Follow the Yellow Brick Road, oh my.
by Karl Madsen, Media Editor, Horror
Urban legend and the chance to prove, disprove, or to simply solve the mystery, is the stuff that horror films are made of. Joining the ranks of Event Horizon, Blair Witch Project, The Cave, The Legend of Hell House, and any number of ‘find out what happened’ flicks is YellowBrickRoad.
In 1940 the 572 inhabitants of Friar, New Hampshire simply laid their lives aside and hiked up a mountain trail, never to be seen alive again. Years later an army search party found a portion of the population, some frozen, some brutally slaughtered, and the rest still inexplicably missing. A cover story is developed, and Friar gradually repopulates.
In 2008 a group of researchers are going to investigate the disappearance by following, and mapping the YellowBrickRoad to its end, in order to solve the mystery. The researchers Erin Luger (Cassidy Freeman – Smallville), brother Daryl (Clark Freeman – 21 and a Wake-up), Melissa Barnes (Anessa Ramsey – Golgotha), and husband, Teddy (Michael Laurino – Past Lives), forestry service guy Cy (Sam Elmore – film debut), intern Jill (Tara Giordano – film debut), psych professor Walter (Alex Draper – Mimic 2), and local Liv (Laura Heisler – Forged) have discovered the coordinates of the mystical trail and are going to find the end, and figure out the events that lead to the demise of the citizens of Friar. They take regular map sightings, and have periodic psychological evaluations performed to detect any anomalies. Things start going wrong, beginning with the mapping. When the coordinates are fed into the GPS the reading put them in Guam, Australia, or Italy. Psych evals are failed, tempers flare, and insanity sets in. All set to a soundtrack of 30’s and 40’s style music that everyone on the expedition can hear. The remainder of the group fractures into smaller groups, bent on getting home, when a small mountain of debris blocks their path to “Oz”. Teddy alone chooses to climb the mountain, and the rest go different directions in an attempt to escape.
Really, Stairway to Heaven again.
YellowBrickRoad has a solid premise, if not unique, and the happenings on the trip up the mountain, especially the nerve grating music, and the groups slowly unwinding sanity. The problem is that there is no explanation, nor any leads as to why the specific occurrences, like the music are happening. One of the group chooses to follow the path to the conclusion, and the place he ends up at has meshes with the music, but the question is “Why”. The problem with this flick is that things happen with no reason for them, leaving the ending open to interpretation without enough information to come to a satisfying conclusion.
Special Features:
Directors Commentary
Karl’s Scores:
Acting – A – solid performances
Setting – A-
Special Effects – B+
Creep Factor – A
Tension – A
What the Heck Moments – 2
Overall – C-
YellowBrickRoadhas potential that isn’t used to its best advantage, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth a few looks. The performances are fairly solid, and the tension and creepiness are present. And this movie isn’t a gore fest, not to say there aren’t some moments, but a study of the descent into insanity. I’m hoping for a sequel that will explain the mystery of Friar, New Hampshire.
ComicsOnline gives YellowBrickRoad 3 abandoned towns out of 5.
Pick-up your copy of YellowBrickRoad,on DVD, from Amazon.com.
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