Chernobyl Diaries (10/16/2012)

Rated R for violence, some bloody images and pervasive language.

Starring Jesse McCartney, Jonathan Sadowski, Olivia Taylor Dudley and Nathan Phillips

Directed Bradley Parker (first film)

OK so I’m going to add Chernobyl to the list of places I never want to visit.

Chernobyl Diaries is an original story from Oren Peli, who first terrified audiences with his groundbreaking thriller, Paranormal Activity. The film follows a group of six young tourists who, looking to go off the beaten path, hire an “extreme tour” guide. Ignoring warnings, he takes them into the city of Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but a deserted town since the disaster more than 25 years ago. After a brief exploration of the abandoned city, however, the group soon finds themselves stranded, only to discover that they are not alone.

Filled with scary jump-out-of-your-seat scenes (my favorite included a full size bear) and who’s-gonna-die-next moments, this horror movie falls smack-dad in the middle of the “Don’t go in there!” genre. If you have seen The Ruins or The Decent you know exactly what to expect in this one. Everyone starts out happy but that quickly changes and changes very, very badly! It doesn’t help that the group seems to make one bad decision after another.

The cast is filled with relatively new faces and they play their parts well. They all are likeable and believable…even the Russian.

The story is scary and relatively well written. I say relatively because you still need to allow yourself to accept several unbelievable scenarios.

If you like horror movies, my guess is you would score this higher…but the best I can do is “Rental.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
I think the obvious answer is no, but let’s talk about why the answer is no. Let’s talk first about the scary stuff.

There are plenty of scenes where you hear off screen noises of babies crying, wolves snarling, dogs barking, metal pounding metal, sounds of buzzing electricity, doors creaking and slamming, heavy objects falling and footsteps as they drag and scrape over littered floors. These scenes aren’t graphic but they are very disturbing.

But remember this is a R-rated horror so there is plenty of the graphic violence/gore. For example, in one scene we see the torn torso and the legs of a man inside an empty building; his abdomen is torn open with intestines and blood visible.

As far as profanity goes there are over 60 F-words and a lot of other inappropriate words.

Conversation Starter

1. Early on in the film there are several “warning signs.” What were they warning the people about?


2. What are some funny warning signs or labels you have seen?


3. What happens when we don’t follow the warnings?


4. READ Hebrews 2:1
   
   It’s crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we’ve heard so that we don’t drift off.
   
   
5. What does this “warning sign” warn against?


6. What do you think are some of the things that we’ve heard that the writer is talking about?


7. What are some ways to “keep a firm grip on what we’ve heard”?