Donner Pass (2012)
DVD5 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 16:9 (720x480) | 01:25:54 | 4,11 Gb
Audio: English AC3 5.1 @ 448 Kbps | Subtitles: English, Spanish
Genre: Horror, Slasher | USA
DVD5 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 16:9 (720x480) | 01:25:54 | 4,11 Gb
Audio: English AC3 5.1 @ 448 Kbps | Subtitles: English, Spanish
Genre: Horror, Slasher | USA
In 1846, a party of settlers became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and had to resort to cannibalism to survive. Some 150 years later, a group of teens on a ski trip discover that the curse of the Donner Party still haunts those mountains when members of their group start turning up not only dead, but half-eaten. Nothing – and no one – is what it seems in this provocative dark thriller. And history doesn’t always stay in the past.
IMDB
Donner Pass begins with a retelling of the Donner Party legend, in a short segment that reminded me a lot of the beginning of Campfire Tales. From there, we are introduced to four slasher movie regulars: the independent female protagonist, her dimwitted but loving boyfriend, the shy guy, and the party girl. This motley crew of young people are on their way to the shy guy's parents' cabin in the snowy mountains, not far from where the Donner Party were stranded. They reach the cabin (which is closer to a mansion in the mountains, but it works well for the film) and discover that the party girl has invited her prick boyfriend and his merry band of douchebags. Then things begin to get out of hand, as shy guy worries about his parents' house which falls under the attack of the party squad.
Yes, this sounds familiar, but there's a reason so many slasher movies follow this formula - it works. I'm not going to criticize Donner Pass for having some predictable moments, because it makes up for them with some honestly surprising twists. Instead of playing it safe with the standard, cookie-cutter killer, Donner Pass took some big risks and added some deeper motive to the villain(s). One by one, the group of kids are killed off, which is where I first noticed the above-average special effects. I'm not sure what the budget for the film was, but the gore was excellent, and if there was any CGI, it definitely wasn't noticeable, which is always a plus in my book. I was really into the soundtrack as well - I still have the song that was played over the end credits stuck in my head.
Special Features:
- The Making of 'Donner Pass' (18:35)
- On set with horror icon John Kassir (04:04)
- The makeup and FX secrets of 'Donner Pass' (09:25)
- Trailer (01:53)
Many Thanks to Original uploader.
No More Mirrors.