In 1940 the population of Friar, NH, all 572 of them, left their homes and walked into the woods, all but one never to be seen alive again. Seven decades later a group of researchers, led by Clark Freeman (Daryl Luger) and his sister Cassidy (Erin Luger), along with current Friar resident Liv McCann (Laura Heisler), discover the trailhead that started all those lost souls to their eventual doom. Heading down this desolate and isolated yellow brick road, the group begins to come to the realization their search for answers might not be beneficial to their collective health, a series of weird events sending them down the path to madness.

- Synopsis reprinted from Sara’s original May 2011 theatrical review

CRITIQUE

Here’s what I wrote about this film back in May:

“YellowBrickRoad, written and directed by Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton, is a seriously creepy stripped-down B-grade horror movie that got under my skin and completely weirded me out. Meticulously paced, methodical in the way it delivers its information, this film isn’t so much scary as it is deeply disconcerting, everything moving towards a somewhat inevitable conclusion that had me nonetheless squirming. It is a solid genre effort that deserves to be seen, and it’s a pity that the mass audiences that made a sub par shocker like Insidious a minor hit won’t be afforded the same opportunity to do the same for this limited release.

The set-up is pure “Twilight Zone” meets The Blair Witch Project. We’re introduced to our eclectic group of researchers, interns and locales with deft matter-of-factness, and it isn’t so much a question that they’re all headed to disaster as to when it will begin to strike. The first half hour is relatively stodgy and slow yet does a magnificent job of setting the viewer up for the eventual fall into darkness, and when strange things begin to happen the Goosebumps they create are eerily genuine.

Holland and Mitton know what they’re doing. The keep the gore to a relative minimum so when the first outburst of bloodletting occurs it is as shocking and as terrifying as anything I could have hoped for, while their use of 1930’s and ‘40s era musical queues fits the material perfectly. The way each member of the team slowly begins to psychologically crumble got to me, everything leading to moments of self-destruction and madness that had me twisting into ever tightening knots.

At the same time, the almost Kubrickian style of the last ten or so minutes are a little perplexing and slightly unsatisfying. I didn’t need answers, but the outcome felt like a redo of bits and pieces of John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness crossed with portions of 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and The Shining. They didn’t quite work for me, and for as blissfully terrifying as much of the film was the climax was moderately underwhelming.

Yet I cannot dismiss YellowBrickRoad. It’s too well structured by Holland and Mitton, too well shot by Michael Hardwick (Godspeed), too well designed by Joseph Varca. The use of music is exquisitely unsettling, and the precise way the filmmakers unveil their twists, turns and shocks is divine. This is a horror film fans of the genre have been waiting for, and while not perfect it offers up enough chilling disquieting goodness to make seeking it out at one of its midnight showings beyond worthwhile.”

I think I might have enjoyed the movie even more the second time around. In fact, even the parts I didn’t so much care for, most notably the final scenes, worked for me much better on this viewing, and I actually can’t wait to slip the DVD back into the player for a third time sometime in the very near future.

THE VIDEO

YellowBrickRoad is presented in 1.85:1 Widescreen.

THE AUDIO

YellowBrickRoad comes with an English 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track with optional English subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

The only special feature here is a confident, highly entertaining and wonderfully informative Audio Commentary with writers/directors Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland. Also included is the theatrical trailer for Rammbock – Berlin Undead.

FINAL THOUGHTS

YellowBrickRoad is a well crafted and extremely eerie low budget horror enterprise that gets under the skin like no tomorrow. For genre fans, this movie couldn’t be anymore highly recommended.