Before I watched YellowBrickRoad, I had read mostly negative reviews. So to be honest, I didn't expect too much of it. And what I certainly didn't expect was the way this movie crawled under my skin.
YBR starts slow, and within the first 20 minutes I even asked myself a couple of times if I was in the mood to watch a movie. However, before I knew it, I was on the edge of my seat and it didn't let me go right until the end. What started out a bit boring soon became a tensed and claustrophobic experience. Halfway I wished I had payed more attention to the beginning, but no way was I going to stop the movie to watch it back, it would have been too much of a disturbance. I will for sure do that later on though.
Though there are a few nasty things happening, the biggest atmosphere is not set by those events but by music. At the beginning this feels a bit cheap, but I've got to say that it is used very effectively. In fact, I still do hear it in the back of my head. For me, the most important thing in the story is the descent into madness. Something you sort of feel yourself as a viewer, as minute by minute the beautiful woods turn more into a creepy nightmare and the music starts to really work on your brain. YBR starts innocent and then turns unpleasant. When things really start to go wrong, it has been done in such a way that initially you only half realize what happens, just like the people in the movie who observe it through binoculars. It's almost comical until you realize that things go really out of hand.
About the end.. well, a lot has already been written about it. I am still not sure what to think of it, to be honest. It leaves me unsatisfied and I do wish it would have been done differently. Not that I don't like an imaginative ending, I just do not like it much in the way it was done here. Still, even though disappointing, it doesn't take away the whole eeriness of the movie. Some people have mentioned The Shining, and I do see the comparison, maybe especially with the ending. I do think that the whole idea behind the Yellow Brick Road was a metaphorical. "We all walk a trail" could be translated as the road we follow throughout our lives. I won't go more into this as it might be a spoiler for the end, even though it was all very vague. If the movie was meant to be metaphorical, I wish that it was done better, so that it would make more sense. Which could have been done, without spelling it out. I consider it to be a missed chance, though I might have to give it an other chance myself and focus more on the meaning behinds things, and not only in the end bit. There is probably a lot more behind YBR than how it looks at the surface.
With a different ending, and probably a bit clearer use of metaphors, I would rate this movie higher, but still, I can't give it anything below a 7,5 out of 10. It was just far too creepy for that.
All in all, YBR surprised me a lot more than I expected. If you like atmospheric horror movies that crawl under your skin, this might be one for you. If you are into slasher and such, and/or want a whole lot of action, skip it.
YBR starts slow, and within the first 20 minutes I even asked myself a couple of times if I was in the mood to watch a movie. However, before I knew it, I was on the edge of my seat and it didn't let me go right until the end. What started out a bit boring soon became a tensed and claustrophobic experience. Halfway I wished I had payed more attention to the beginning, but no way was I going to stop the movie to watch it back, it would have been too much of a disturbance. I will for sure do that later on though.
Though there are a few nasty things happening, the biggest atmosphere is not set by those events but by music. At the beginning this feels a bit cheap, but I've got to say that it is used very effectively. In fact, I still do hear it in the back of my head. For me, the most important thing in the story is the descent into madness. Something you sort of feel yourself as a viewer, as minute by minute the beautiful woods turn more into a creepy nightmare and the music starts to really work on your brain. YBR starts innocent and then turns unpleasant. When things really start to go wrong, it has been done in such a way that initially you only half realize what happens, just like the people in the movie who observe it through binoculars. It's almost comical until you realize that things go really out of hand.
About the end.. well, a lot has already been written about it. I am still not sure what to think of it, to be honest. It leaves me unsatisfied and I do wish it would have been done differently. Not that I don't like an imaginative ending, I just do not like it much in the way it was done here. Still, even though disappointing, it doesn't take away the whole eeriness of the movie. Some people have mentioned The Shining, and I do see the comparison, maybe especially with the ending. I do think that the whole idea behind the Yellow Brick Road was a metaphorical. "We all walk a trail" could be translated as the road we follow throughout our lives. I won't go more into this as it might be a spoiler for the end, even though it was all very vague. If the movie was meant to be metaphorical, I wish that it was done better, so that it would make more sense. Which could have been done, without spelling it out. I consider it to be a missed chance, though I might have to give it an other chance myself and focus more on the meaning behinds things, and not only in the end bit. There is probably a lot more behind YBR than how it looks at the surface.
With a different ending, and probably a bit clearer use of metaphors, I would rate this movie higher, but still, I can't give it anything below a 7,5 out of 10. It was just far too creepy for that.
All in all, YBR surprised me a lot more than I expected. If you like atmospheric horror movies that crawl under your skin, this might be one for you. If you are into slasher and such, and/or want a whole lot of action, skip it.