Chernobyl Diaries Review

Rated R (Violence, Some Bloody Images and Pervasive Language)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 26 Minutes

Cast-

Jesse McCartney-Chris

Jonathan Sadowski-Paul

Devin Kelley-Amanda

Olivia Taylor Dudley-Natalie

Nathan Phillips-Michael

Ingrid Bolsø Berdal-Zoe

Dimitri Diatchenko-Uri

Directed by Bradley Parker

Chernobyl, the perfect place for your next vacation!

On April 26, 1986, a fire broke out at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant located outside the city of Prypiat, Ukraine after a series of power surges and explosions, causing the graphite neutron moderator in reactor number four to ignite due to air exposure. A neutron moderator is a medium that reduces the speed of fast neutrons and turns them into thermal neutrons, which allows for a sustainable nuclear chain reaction involving Uranium-235. The fire from Chernobyl sent a plume of highly radioactive smoke fallout into the atmosphere, covering a large geographical area that included Prypiat and the western Soviet Union with approximately 60% of this fallout landing in Belarus. Prypiat was not immediately evacuated as the citizens went about their business, completely oblivious to what had happened but after a few hours, people began to feel ill. The evacuation formally began on the morning of April 27 where citizens were told to bring only what was necessary as the original plan was to let them return after three days but the relocation eventually became permanent. The personal belongings left behind by Prypiat’s approximately 50,000 inhabitants are still there even after twenty-six years since the disaster and it has been estimated that it will take 20,000 years before the area becomes habitable again. An exclusion zone (dubbed the ‘Zone of Alienation’) was subsequently created and covers approximately 1,004 square miles. The Chernobyl disaster is widely considered to be the worst in history and is only rivaled by the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011 due to the devastating Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Now, it serves as the inspiration for “Chernobyl Diaries” from director/producer/writer Oren Peli, the creator of the “Paranormal Activity” series which revitalized the found-footage subgenre. Filmed on a production budget of $15,000, the original “Paranormal Activity” received critical and commercial acclaim but the sequels elicited a mixed reception despite continued box office success. While “Chernobyl Diaries” features an interesting premise and some tense scenes, the film ends up being largely derivative and is marred by the sheer idiocy displayed by its characters. 

Three friends: Chris (Jesse McCartney), his girlfriend Natalie (Olivia Taylor Dudley), and their mutual friend Amanda (Devin Kelley) are traveling across Europe, stopping in Kiev, Ukraine to visit Chris’ older brother Paul (Jonathan Sadowski) before heading to Moscow. After a night on the town, Paul suggests that they go on an ‘extreme tour’ of the abandoned town of Prypiat, which was evacuated due to the disaster at the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986. Chris is vehemently opposed to the idea but he is outvoted three-to-one. They meet with their tour guide Uri (Dimitri Diatchenko) at his office, who reveals that he is a former Spetsnaz operative and has been giving guided tours of Prypiat for the past five years. A newlywed couple, Michael (Nathan Phillips) and Zoe (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal), round out the rest of the tour group and together they set out for Prypiat in Uri’s camo-painted van. After driving for two hours, the group arrives at a security checkpoint on the edge of the exclusion zone but the guards stationed there order them to turn back due to maintenance work being done. Uri decides to take a back road through an unmanned checkpoint into the city. The tour group spends a few hours exploring Prypiat and take pictures while Uri explains some of the local history before the city was abandoned in the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. As the group prepares to leave, Uri is unable to start the van and discovers that the wires have been chewed through. He radios for help but no one answers and as night falls, it becomes apparent that Prypiat may not be abandoned after all. 

The initial previews for “Chernobyl Diaries” left me intrigued and I was interested in what Oren Peli (who only serves as writer/producer) and first-time director Bradley Parker would bring to the table. The premise actually has some basis in reality as the exclusion zone is relatively safe to visit and guided tours can be provided as long as you have the necessary paperwork. Instead of shooting the film ‘found-footage’ style like in the “Paranormal Activity” films, Peli and Parker opted for a third-person, documentary approach and utilized ‘shaky cam’ to keep the action grounded and create suspense. With its post-apocalyptic backdrop, the ghost town of Prypiat is suitably atmospheric and Parker takes full advantage of this as the tour group wanders through the abandoned streets and explores the dilapidated buildings. There’s a quiet eeriness to the city and it’s hard to believe that the film was actually shot in Eastern Europe (mainly in Belgrade, Serbia and Budapest, Hungary) thanks to the excellent production design from Aleksandar Denic and Matthew Sullivan. These two went to great lengths to recreate Prypiat using a combination of practical sets and CG to fill in the blanks. 

Unfortunately, the rest of the film never lives up to its premise and setting, devolving into a blatant rip-off of “The Hills Have Eyes,” both the 1977 original and the 2006 remake! The latter half is spent with the film’s one-dimensional characters running around in the dark and behaving in an idiotic manner such as screaming someone’s name at the top of their lungs while being chased by creatures in the dark or turning your attention away from your friends just to satisfy your own damn curiosity. In fact, the group’s behavior defies all logical reasoning so it’s ironic when one of the leads remarks at one point that ‘we need to be smart about this.’ Maybe you should try heeding your own advice? Despite not being a found-footage project (there’s only one scene that takes place from the point-of-view of a video camera), the film borrows several elements from the subgenre such as the heavy use of ‘shaky cam’ to supposedly ratchet up the tension but all it does is create a blurred mess of struggling bodies. Many of the scares are ‘Boo!’ moments but they are so obviously telegraphed (What’s lurking behind the sheet?!) that it ultimately dilutes their impact. As for the creatures themselves, the revelation of what they are is uninspired and a serious letdown but it’s not like you ever get a good look at them thanks to the camera having a schizophrenic seizure. “Chernobyl Diaries” could’ve been a scary good time given its concept but Parker’s execution leaves much to be desired, making the setting a total waste given how dull the final result is. 

Much of the cast won’t be recognizable to casual moviegoers but Jesse McCartney is a singer/songwriter who starred in ABC’s now-cancelled daytime soap opera “All My Children” during the late 1990’s while Devin Kelly appeared on “The Chicago Code” in 2011, a crime drama on Fox that was also cancelled. Jonathan Sadowski was in the short-lived 2010 CBS comedy “S#*! My Dad Says” with William Shatner and Australian actor Nathan Philips made his American debut in 2006’s “Snakes on a Plane” alongside Samuel L. Jackson. Individually, the performances are competent enough but despite the improvised dialogue, the chemistry among the group often comes off as stilted and forced on-screen. None of their characters are particularly interesting to begin with nor are they sympathetic given the lack of common sense they frequently display. 

Released on May 25, 2012, “Chernobyl Diaries” has received overwhelmingly negative reviews with 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics found the film ‘mostly short on suspense and originality’ despite an ‘interesting premise and spooky atmospherics.’ There was a minor controversy leading up to its release where charity organization Friends of Chernobyl Centers, U.S. deemed the plot to be insensitive to those who were affected by the disaster but Peli stated that this not the case and that another charity group, Chabad's Children of Chernobyl, had already written him a letter expressing their ‘admiration’ and ‘kudos’ for his film. Whatever the case may be, it provided a nice boost in publicity. This is also not the first time where the disaster was used as a basis for an original story and the most famous example is the PC video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl from Ukrainian developers GSC Game World. Opening against “Men in Black III” during Memorial Day weekend, the film ended up with a four-day debut of $9.3 million and has earned $15 million domestically, which is a far cry from Peli’s “Paranormal Activity” films. However, the production budget was reportedly $1 million so it has already turned a small profit for Warner Brothers even with such low numbers. The real-life event that “Chernobyl Diaries” is based on will likely fascinate viewers but the film itself squanders all of its potential with well-worn horror clichés, offering little in the way of suspense or payoff.

Final Rating: 2 out of 5

“Uri, who is really excited to take us there, is an extreme tour guide. He's going to show us this city that was abandoned overnight…literally! They had no time to take anything. Factories, schools, stores, homes apartments—everything's still there. Imagine the photo shoot you could have there, Amanda.”