Chernobyl Diaries (2012) (Minor spoilers)

[BakuryuuTyranno]

Put in "bad movies" as the "good" things about it are only "good" within certain parameters

Good:

It actually tries to scare the audience rather than using jump "scares", pointless gore etc.

It wasn't another knockoff of "The Ring", "Saw" or "Paranormal Activity", like most "original" Hollywood horror.

Bad:

See those low praises? There's maybe a 50/50 chance "Chernobyl Diaries" is the best Hollywood horror of the year.

Oh, and almost no characterization.

Specific:

It's pretty much a combination of "Urban Explorer" and "Night Skies".

"Urban Explorer" emulations come from the "extreme tourism" premise.

"Night Skies" emulations - er, the group spends quite some time inside their vehicle with something outside, two characters leave it, one returns claiming the other dead, characters almost run directly into danger attempting to rescue save a relative, someone is injured too badly to leave so the group is split and must find help, the injured character's girlfriend was last seen alive being captured by a surprise attack from behind.

Arguably, the best character died first, as in, its arguable that's something in common with "Night Skies", in which the first victim might not have been the film's best character. "Chernobyl Diaries" kills the only character with any notable personnality first.

[SynapticBoomstick]

There were so many plot holes and confusing bits in Diaries that I still can't figure it out over a week later. The mutants don't act consistently, the animals don't act consistently, the amry doesn't act consistently, and hours of this brewing in my head produced an explanation for all the holes and irregularities that was so far out it blew my mind. I could go into detail but spoilers would be rampant.

[Conf]

Watched this afternoon just to escape the warmest day of the year so far (there wasn't much else to choose, as in Italy, movie season ends in may to restart in september). Anyway, it was halfway between Hostel and Umberto Lenzi's "Nightmare City". Not so bad as I heard, but nothing particularly good neither. This movie makes me wonder, as Hostel did, about the perception of Europe that americans may have, and the perception of americans themselves. I wasn't offended but it seems to me that this kind of movie is telling americans that the world outside America is marked "here be dragons" (all european countries seem stuck on a post-WWII or communist regime and full of monsters waiting to prey on naive americans) and that american youth itself are a bunch of morons so ignorant about the world that they deserve the grisly ending they get. If I was an american boy I'd probably be offended by the way Hollywood depicts me (especially on teen comedies).

[Chainsawmidget]

I wasn't offended but it seems to me that this kind of movie is telling americans that the world outside America is marked "here be dragons" (all european countries seem stuck on a post-WWII or communist regime and full of monsters waiting to prey on naive americans) and that american youth itself are a bunch of morons so ignorant about the world that they deserve the grisly ending they get. If I was an american boy I'd probably be offended by the way Hollywood depicts me (especially on teen comedies).

Anything that takes place outside of medium sized cities and towns are a setting perfect for monsters.  Even without adding the horror elements, foreign cultures are by their very nature something that isn't familiar to people outside of that country.  Unfamiliarity brings unease.   Which sets the tone for horror.  I've been to a few other countries before.  In places like that, it would be easy for people outside the culture to be uncomfortable.  It would be hard to tell exactly if something is wrong or just feels that way because it's unfamiliar. 

You get pretty much the same affect setting movies in isolated small towns or by having people come to the big city for the first time.


As for American youth being morons that deserve to die, well, that's just a staple of the genre and it's by no means strictly an American thing.