YellowBrickRoad

This killed Dorothy Most a good story got on Crack
From Rotten Tomatoes

Movie Info

In the Fall of 1940, the entire population of Friar, NH abandoned their homes and walked up an ancient trail, never to be seen alive again. Their fates have remained a mystery for over 70 years, until a team of researchers discover the trailhead and attempt to track the path the doomedcitizens of Friar took. Yellowbrickroad is a return to the slow burn, character driven horror thrillers of the 1970s. -- (C) Official Site

From Horrorabout

The Plot

Husband-and-wife scholarly researchers Teddy and Melissa (Michael Laurino and Anessa Ramsey) gather a team -- Forestry Service rep Cy (Sam Elmore), intern Jill (Tara Giordano), behavioral psych professor Walter (Alex Draper) and brother-sister map gurus Daryl (Clark Freeman) and Erin (Cassidy Freeman) -- to investigate the legend of Friar, New Hampshire. The small town has gained notoriety since 1940, when one morning, all 500-plus of its residents suddenly walked north up an unmarked trail into the wilderness. Most were never found, and of the ones that were, all but one were dead. The lone survivor was found disoriented, muttering about a sound that no one else could hear.

When the group arrives in Friar, few locals are interested in helping them find the elusive trail, but a woman named Liv (Laura Heisler) claims that she knows the way. She leads them for days over the river and through the proverbial woods, at which point their equipment starts going buggy. Their GPS says there in Guam, then Italy, then Australia, and even their compass becomes unreliable. Then they hear it, faint at first, then unmistakably clear: '30s-styled music, like an otherworldly phonograph echoing through the hills. The further they go, the more nerves fray and sanity is stretched to the limit, threatening to destroy them all before they find out what lies at the end of the Yellow Brick Road.

The End Result

Anessa Ramsey in 'YellowBrickRoad'.

© Bloody Disgusting Selects

I admire YellowBrickRoad's subdued approach to horror, one that values atmosphere over explicit gore or telegraphed scares. It reminds me a bit of Session 9 meets The Blair Witch Project, though it's nowhere near as scary as either of those modern genre classics. Like those movies, however, it utilizes its sound design to great effect: the ragtime music eerily echoing through the trees, its odd juxtaposition within the wilderness heightening its supernatural aura.

The film is a slow-burner, for sure, its steady, restrained content allowing for the occasional shocking eruption of violence. However, rather than gradually building to a pulse-pounding payoff, the slow-burning flame peters out with a vague, frustrating whimper. In fact, it sets itself up for failure by positioning the most impactful -- startling and/or spooky -- moments in the first half of the film, causing the latter portion to drag noticeably.

It's a shame, becauseYellowBrickRoad has such great potential. First-time writers-directors Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton have crafted an intriguing setup that plays like both a campfire ghost story and a tragic social commentary: a neglected, post-Depression small town full of individuals with few options who seek a better life "down the road" and in doing so, meet with a horrific fate -- quite unlike Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.

The script, unfortunately, doesn't take full advantage of the premise, losing its momentum midway through and relying on uninteresting interpersonal dynamics and overly casual action. It's one thing to be matter-of-fact, but the movie's lack of urgency at times borders on the mundane.

The conclusion leaves things a bit open to interpretation, which some viewers might find provocative and others might dismiss as an underdeveloped script. I fall somewhere between the two; there are some interesting moments worth analyzing, but I think more polished writing could've given us more to chew on, more evidence to support our theories, while allowing the filmmakers to trim some of the narrative fat that slows down the film's pace.

The Skinny

• Acting: B- (Consistently solid across the board, with only a scene or two of overacting.)
• Direction: C- (Good use of sound, but the overly casual nature dulls its impact.)
• Script: C- (Great setup dragged down by vagueness and a lack of meaningful action.)
• Gore/Effects: C+ (A couple of gore scenes; some mediocre CGI.)
• Overall: C (A smart, admirable attempt to create atmosphere-driven horror that ultimately falls short of its promise.)

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