Film Review: Until Dawn

The age of video game adaptions continues after the monumental success of both the Sky Atlantic series The Last of Us, and with the blockbuster family film, A Minecraft Movie. This time I am talking about a video game with a cult following as opposed to having a large audience. The game in question is PlayStation Studios’ Until Dawn. Until Dawn came out a decade ago and has since been remastered only the other year, proving the game has created a legacy for itself. It was a breath of fresh air for horror games. In a dungeons and dragons style narrative where you decide your own destiny with the choices you make, the cast of characters had to survive the night in order to escape from deadly foes. The film adaption decides not to copy this story and instead opts for its own original story, but at the same time holding its ties to the game so fans can enjoy the film too.

Filmmaker David F. Sandberg made his name within horror cinema with his debut feature film Lights Out and then following that films success he made the brilliant Annabelle: Creation. He is returning to his horror roots with this adaption and his knowledge of the genre does show on the screen. The practicality of the film with real sets and prosthetics help make the horror and gory elements believable and immersive, but sadly that appears to be the only positive I can say about the film.

Adapting a story with multiple endings is always tricky and Sandberg has found a way around it by including a time loop gimmick into the film. A group of teenagers arrive at an abandoned house and soon learn its secrets. At night a horrifying foe comes after them and kills them, only for each character to wake up at the start of the night and repeat the night all over again each time they all die with different monsters appearing each night. It is an interesting concept but it soon loses its engagement and sadly gets too repetitive and boring. The deaths feel meaningless and they’re not as creative as some other recent horror films. The acting is very over the top and the story doesn’t lend itself very well to the original game.

Fans of the video game will gain more out of the story than newcomers. There are a lot of easter eggs and elements of the game littered around for keen eye viewers to spot. To the uninitiated to the video game will not get these references and sadly go over people's heads. It is a shame to see a film with a lot of potential get squandered by the poor script and the “seen it all before” acting. There are homages to other horror films such as The Cabin in the Woods and Happy Death Day, but sadly these homages feel like imitation rather than honouring those films. Lacking any real creativity or story fluidity, you do get lost in the plot by the end of the film. There are other ways this film could have been made and sadly this was one way they should’ve avoided.

★★☆☆☆

2/5

Final Verdict:

Until Dawn, the game at least, is engaging, mysterious and has a great script. This film adaption is lacklustre, confusing and has a very middling script. It is a shame this is the result of the adaption and it does prove not every game translates well to the big screen. At moments the film feels like Resident Evil and other times it feels more like Doom. The practical effects are fun to squirm at and the monsters are entertainingly fun too but sadly that is where all the positives lie. David F. Sandberg struggled to bring this story to the big screen and it is a shame really as there was such promise with its original concept.

Thanks for reading today’s blog!

Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions