Review: Chernobyl Diaries

Score:C

Director:Brad Parker

Cast:Jonathan Sadowski, Ingrd Bolso Berdal, Nathan Philips

Running Time:88.00

Rated:R

Found footage films have the ability to be awesome.  Unfortunately, they also have the strong possibility of being total crap.  Fortunately for fans Brad Parker has crafted a somewhat dark and twisted adventure with his film Chernobyl Diaries, a story that will teach everyone that when the government says to stay out, its best to follow instructions.

Featuring a cast of unknowns and a premise that follows your standard found footage formula, Parker works hard to strike up tension amongst both the characters and their voyage into the otherwise unknown.  The camera work is a bit tedious, and there are many instances where any actual fight for survival would have dispatched the handheld for a slightly quicker get away strategy, but Chernobyl Diaries is a film, so you have to give the technicality of it all a bit of wiggle room.

I fortunately saw the film in theaters, and I must say that it loses quite a bit of its luster in its transition to the 'relatively speaking' small screen.  Parker successfully uses the theatrical experience to better his film, and unless you have your own personal theater, you will notice a drop off.

Still, with Halloween just around the corner, the film is a worthy companion piece - especially if you can convince your friends to join in on the fun and make up a drinking game to coincide with the shaking camera.  The Blu-Ray features a never before seen deleted scene, a viral video, and an informercial, all of which can be enjoyed with a mere rental if you are truly gun-ho about witnessing this mediocre adventure that generated most of its interest thanks the involvement of co-writer and producer Oren Peli - most known for his micro-budget blockbuster Paranormal Activity.  Without it, Chernobyl Diaries would have never made it to the big screen.

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About Stephen Davis

Stephen Davis
I owe this hobby/career to the one and only Stephanie Peterman who, while interning at Fox, told me that I had too many opinions and irrelevant information to keep it all bottled up inside. I survived my first rated R film, Alive, at the ripe age of 8, it took me months to grasp the fact that Julia Roberts actually died at the end of Steel Magnolias, and I might be the only person alive who actually enjoyed Sorority Row…for its comedic value of course. While my friends can drink you under the table, I can outwatch you when it comes iconic, yet horrid 80s films like Adventures in Babysitting and Troop Beverly Hills. I have no shame when it comes to what I like, and if you have a problem with that, then we’ll settle it on the racquetball court. I see too many movies to actually win any film trivia contest, so don’t waste your first pick on me. My friends rent movies from my bookcase shelves, and one day I do plan to start charging. I long to live in LA, where my movie obsession will actually help me fit in, but for now I am content with my home in Austin. I prefer indies to blockbusters, Longhorns to Sooners and Halloween to Friday the 13th. I miss the classics, as well as John Ritter, and I hope to one day sit down and interview the amazing Kate Winslet.

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