Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Aug 7, 2011 16:06:04 GMT -5
Plot:One Morning in New England, 1940, the entire population of Friar New Hampshire - 572 people - walked together up a winding mountain trail and into the wilderness. They left behind their clothes, their money, all of their essentials. Even their dogs were abandoned, tied to posts and left to starve. No One knows why. A search party dispatched by the U.S. Army eventually discovered the remains of nearly 300 of Friar's evacuees. Many had frozen to death.
Others were cruelly and mysteriously slaughtered. The bodies of the remaining citizens are still unaccounted for. Over the years, a quiet cover-up operation managed to weave the story of Friar into the stuff of legends and backwoods fairy tales. The town has slowly repopulated, but the vast wilderness is mostly untracked, with the northern-most stretches off limits to local hunters and loggers. In 2008, the coordinates for the "YELLOWBRICKROAD" trail head were declassified. The first official expedition into a dark and twisted wilderness will attempt to solve the mystery of the lost citizens of Friar...and reach the end of the trail.
Cast:
Cassidy Freeman
Clark Freeman
Anessa Ramsey
Lee Wilkof
Laura Heisler
Alex Draper
Tara Giordano
Michael Laurino
Sam Elmore
My Thoughts:Odd, but effective.
Review:"YellowBrickRoad" is an indie horror film from the filmmaking duo of Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton. The film begins in 1940, when the entire town of Friar New Hampshire trekked up a mysterious mountain trail, and vanished into the wilderness. Left behind? All of their valuables. Some of the people from the group were eventually found slaughtered. Others died of hypothermia. And some, were never found. The trail area ever since then has been made off limits to just about everyone. While the town of Friar has quietyl repopulated ever since the incident. The horrific tragedy though has spawned itself into a local small town legend.
A legend, which a group of curiosity seekers hope to explore and solve for a forthcoming documentary. But this legend just might end up killing them instead. "YellowBrickRoad" can be compared to "House Of 1000 Corpses" in one small way. The whole local legend story arc. Just like "Corpses" had Dr. Satan, in this movie, it's the mysterious death and disappearance of an entire small New Hampshire town. The movie sets a very dark, sinister, and ominous tone from the get go. The pic also has strong tinges of oddness to it, which remain throughout.
And that's mostly because it starts off by feeding the viewer info on the town, the incident itself, and it establishes a timeline. This isn't one of those movies where you have to put together the pieces of how everything got started. And then after that, try and solve the mystery itself. The movie gives you some good chunks of info on the incident, and some strong backstory. It's then up to you as a viewer to wonder as the movie moves on, what if anything, happened to the Friar townspeople. "YellowBrickRoad" also takes cues from "The Blairwitch Project".
The cloudy, moody, and sometimes depressing woods sceneries. With dead trees, large open spaces, and such. The haunting quiet of many of the scenes, and there are also some very spooky nighttime moments in the movie as well. Because remember, this group of young filmmakers are trying to find the trail, and then get onto the trail, and then follow it up to the point at which the townspeople vanished 7 decades earlier. So of course camping is involved, and the movie really establishes some dark, spooky, and creepy moments during the night sequences.
The filmmakers really know horror here. And have created an indie picture which, despite it's over-ambition at times...does succeed in being scary, creepy, and psychologically tormenting. The movie grabs and keeps your attention for all of it's duration. A rareity in the indie horror genre. Which relies very heavily on recycled slasher and or cannibal hillbilly movies these days. "YellowBrickRoad" is not even super-hyper violent. It has blood, gore, and violence sure. But at well-placed moments and times.
It's not just splattered across the screen because the story is losing steam or the plot has lost it's way, and well...something has to be done to fill up a feel reels. The filmmakers really had a grasp on when to make the movie psychologically scary, and when to use the graphic violence. Thus, the pic comes off as more well-rounded. As nothing in it is forced or pushed too far at the wrong times. The acting is above average as well. And I guess that's because the actors are not pushed over their limits, or asked too put on a heavy performance.
The story really works to their strengths. Allowing them to act well, as well as make you care about their plight. The movie also works in stages. The kids journey begins with some help from a somewhat strange local girl, who offers to act as a guide to the kids during their expedition and exploration to and of the trail where the deaths and vanishings happened. But ironically enough, this girl also turns out to be the one small weakness the movie has.
As a person who watches horror films regularly, and knows the do's and don't's of just about everything...every good horror fan knows that taking the offer of "help" or "assistance"...from the locals in a small town will never end well for the characters. Who are either visiting, just passing through, or are lost and need some help in getting back on the right track. "YellowBrickRoad" does a good job at expanding this character though. And adding many different dimensions to her. So while her true face may be easy to figure out, the filmmakers don't make it easy or too obvious.
The movie plays well without music, as it's an indie. Other than a creepy song which is sung by some of the 1940's Friar's, the film has no theme music or score. Which enhances the pics effectiveness in being scary. I've always said, scenery, story, and characters will make a movie a lot more effective. Than a blaring score or soundtrack. The movies final act manages to get even darker, which I thought for a movie like "YellowBrickRoad", which already started off as a dark film. Was impossible. But I was wrong.
The pic's conclusion holds some of the darkest and most surprising twists of the entire story. And after all is said and done, the film then hits you with a very surreal, powerful, and uber creepy finale which puts the movie in a position to end on a truly "horrific" note. "YellowBrickRoad" is definitely an indie horror pic that's worth seeing. While it's story can become overly complex and lose you a time or two, due to the writer/director's being somewhat too ambitious, with how much story they wanted to pack into the script for a 90 minute film...as a horror movie? It is probably as good as indie horror can get.
Positives:Strong story which effectively creates a creepy, dark, and psycholigcally-disturbing urban legend within the movies own universe. Good performances, very effective scenes of violence and suspense. A sense of creepiness and ominousness which manages to stay fluent throughout the entire picture. A terrific third act, and a great ending.
Negatives:At times, the story can try and do too much. It strays and wanders off into other possibilities. But reigns itself in most of those times.
Overall:Three and a half stars out of four.