Ditched

An ambulance carrying some dangerous prisoners crashes late one night, leaving both police, paramedics and convicts stuck in the woods. Then things get worse when they discover there are those waiting for them in the darkness who have lethal intentions towards them.

It's a low-budget flick which is effectively one main location, i.e. The stricken ambulance where the survivors of the crash try and make it out alive. I know it's a nit-pick, but the film is well too stylishly lit for deep in the woods during the middle of the night. Bright neon lights of all colours seem to light up every scene which - although looking pretty - just doesn't seem real.

But, apart from that very minor gripe, the cast do their jobs well enough. There are some revelations as the characters try to figure up what they're up against and why they're here. The budget is low. I was almost about to turn the film off when I saw what was waiting for them in the woods, but the film quickly pointed out that those lurking in the shadows weren't supposed to be anything you - technically - couldn't see in real life, so I gave the film a pass.

It was entertaining enough. The main antagonist over-acts a bit and sometimes comes across as a little 'too British' (I have no idea of the actor's ethnicity, so I have no idea whether he was putting on the accent. It's not a bad story if you're watching it on a streaming platform - just be sure to ignore the plot holes and the ending is a little vague (but I may just have missed something). Perhaps I wasn't in the mood to be very forgiving on this one as the fact that the computer generated blood effects seemed to be the 'wrong way round' in my opinion, i.e. A pistol shot to the head completely destroys the whole human head whereas a shotgun blast to the face leaves the victim completely intact, minus some blood spatter at the rear.

Well, I will say that the 2021 movie "Ditched" definitely started out quite alright and proved entertaining. But then when you get to the point where it is revealed what is actually going on, then the movie just lost all momentum for me and it become a pointless and laughable ordeal to sit through.

When I sat down in 2022 to watch this 2021 movie from writer and director Christopher Donaldson, then I didn't know what I was in for, aside from it being a horror movie. And that was essentially all that was needed to make me watch it.

But "Ditched" was a swing and a miss of a movie. What started out quite interesting quickly deflated and became a boring ordeal. But hey, I am sure that there is an audience out there somewhere for a movie such as this. I just, obviously, wasn't a part of the target audience. I am sure that the script was great on paper, but the transition to the screen just wasn't all that grand of an experience.

I will say that the acting performances in "Ditched" were adequate. Especially when taking into consideration that the movie had a small cast ensemble, took place in a very small and limited location, and the fact that the script went from being good to rubbish in a split second.

If you enjoy horror movies then "Ditched" is not one I would recommend you waste your time, money or effort on.

My rating of "Ditched" lands on a generous three out of ten stars, and that is mostly because of the production value that was put into the making of the movie.

Oh boy, how could I´ve been so wrong? I just assumed Christopher Donaldson's debut feature film and writer of the story, perfect recipe for disaster. And I will say it again, I couldn't have been more wrong. I was pretty impressed with how the whole film came together. And this movie came even with a brilliant twist at the very end. Did not see that one coming. With an estimated budget of CA$1,000,000 my guess is that this is like the best movie you could have made, the most bang for your buck. "Ditched" opens on a brutal car accident that has left an ambulance overturned. Paramedic Melina (Marika Sila) is the only passenger conscious among two other paramedics, two police officers, and three prisoners. Things don't seem incredibly awful, that is until Melina starts to realize that they may not be alone out there in that ditch. In fact, nobody seems to be who he is or was. I really liked the characters in this movie and from time to time the dialogues were very good. A long way to go but if this is your first movie, expect some fireworks in the future. The cast and their acting performance was very decent. However the acting performances of Marika Sila (Melina) and especially the performance from Kris Loranger (Franson) were just inspirational. I am now just waiting to see more from Christopher Donaldson. And I have a feeling he will deliver.... To those who like this genre, a must-see!

The concept was a pretty good one and the photography is decent. The film is hurt by poor dialogue and stiff performances all around. There's a good film in here, this just isn't the product we're provided.

It was better then i first expected, after watching the first 15 minutes i thought this movie would be a b-flick "trying" to be an a-flick.

It ended up being something in between, the story is good and mostly unpredictable.

There could have been some improvements on how broken car glass looks like on the side doors of a car, we all know it breaks in to a million pieces.

But what brings this movie down a bit is the hysterical lights flashing from the emergency vehicles wich penetrates my whole living room, the movie should be put out with a warning sticker to epileptical people, it's immense and to me just disturbing.

Aside from that i find it very watchable, especially for people who like the horror/mystery titles, with a bit of splatter to it!

And if there would be a second movie? Yes i would watch it, with sun glasses.