I watched the premiere of "One Way Trip" at the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Films and generally this means that the film contains particular qualities and/or unique trademarks. At least, that's what the festival board always claims when they announce their program and that's also the minimum you should expect from a special genre movie event, right? That's why I was surprised to see that this film is so incredibly
ordinary! "One Way Trip" isn't necessarily a bad flick, but it's very run-of-the-mill and basic slasher without many noteworthy elements. It's a Swiss horror film, yes, and it's true that those aren't too frequent but that's hardly a reason to make this a must-see. And oh yeah, it's in 3D! But then again, which movie isn't filmed in 3D these days and, besides, the makers totally didn't make full use of the possibilities linked to this gimmick. But hey, I repeat, if you're ever in the mood for a straightforward stalk-n-slash picture that is predictable and redundant but nevertheless entertaining, "One Way Trip" is definitely a considerable choice. The film teaches us that Switzerland has apparently more to offer than just cheese, cuckoo clocks and beneficial tax rates! The Swiss mountains during spring are allegedly the ideal location to consume mind-altering mushrooms. That's exactly the plan of an eight-headed bunch of youngsters when they head out into the countryside in their old and ramshackle Volkswagen van. The first evening starts out fantastically with everyone being high and happy, but hardly a few hours later these crazy drug addicted kids find themselves struggling to survive. When one of them returns to the campfire with his head bashed in, they seek help and arrive in a remote farmhouse. Obviously, that's the one place they should avoid. The characters are almost as one-dimensional as most of the special effects and every attempt to generate tension is undermined by the fact it's all so foreseeable and numeric. There are a couple of nasty death sequences, for the twisted genre fanatics among us to enjoy, but nothing truly outrageous or repulsive. "One Way Trip" is a conventional and behaving slasher, and if you'd like to check out genre films from the same area, perhaps give "Dead in Three Days" a shot. That film and its sequel aren't masterpieces neither, but at least provides more brutality and shock-effects. Both films also star the beautiful lead actress Sabrina Reiter, by the way.
