Chernobyl Diaries

Chernobyl Diaries is a 2012 American horror film which stars Jesse McCartney, Jonathan Sadowski, Devin Kelley, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Nathan Phillips, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, and Dimitri Diatchenko. The film, which was co-produced and directed by Bradley Parker (as well as being produced by Oren Peli), uses the real-life 1986 Chernobyl disaster for its backdrop.^[4] It was shot on location in Hungary and Serbia.^[5]

 

Plot

A group of young adults, Chris (Jesse McCartney), his girlfriend Natalie (Olivia Taylor Dudley), and their mutual friend Amanda (Devin Kelley), are traveling across Europe. They stop in Kiev, Ukraine, to visit Chris's brother, Paul (Jonathan Sadowski), before heading on to Moscow where Chris intends to propose to Natalie.

After a night on the town, Paul suggests that they go on an "extreme tour" of the abandoned town of Prypiat which sits in the shadow of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, site of the infamous disaster, since the city is only 100 km from Kiev. They are joined by a backpacking couple, Norwegian Zoe (Ingrid Bolso Berdal) and Australian Michael (Nathan Phillips). The group arrives at the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone checkpoint, in which they are banned by the Ukrainian military but their tour guide, Yuri (Dimitri Diatchenko), takes them in through an unmanned, forested checkpoint, entering the Zone.

On the way they stop at a river where they discover a large, mutated fish with large teeth dead at the side of the river. As the group returns to the van, a number of similar fish are seen below the murky water attacking a piece of beef jerky Yuri threw earlier on. They spend a few hours exploring the abandoned city, which was home to Chernobyl workers and their families before they were forced to evacuate overnight. When Yuri takes them into an apartment building, he hears a noise. When he slowly goes to investigate, a bear comes out from an adjacent room and runs away. Frightened, the group leaves the building. Yuri comments on the incident, telling the group he has been coming to Chernobyl for five years and has always seen a dog or wolves but never a bear.

As the group prepares to leave, Yuri finds the wires in his van have been chewed through and tries to radio for help to no avail. As night falls, the group begins arguing and affixing blame. Noises are heard outside and Yuri goes out with a flashlight and a gun, accompanied by Chris. Shots are heard and Paul runs out to investigate, only to return with Chris whose leg has been severely mauled, seemingly by dogs who attack the van.

The next morning, Paul, Michael, and Amanda go out looking for Yuri who, according to Chris, was taken by "them". They follow a trail of blood to find Yuri's mutilated body in an underground complex. They take his gun and Geiger counter and barely escape a group of mutant creatures. They return to the van, planning to hike to the nearest checkpoint but Chris cannot move his leg. Chris and Natalie stay behind while the others go to get help.

The group comes across abandoned vehicles in a parking lot and find a bus with bullet holes exiting from inside it. In the bus they find broken guns, a bloody guard uniform, and a flash light. Michael finds replacement wires for the van, so they head back toward their vehicle. After being chased by dogs, they reach the van by nightfall and find it ripped apart and flipped over. Natalie's camera video reveals she and Chris were taken by the mutants.

They go in search of the two but end up being chased by more mutants. During their escape they find a traumatized Natalie and rescue her. When the group are out in the open, they begin to work out where another checkpoint nearby is by using a map Michael obtained during their previous escape. The group is distracted by a little girl in the distance. As they try to communicate with her Natalie is once again taken by the mutants. Paul, Michael, Amanda, and Zoe attempt to find her, but in the process are swarmed by a horde of mutants. They run to a fallout shelter, but Michael is captured. The three continue on, finding Chris' engagement ring for Natalie but no sign of Chris himself. They are again attacked by mutants and, as they begin to climb a ladder to the way out, a congregation of mutants pull Zoe back down, forcing Amanda and Paul to leave her as they escape.

Paul and Amanda continue on through the fallout shelter which comes out in Chernobyl power plant itself. As they navigate the reactor, they find Natalie dead. They continue on, only to also become poisoned with radiation as their skin begins to blister. They exit the reactor and are confronted by Ukrainian military personnel. Blinded from radiation poisoning, Paul is shot dead when he approaches the soldiers.

Amanda passes out and awakens on a gurney where several doctors, clad in protective hazmat suits, inform her that she is in a hospital. The doctors talk amongst themselves and reveal that the "creatures" were escaped patients that have been recaptured and, since the other Americans are dead, they decide Amanda, having seen the escapees, must not be allowed to leave. She is later thrown into a dark isolated room. Amanda is immediately alerted as she begins to hear noises. She calls out and a group of mutants attack her. Fade to black.

 

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Chernobyl Diaries (English)

The film follows a group of six young tourists who, looking to go off the beaten path, hire an "extreme tour" guide. Ignoring warnings, he takes them into the city of Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but a deserted town since the disaster 26 years ago. After a brief exploration of the abandoned city, however, the group soon finds themselves stranded, only to discover that they are being hunted by strange supernatural beings that now live in the city.

Classification: 18
Genre: Horror
General Release Date: 06 Sep 2012
Running Time: 1 Hour 26 Minutes
Distributor: Nusantara Edaran Filem
Cast: Jesse McCartney, Jonathan Sadowski, Devin Kelly, Olivia Taylor Dudley
Director: Bradley Parker

 

Chernobyl Diaries Trailer