Showing posts with label Matt Stokoe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Stokoe. Show all posts

23 August 2013

FF2013 Review: The Dyatlov Pass Incident

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Rating:
15
UK Release Date:
23rd August 2013 (Frightfest) 26th August 2013 (DVD Release)
Director:
Renny Harlin
Cast:
Richard Reid, Gemma Atkinson, Matt Stokoe, Luke Albright, Holly Goss
Buy The Dyatlov Pass Incident:
[Blu-ray] / [DVD]

In February, 1959, nine Russians hikers ventured into the Ural Mountains on a trip that should have been manageable for a group with their vast experience. Two weeks later, all nine were discovered dead. A search party found the hikers’ tents ripped open from the inside and all seemed to have died from hypothermia. Aside from a few fractures and broken bones, there appeared to be indication of foul play. With no compelling evidence or witnesses to account for the puzzling night, the case quickly fell into legendary infamy. Many have theorized that a small avalanche caught them off guard, forced them to cut through their tents and make an escape into their snowy surroundings where they froze. The riddle has baffled investigators, researchers and authorities ever since.

Now director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, The Long Kiss Goodnight) heads back behind the camera for his first feature film in two years, mixing fact with fiction in a tale that sees five young filmmakers retrace the steps of the doomed hikers in pursuit of the unsolvable mystery…

The Dyatlov Pass Incident is a part of Russian history that still remains shrouded in mystery, with many different conspiracies about just what happened on that barren mountainside – some say it was a simple as the nine trying to escape an avalanche, others say it was aliens, some say it was a strange government experiment that the climbers stumbled upon. It’s a story that is ripe for filmic exploration and it’s surprising that we haven’t seen more takes on this mystery…

The Dyatlov Pass Incident, which is shot in a POV, found-footage style yet forgoes the typical stylings of the genre (there’s more steadicam footage here than in a million other Blair Witch Project knock-offs for one), sits clearly in the conspiracy theory camp, positing that the deaths were connected to a huge cover-up that is some how connected to the USS Eldridge, the Philadelphia experiment, and a possible explanation for the existence of the Moth Man, the Yeti – in fact every monstrous “urban legend” that has ever existed!

Feeling very much like an extended version of The X-Files – sans Scully and Mulder – The Dyatlov Pass Incident shares a hell of a lot in common with the aforementioned Blair Witch Project, with many of that films key plot points relocated and recreated on the snowy Ural Mountains instead of the backwoods of America – which means Harlin’s film feels much more derivative than it should. Don’t get me wrong, there is a decent horror story here just bubbling beneath the surface of the film, and the conspiracies posited make for a great plot – it’s just a shame that Harlin’s insistence on shooting this found-footage style (although I can clearly see why the decision was made to shoot this way) detracts from what could have been a much more effective terror tale.

A decent found-footage flick ruined by its final third (when Harlin and co. resort to the cliched, oh-so-typical night vision shaky-cam), The Dyatlov Pass Incident is yet another straight to market horror that not even one-time action movie darling Renny Harlin can make memorable enough to stay out of the bargain bins 6 months after its release.

★★½☆☆

Review By Phil Wheat Nerdly.co.uk


7 August 2013

FF2013 - History Repeats Itself In the UK Trailer For Renny Harlin's The Dyatlov Pass Incident

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Yipee Kai Yeh Mother Russia! If there was a action thriller to be made in the 1990's you could bet Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) would be involved in some shape or size. Since then his career has sidelined into mostly direct to DVD affairs and for his latest we will be trekking wintery climbs of The Urals for the trailer for The Dyatlov Pass Incident.

Called The Devil's Pass in USA,The Dyatlov Pass Incident follows 5 American students who head into the Urals in Russia to investigate the mysterious deaths of 9 skiers in 1959 from extremely odd circumstances. 50 plus years on as the team try to uncover the mystery, strange phenomena start to affect them looking like history is about to repeat itself.

When 'Based On True Events' and found footage find themselves in the same sentence  it doesn't hold well amongst cinehepiles, however when done right it can be insanely stupid most of all highly entertaining. For those fortunate to have caught this have enjoyed the questionable CGI.

New Blair Witch Project? Find out on 23rd August when the The Dyatlov Pass Incident gets a limited release in UK &USA and Film Four Frightfest when the film opens the festivals first full day. The film stars Gemma Atkinson, Matt Stokoe, Richard Reid, Holly Goss and Luke Albright.


Synopsis

In February 1959, nine ski hikers went missing in a remote area of the Ural Mountains in Russia. Two weeks later all nine were found dead, half dressed and hundreds of yards from their camp, their bodies giving off high levels of radiation and bearing severe internal injuries, including broken ribs and fractured skulls, but showing no discernible external wounds or any signs of a struggle. Their deaths have remained a mystery, with rumours attributing the incident to everything from alien encounters, government conspiracies and the supernatural.
Now, five American college students are hoping to solve the mystery of what has become known as the Dyatlov Pass Incident by retracing the steps of the original ill-fated expedition and documenting their findings on film. But what they are about to discover in the remote, icy wastes will prove to be more shocking and unexpected that anything they could possibly have imagined.