MovieChat Forums > Chernobyl Diaries (2012) Discussion > 1st Half was great - 2nd half could have...

1st Half was great - 2nd half could have been

posted 12 years ago by ken-roberts-1
18 replies | jump to latest

The premise and buildup was done to perfection. Truly engrossing and truly scary. But then it turned into a Dawn of the Dead type thing . . . where all the kids were killed off in short order.

It would have been so cool to see that group of 3 deciding to jog the 13 miles and watch the others fight it out for their lives. Or to see some die and some live - and even have an exciting rescue.

They could havwe developed the "little girl" part and had her join them and help by giving them info on the mutants.

So many things could have been done - to stop this from turning into a dud. Man - so much promise undelivered on. Lastly, I wanted to see Yuri make it through the film - to me he had real star potential and really added a lot to the over tone of the film. But no - they killed him off first.

[–] marsella-nic 12 years ago

I agree with KR, i would have liked to have seen Yuri, or a group of 3 hike the 13 miles and have an exciting rescue.

Also, if there was some way to describe how the "patients" came to be, would have been good. You never really got to see them - even if you hit pause - but it would have added to the overall creepiness if you got to see them up close and personal.

[–] jumiguel 12 years ago

I acually prefer the second half because something was happening. Sure the build up was nicely done, but the first half is kinda slow. The premise and atmosphere are both great, though. I just wished the movie was a bit more gory in the style of The Descent and The Hills Have Eyes. I feel like Chernobyl Diaries doesn't want to be something it should be: a true Horror splatter movie. Instead, the filmmakers went in a different direction and created this suspenseful Thriller-Horror movie with mutants.

[–] Rena_Mahone 9 years ago

You and me are apparently the only ones who thought the second half was way better than the first. I don't get how anyone could prefer the initial 20 minutes or so (which consist of people travelling/wandering around/talking) over the super creepy and intense hour that follows. When the film started it was late at night and I was pretty sleepy; after the first half hour I was at the edge of my seat.
I don't think this movie "should have been", or wanted to be, a splatter, which by the way does not define how "true" a horror movie is. I'd take the resulting suspenseful result over a brainless splatterfest any day.
It surely reminded me of a less gory, more realistic, non-feminist version of The Descent, for its eerie setting and constant sense of dread, which as the movie progresses makes you think "oh my god, they're all fu**ed, no way there'll be survivors"... which ultimately leads to the film's bad end.
http://it.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bad%20End

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[–] FranLovesBetteD 11 years ago

My favorite thing about the first half was that mammoth bear, LOL! Did anyone else get scared? I watched the movie on my laptop, but I'm sure it must have been much scarier on a big screen, since it was totally unexpected.

Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop

[–] 11 years ago

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