Monday, March 11, 2013

Chernobyl Diaries


Starring: Jesse McCartney, Devin Kelley, & Jonathan Sandowski
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Chernobyl Diaries is the Directorial debut from Bradley Parker and Written by the man who brought us four installments of Paranormal Activity, Oren Peli, but the only thing original about this film is it's location. A group of friends are traveling through Europe in what looks like a shot for shot remake of Hostel, when they meet a man who gives tours of the abandon city near Chernobyl. After being rejected entry into the city, the group sneaks in and runs into a whole mess of trouble. This is your very basic zombie film, with nothing extraordinary about it. You've seen this story a hundred times, but what makes Chernobyl Diaries different is that it takes place in Russia and features a talent cast. What's interesting about this cast is that none of them have any background in horror. Jesse McCartney is a singer who does mostly voice over work, and Devin Kelley is almost strictly a TV actress. Taking these role was something new for them and they really put all they had into it. I feel like it was wasted effort though, as this film really is nothing different. Friends on vacation go to a unique location and run into something supernatural that tries to kill them, it's been done over and over again. The unique location made for a great start to something, unfortunately the writers didn't know what to do with that, and the result is another ordinary film that gets an average rating.

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