YellowBrickRoad

For the first 70 minutes of this film, I thought I had found my new favourite horror movie. There are sequences here that will take your breath away - IF you are a fan of true psychological horror and not the mainstream CGI crap that hits the multiplexes. The concept is fascinating, and the set-up is superb. The sound design of this film is flawless, and has one of the best uses of music I have ever experienced. The music... it's skin-crawling, and is almost a character in the movie. Likewise, the violence and gore. Very underplayed, timed well and not gratuitous. But when it hits, it's incredibly effective.

But then something goes awry. The plot becomes muddled and almost self-important, the actions of the characters don't really add up... it almost feels like a different film than the intense, slow-burn of the first two acts. It reminded me of 'Insidious' in this regard; incredibly good for the first two thirds then becomes too hokey in its final reel.

It's a shame, because this had the potential to be a genre classic. As it is, the unconvincing third act makes this an effective but ultimately unsatisfying film.

I'm divided about this movie, which is reflected in my rating. It has very intense moments, but it's not always able to sustain the tension. Sometimes the intensity borders on the annoying, sometimes it crumbles into boredom. None of the characters grew on me and in my opinion the ending is unsatisfying and badly executed. On the other hand I witnessed some really good performances from some of the actors. The overall atmosphere is dense and maintained during the movie. The storytelling avoids explanations and therefore is unnerving the spectator - in a positive way if you are in it for the chill factor. Don't expect this movie to be gory since it is not - blood is flowing, but in a mere matter-of- fact way. It's not trying to weave in vengeful ghosts, lost souls and other quasi religious ideas, which in my opinion get employed to perpetrate the idea of possible redemption. It tells the story of existence being hell with no possible exit since we are its prisoners and its creators. The movie stuck with me long after I watched it and it make me think - that's worth a solid 6 points.

I found YellowBrickRoad to be deeply unsettling, like a nightmare that tugged at something deep inside me. This is definitely a slow, mostly subtle horror film, and not for everyone, but I found it better than most that I've seen. This was a surreal, disturbing experience that took a group of ordinary people in a pretty ordinary setting and situation, and gradually morphed it into an anxious world without reliable reference frame in which we're not sure what is real. If I like a movie, and I did like this one, I tend to strongly empathize with the characters and their situation, and I found myself feeling the anxiety of questioning reality and my own grasp of it. Shortly after watching the film I went to sleep and proceeded to have what seemed like hours of dream obviously derived from the movie.

Comparable films are "The Blair Witch Project" (the original one--for obvious reasons when you see this one) and "Session 9" for the slow, character-driven build and growing sense of dread.

Yes, there was one plot detail which strained credibility, was a little distracting, and I think could've been easily avoided, but I was willing to overlook that given that otherwise the overall experience worked for me. Regarding the ending, I know many posting here found it unsatisfying. I feel strongly about endings and usually like them to be clear and unambiguous, and I liked the ending of this film. Having said that, I understand why some would not like the ending, but it made sense to me and sealed the horror of the story.

Bit of a mix between Lost and The Shining, I really enjoyed this actually. In fact I love it when I find a really low scoring film on IMDb that I enjoy! Quite creepy, incredible sounds / score, especially the constant old style music that plays incessantly through the woods, driving the characters insane.

Quite light in gore (no bad thing) but the few scenes there are are fairly shocking, especially the one seen from a distance, which was pretty chilling.

If I had to choose between Saw, Scream (any) or this, I would choose this any day.

Oh yeah I mentioned the sound already but its really good. Very atmospheric.

Been googling for 'meaning behind the film' type stuff since the DVD stopped, and that in my opinion is what a decent horror should make you do.

In 1940, the residents of a sleepy New England town walked along a trail called Yellowbrick Road, leaving behind their possessions. Some were found frozen, others mysteriously and horribly mutilated. There was one survivor. 70 Years later and the documents surrounding the case have been declassified. Armed with the case files, a crew of nine civilians resolve to set out along the trail, to find out what happened to the earlier inhabitants once and for all...

YellowBrickRoad has a GREAT concept and tries to put an innovative spin on the lost in the forest "subgenre". (if such a thing exists). Part mockumentary, part straight horror, it's certainly ambitious.

However, I gotta say... I just plain hated this film. I thought the execution sucked, and found it nonsensical, boring, unscary, frustrating and very very annoying. It has an "assault on the senses" segment, as noted by another reviewer on this page, that literally had me gritting my teeth, and I personally wondered if they put it in to prevent me falling asleep from boredom, as it's a very jarring sequence. It also has an unintentionally hilarious reaction from the performers, who act like the crew of the original Star Trek when hit by a Klingon torpedo or something. The conclusion is jaw droppingly ludicrous, weak and feels tacked on for the sake of it. It would be right at home on a Scary Door episode from Futurama, it's that ridiculous and silly.

So, yeah... I really disliked it and found it an incoherent mess and a very disappointing film.

BUT... I'm in the severe minority here, apparently. I caught this at Dead By Dawn 2011 and it went down quite well with the audience, with most seeming to love it, or at least like it, including the party I went with. (I was the one dissenter in our group) So, based on the audience reaction, I'm gonna say that this is very much a personal opinion here. It's basically kinda similar to Session 9, (in terms of atmosphere) only in a forest, and I'm one of the apparently few horror fans who was totally non-plussed by Session 9, while most like that one also, so anyone who likes Session 9, should like this.

3/10 from me. It just thoroughly annoyed and bored me from start to finish. That having said, based on audience reaction at Dead By Dawn, I'm actually gonna recommend fans to check it out, as it'll probably go down quite well with you. Just wasn't my cuppa tea at all though.