Chernobyl Diaries (2012)

Directed by: Bradley Parker | 90 minutes | horror | Actors: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Dimitri Diatchenko, Olivia Dudley, Devin Kelley, Jesse McCartney, Nathan Phillips, Jonathan Sadowski, Milos Timotijevic, Milutin Milosevic, Ivan Djordjevic, Ivan Jovic, Zinaida Dedakin, Ivana Milutinovic, Alex Feldman, Kristof Lychnikoff, Jay Kash

It is of course no secret that the ‘Paranormal Activity’ films have done their makers well. With total revenues of more than $500 million, the first three installments in this horror series were a huge commercial success. Oren Peli, the creative brain behind the ‘Paranormal Activity’ series, was ready for something new after the first three parts. In his own words, inspired by photos on the internet of the surroundings of the former Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, he now comes up with ‘Chernobyl Diaries’.

In ‘Chernobyl Diaries’ we meet American couple Chris (Jesse McCartney) and Natalie (Olivia Dudley) who are on a trip through Europe with Natalie’s best friend Amanda (Devin Kelley). When they meet Chris’ brother Paul (Jonathan Sadowski) in Kiev, he comes up with the idea of ​​booking a day trip to Pripyat through a company specializing in extreme tourism. Pripyat is a village right next to the reactors of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that has since been turned into a ghost town by the radioactive radiation. Together with another couple, Michael (Nathan Phillips) and Zoe (Ingrid Bolso Berdal), and accompanied by the local guide Uri (Dimitri Diatchenko), they leave for Pripyat only to find out that there is more going on in this abandoned town.

There is nothing wrong with the setting of ‘Chernobyl Diaries’. The completely extinct Pripyat (actual recordings did not take place here, they were performed in parts of Serbia and Hungary) is dark and sinister enough to be scary. Unfortunately, the emphasis is a bit too much on ‘ability’, because ‘Chernobyl Diaries’ cannot be called particularly exciting. The timing of the scares is quite uninspired and you often feel them coming far too far in advance. In this case it is not ghosts but mutated beasts and people who have to take care of the danger. Think of a bear that shoots at the youngsters out of nowhere or long chases through dark, old factory corridors and you have a good picture of the film. The camera work, which was largely filmed with a handheld camera in the style of ‘Paranormal Activity’, is certainly not bad, but also cannot really contribute to the tension that the film tries so desperately to generate.

Unfortunately, the characters themselves are no more than superficial young people who meet all the stereotypes we have of American young people. Their rather strange behavior during their stay in Pripyat mainly serves as an example of how not to act in a similar situation. For example, at one point in the film, it’s strange to say the least to see Uri storming into the dark alone while the mutated beasts outside are bursting with mutated beasts. And so ‘Chernobyl Diaries’ contains more behavior of characters that feel extremely illogical.

What remains is a film that is only of interest to fans of similar films. If you like movies like ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘The Devil Inside’, you’ll probably enjoy yourself with ‘Chernobyl Diaries’. If you do not belong to this group, then it is wise to leave this film for what it is.