Plot: What’s it about?
Movies based on video games are a mixed bag. There are some like The Super Mario Bros. Movie that bring a smile to your face. Seeing Rainbow Road on a big screen is a thing of beauty. Then we’ve got, well…others. Admittedly, I’m not a gamer. I do play Angry Birds and, well, wouldn’t you know – they’ve got a movie for that. And a sequel. Neat. But when I think of Until Dawn, I think of the TV series from a few years back. This isn’t that. Nor was it meant to be. But video games and movies are two sides of the same coin. They’re both meant to entertain, but they go about it in different ways. One requires patience, dedication and skill and the other requires 103 minutes of your time. So which is it going to be? If you liked the game, you’ll like the movie – right?
We meet Clover (Ella Rubin). Her sister, Melanie (Maia Mitchell) disappeared over a year prior and together with a group of friends: Max (Michael Cimino), Megan (Ji-young Yoo), Nina (Odessa A’zion) and Abe (Belmont Cameli) make a trip to Melanie’s last-known whereabouts. They find themselves in an abounded welcome center of a small town and are promptly murdered. Yes, you read that right. However, this movie plays with time (as did the video game) and as soon as the hourglass on the wall turns upside down, the night repeats itself. Clover and her entourage are stuck in a time loop every night until they can figure out how to make it to, you guessed it, dawn.
This trope has been done before and with great effect. Comedically we have Groundhog Day and I suppose you could loop on Happy Death Day and its sequel (good for a few laughs). Arguably Tom Cruise did it best with Live.Die.Repeat. Still, time is finicky thing and it’s amazing how much one can learn if they’ve got an infinite amount of it to play with. The only downfall of this type of film is that the viewer knows that, eventually, things will work out. But this is based on a video game, so…will it? Director David F. Sandberg, best-known for Lights Out, has crafted something unique here. With some death scenes that rival those in any Saw movie. I’d hate to meet the person(s) who came up with these. If movies that play with time are your thing, then this one is for you. If you like movies that have gruesome death scenes, this one is for you. If neither of those appeal there are plenty of other films out there.
Video: How’s it look?
Until Dawn is beautifully shot, with Gaillo-influenced uses of color that serve to accentuate the strangeness of the plot. Couple that with the blood and gore and we’ve got a very visually-aggressive picture. The 1.85:1 HEVC 4K image makes use of the entire screen, but it has a claustrophobic effect as well. Detail is amazingly sharp, not something that is always a positive when you see the faces of victims caved in from multiple stab wounds. Nevertheless, if it’s a good-looking picture you’re after – look no further.
Audio: How’s it sound?
Sony’s Dolby Atmos track is consistent with the genre, we do get the obligatory “jump” sound effects that do work with great effect. And I’m not sure if there’s an authority out there that knows the exact sound a body is supposed to make when it explodes after drinking tap water, but this sounds pretty darn good. Speaking of which, the dynamic range is all over the place (in a good way) and it makes me appreciate and justify the money I spent on an Atmos receiver. Take that bank account! We get the obligatory splatter sounds associated with any film of this genre, things happen in the rear channels and so forth. You know the drill. And it sounds downright amazing.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Audio Commentary – Director David F. Sandberg & Producer Lotta Losten wax prolific on the project, adapting a movie from a video game, the general theme, the cast and the shoot. The boxes are checked and there are some interesting segments, but nothing too overly exciting.
- Deleted & Extended Scenes – The obligatory barrage of deleted and extended scenes don’t do much to this viewer. They were cut and/or trimmed down for a reason. But it’s nice to have them here.
- Adapting a Nightmare – David F. Sandberg and Gary Dauberman explore the inspirations behind the film, the fun of genre-switching and how they expanded the universe of the game.
- Death-Defying Cast – Dying over and over never felt so good – we meet the fearless, game-for-anything cast as they attempt to survive Until Dawn.
- Practical Terrors – From wendigos to exploding bodies, Director David F. Sandberg knows the value of practical effects – and how those prosthetics, props, and blood elicit a more authentic reaction from the cast.
The Bottom Line
The good and the bad is that this is an above average “video game adaptation”, but the bad is that it’s a bit predictable. And I’m someone who loves movies that deal with time in different ways. It was entertaining, but anyone with their head screwed on straight will see what’s coming. Sony’s disc is, of course, top notch.
