Ditched

'Ditched' is an interesting and unusual Canadian horror story with a unique directorial style and a truly superb electronic soundtrack by Clayton Worbeck (I wish it was available to buy - can't find it anywhere).

At the centre of this lies a storyline that is not unfamiliar. The twist at the end places the tale in familiar territory, but where this succeeds is in the way the tale is told. We begin at a point where the action has already started and the cast of characters attempts to piece events together alongside the audience. The dialogue is sometimes irritating (too much of the 'we can *do* this' grandstanding).

The cinematography is unusual and striking, with key moments and characters often obscured by sickly yellow/red lighting. Viewers should be warned that the continual flashing of lights might induce additional discomfort - but although overused, it works very well ensuring that nothing appears to be quite real.

The third act is when the increasingly confusing narrative becomes a mix of lengthy exposition and events that ask too much of the audience. Far too much talking deadens the atmosphere, which is a shame. A definite case of the journey proving more enjoyable than the destination, in my view. My score is 5 out of 10.

An ambulance carrying some dangerous prisoners crashes late one night, leaving both police, paramedics and convicts stuck in the woods. Then things get worse when they discover there are those waiting for them in the darkness who have lethal intentions towards them.

It's a low-budget flick which is effectively one main location, i.e. The stricken ambulance where the survivors of the crash try and make it out alive. I know it's a nit-pick, but the film is well too stylishly lit for deep in the woods during the middle of the night. Bright neon lights of all colours seem to light up every scene which - although looking pretty - just doesn't seem real.

But, apart from that very minor gripe, the cast do their jobs well enough. There are some revelations as the characters try to figure up what they're up against and why they're here. The budget is low. I was almost about to turn the film off when I saw what was waiting for them in the woods, but the film quickly pointed out that those lurking in the shadows weren't supposed to be anything you - technically - couldn't see in real life, so I gave the film a pass.

It was entertaining enough. The main antagonist over-acts a bit and sometimes comes across as a little 'too British' (I have no idea of the actor's ethnicity, so I have no idea whether he was putting on the accent. It's not a bad story if you're watching it on a streaming platform - just be sure to ignore the plot holes and the ending is a little vague (but I may just have missed something). Perhaps I wasn't in the mood to be very forgiving on this one as the fact that the computer generated blood effects seemed to be the 'wrong way round' in my opinion, i.e. A pistol shot to the head completely destroys the whole human head whereas a shotgun blast to the face leaves the victim completely intact, minus some blood spatter at the rear.

Oh boy, how could I´ve been so wrong? I just assumed Christopher Donaldson's debut feature film and writer of the story, perfect recipe for disaster. And I will say it again, I couldn't have been more wrong. I was pretty impressed with how the whole film came together. And this movie came even with a brilliant twist at the very end. Did not see that one coming. With an estimated budget of CA$1,000,000 my guess is that this is like the best movie you could have made, the most bang for your buck. "Ditched" opens on a brutal car accident that has left an ambulance overturned. Paramedic Melina (Marika Sila) is the only passenger conscious among two other paramedics, two police officers, and three prisoners. Things don't seem incredibly awful, that is until Melina starts to realize that they may not be alone out there in that ditch. In fact, nobody seems to be who he is or was. I really liked the characters in this movie and from time to time the dialogues were very good. A long way to go but if this is your first movie, expect some fireworks in the future. The cast and their acting performance was very decent. However the acting performances of Marika Sila (Melina) and especially the performance from Kris Loranger (Franson) were just inspirational. I am now just waiting to see more from Christopher Donaldson. And I have a feeling he will deliver.... To those who like this genre, a must-see!

Interesting but not great. I liked the twist (no spoilers here) I don't feel like seeing this was a waste of my time but I probably wouldn't watch it again.

It was better then i first expected, after watching the first 15 minutes i thought this movie would be a b-flick "trying" to be an a-flick.

It ended up being something in between, the story is good and mostly unpredictable.

There could have been some improvements on how broken car glass looks like on the side doors of a car, we all know it breaks in to a million pieces.

But what brings this movie down a bit is the hysterical lights flashing from the emergency vehicles wich penetrates my whole living room, the movie should be put out with a warning sticker to epileptical people, it's immense and to me just disturbing.

Aside from that i find it very watchable, especially for people who like the horror/mystery titles, with a bit of splatter to it!

And if there would be a second movie? Yes i would watch it, with sun glasses.