Sunday, May 6, 2012

Chernobyl Diaries and My Frustration with a Movie I Haven't Even Seen Yet

I am a huge fan of horror movies.  I get really pumped when a new movie comes out that looks scary.  As scary as Chernobyl Diaries looks in the previews, I refuse to watch this movie.  Why, you might ask?  How about a completely ridiculous premise.

First of all, anyone that knows me or reads my blog, knows I am huge fan of Destination Truth.  The Destination Truth crew investigated Chernobyl in the 3rd season.  Perhaps the writers of this movie should have watched that episode and taken notes on some things they could have done to make this movie even semi-realistic.

Chernobyl was the site of the worst nuclear accident of all time.  The place is still full of radiation and extremely dangerous.  I've watched clips from Chernobyl Diaries.  Ummm... where are your suits?  Where is the equipment?  Where are your masks?  You can't just walk into this location and not prepare at all.  I mean, these people apparently do, but that is not realistic.

In the Destination Truth Chernobyl investigation episode, they had to receive special permission from the Ukraine government to visit the site.  They went through not one, not two, but THREE military posts to get into the Chernobyl site.  They also had to take a military representative with them.  Furthermore, the military insisted they all drink some type of anti-radiation drink before entering the site.  Once they got to the site, they had to wear suits and  masks.  They also took an instrument to detect radiation, and if the levels got too high, they had to leave that area.  This actually happened quite a bit during their visit.  The Destination Truth crew was also given a limited amount of time to stay on the site and then they had to leave.

So now, I understand Chernobyl Diaries is not based on a true story.  I understand I must suspend some belief in any work of fiction.  I mean, seriously, there are going to be ghosts and ghouls in the movie that I am sure don't exist.  However, this is more than I can handle.  If you want an audience to get on board with an idea, it has to have a somewhat likely premise.  How did this group get past that many military posts?  Why on earth would a group of people risk a very untimely death due to radiation?  I just don't believe these things.

I appreciate the movie might be scary.  However, it needs a reality check in a lot of ways.  At least make them wear some masks or something.  I refuse to believe a large group of people like that could sneak in, stay there, and not get caught by the military.  Please, give me a more realistic version of this movie and maybe I will want to watch it.

3 comments:

  1. Amen! I also saw that episode of Destination Truth, so I thought the exact same things when I saw the trailer for this movie. I also kind of think it's in poor taste. Chernobyl is the site of a terrible accident, that exposed hundreds of people to radiation that ultimately cut and will cut their lives short. Saying that this place is full of malevolent spirits is wrong. I think any spirits there would be lost, confused and sad, not evil. They may as well have used Ground Zero for their location.

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  2. I'm so happy I've found someone else who thinks the same as me. I think there are maybe some trippy moments in the film, but I just can't get past how ludicrous this Found Footage movie is. I too saw the Destination Truth episode, but even if the creators didn't, it wouldn't take much to go research and realize this premise is far too unrealistic. Of course, we live in an age of proud ignorance, and the ones attending the movie are most likely the same ones who didn't know the Titanic

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  3. I am happy to hear others agree with me. I wonder how many people will be able to look past the ridiculous premise and still watch the movie?

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