that the ritual portion of the movie demonstrated an over the top element of gore that will be displayed later in the movie as well. It was gruesome.
A pagan ritual brings the girl back to life.
The little girl does indeed return, for only three days, and after that she is to return to the grave. The only issue is that there were some elements that the parents didn't disclose about the girl that cause dire consequences for the parents and the inhabitants of the small town in Ireland called Wake Wood. Once an innocent looking girl who seemed like she couldn't hurt anyone, the young girl becomes a killing machine.
Sure, she looks innocent now, but what will happen after she returns for the dead?
The killing during the last stages of the movie were over the top with gratuitous gore and displayed a complete lack of abandon. Keaton went off the deep ending with some of the deaths, especially the one of the woman who initially warns the family about the ritual.
The little girl gets some new found strength when she returns from the dead.
Looking through some of the reviews of this movie, no one seems to acknowledge the similarities between this and Pet Semetary, released in 1989. Both movies involve parents who lose a child and decide to bring it back and the child tries to kill them. Period. What also surprised me is that overall, the movie was well received with some above average ratings. Again, this is due to Keaton's excellent direction, but I still can't get over the fact that it was too similar to King's novel and the movie on which it was based: 61%
Pet Semetary was much better anyway...
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