I happened to watch Chernobyl Diaries (2012) in two parts, picking up from where I left off about six months later. Is it a good scare? Yes. Is it well structured? Yes, mostly…
Why this film works as a horror is down to the geographical setting in the abandoned city of Pripyat, close to the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Your mind is already thinking up the worst about radiation and its impact on nature and the human body. That’s what drives the drama of this film and there are definitely more than a couple of jumpy moments along the way!
Director Bradley Parker makes excellent use of shadow and dark spaces to build suspense, along with the classic ‘stumbling around in the dark by torchlight’ scenario. It’s an interesting setting for a horror film and the theme of abandonment comes through loud and clear!
FYI – Chernobyl itself was back in the news this week: “Pripyat was…recently deemed safe to visit for short periods and has now become one of Ukraine’s most talked about tourist attractions. An estimated 60,000 people visited the exclusion zone last year, keen to witness the dramatic decay.” Source: BBC, Chernobyl: The end of a three-decade experiment.
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