Until Dawn is a wild, bloody ride without too much thinking required

Film Review: Until Dawn (15) - showing at The Light, Wisbech now

Starring: Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A’Zion and Ji-Young Yoo

Run time: 1 hour, 43 minutes Director: David F Sandberg

Teenage horror with no brains, no stakes, but buckets of blood – and that might just be enough!

Until Dawn is based on the popular PlayStation game of the same name – although I’ll be upfront and admit I’ve never actually played it. I tried checking online to see if the movie stayed true to the source material, but with half the comments saying it did and the other half insisting it didn’t . . . let’s just say that didn’t clear much up.

Directed by David F Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation) and written by Gary Dauberman (It, Annabelle Comes Home), Until Dawn spins out its own standalone story – which is, I think it’s safe to say, loosely set in the same universe as the game.

The movie follows Clover (Ella Rubin) and her friends — clairvoyant Megan (Ji-young Yoo), lovesick Max (Michael Cimino), headstrong Nina (Odessa A’zion), and arrogant but scene-stealing Abe (Belmont Cameli) – as they search for Clover’s missing sister, Melanie (Maia Mitchell). Their journey leads them to Glore Valley, a creepy, abandoned mining town deep in the woods. Seriously, when will teens ever learn?

Naturally, bad things happen. The gang stumbles into a cursed hotel, where they get trapped in a brutal time loop: die in the night, start the day over, then repeat. Their only chance of survival? Live through the night before a golden skull-shaped timer runs out – or else be dragged to hell. Whichever comes first.

Here’s where I have a gripe with these Groundhog Day-style horror films (such as Happy Death Day). When characters know they’ll just respawn after dying, the stakes drop dramatically. Some of the characters are so unbothered by the idea of dying that at times they even seem to prefer it, just to fast-forward through the night. There’s almost no real fear or sense of pain – which kills a lot of the tension. If they don’t seem scared, why should we be?

Another thing that bugged me: some of the best scenes teased in the trailer end up being reduced to quick flashes on a smartphone screen in the actual movie. It felt like a cheat. If you saw the trailer, you’ve basically already seen those moments.

But it’s not all doom and gloom.

If you can overlook the lack of stakes and a few misleading marketing tricks, Until Dawn actually ends up being a lot of fun. It absolutely stretches its 15 rating to the max, with gallons of blood and some inventive, gory kills. It brought me right back to being a teenager, watching low-stakes slashers with my friends – not really caring about the plot, just living for the kills and chaos.

And honestly? I think that’s the audience Sandberg and co were aiming for here – people looking for a wild, bloody ride without too much thinking required.

If that sounds like your kind of night, you’ll likely have a blast here – even though it won’t linger in the memory past dawn…

Rating: 3/5

By Mike Clarke