Chernobyl Diaries, the new horror film from the creator of Paranormal Activity, is a very STALKER-like journey into the mutated hellhole of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
The “exclusion zone” created by the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is not a happy place. It’s made somewhat tolerable in the great STALKER games by the tremendous number of guns at the player’s disposal, but what would happen if, instead of tough, hard-bitten Ukrainians with automatic weapons, the interlopers were privileged American hipsters armed with nothing but pocket digital cameras?
Chernobly Diaries, the new movie from Paranormal Activity creator Orel Peli, is what. The film follows the unpleasant adventures of a half-dozen “extreme tourists” and their seedy-looking guide as they take in the sights of the ruined city of Pripyat. But things go predictably wrong when it’s time to head home: car won’t start, sun goes down and you can pretty much take it from there.
The film looks like it will have its fair share of frightening moments, at least based on this trailer, but it will probably also be very familiar to STALKER veterans. That apartment building? Been there. Those underground tunnels? Been there. That creepy doll thing? Yeah, I shot that dude, but take my advice: you’re better off just leaving him alone. It’s a trap!
Chernobyl Diaries opens in the U.S. on May 25.
