Le Chemin Sans Retour

The plot: In the 1940s, an entire town inexplicably follows a path into the wilds of New Hampshire, where they find death and madness. Later, a modern day team of researchers seek to discover what really happened.

YellowBrickRoad is one of the best "flawed but interesting" horror movies I've seen in a while. It's frustrating to many viewers, because it seemingly promises one set of genre conventions (such as a slasher or scifi thriller), yet delivers something radically different (more akin to the Blair Witch Project, without the "found footage" gimmick). YBR is very subtle -- perhaps too subtle. Many questions are never explicitly answered, because the writers apparently find the questions irrelevant or unimportant. Instead, it focuses on subtle themes, which hint at vague answers. If this sounds frustrating, then I'd avoid YBR. It might take multiple viewings to make much sense of this movie.

YBR is a pastiche of rather obvious influences, chiefly the Blair Witch Project and 60s/70s horror. It will also probably appeal to fans of Lovecraft, given the themes of unknowable evil, the frailty of sanity and civilization, and the danger of obsessively searching for answers to unanswerable questions. Fans of modern horror franchises, such as Saw or Hostel, will probably be bored.

I'm divided about this movie, which is reflected in my rating. It has very intense moments, but it's not always able to sustain the tension. Sometimes the intensity borders on the annoying, sometimes it crumbles into boredom. None of the characters grew on me and in my opinion the ending is unsatisfying and badly executed. On the other hand I witnessed some really good performances from some of the actors. The overall atmosphere is dense and maintained during the movie. The storytelling avoids explanations and therefore is unnerving the spectator - in a positive way if you are in it for the chill factor. Don't expect this movie to be gory since it is not - blood is flowing, but in a mere matter-of- fact way. It's not trying to weave in vengeful ghosts, lost souls and other quasi religious ideas, which in my opinion get employed to perpetrate the idea of possible redemption. It tells the story of existence being hell with no possible exit since we are its prisoners and its creators. The movie stuck with me long after I watched it and it make me think - that's worth a solid 6 points.

In 1940, the residents of a sleepy New England town walked along a trail called Yellowbrick Road, leaving behind their possessions. Some were found frozen, others mysteriously and horribly mutilated. There was one survivor. 70 Years later and the documents surrounding the case have been declassified. Armed with the case files, a crew of nine civilians resolve to set out along the trail, to find out what happened to the earlier inhabitants once and for all...

YellowBrickRoad has a GREAT concept and tries to put an innovative spin on the lost in the forest "subgenre". (if such a thing exists). Part mockumentary, part straight horror, it's certainly ambitious.

However, I gotta say... I just plain hated this film. I thought the execution sucked, and found it nonsensical, boring, unscary, frustrating and very very annoying. It has an "assault on the senses" segment, as noted by another reviewer on this page, that literally had me gritting my teeth, and I personally wondered if they put it in to prevent me falling asleep from boredom, as it's a very jarring sequence. It also has an unintentionally hilarious reaction from the performers, who act like the crew of the original Star Trek when hit by a Klingon torpedo or something. The conclusion is jaw droppingly ludicrous, weak and feels tacked on for the sake of it. It would be right at home on a Scary Door episode from Futurama, it's that ridiculous and silly.

So, yeah... I really disliked it and found it an incoherent mess and a very disappointing film.

BUT... I'm in the severe minority here, apparently. I caught this at Dead By Dawn 2011 and it went down quite well with the audience, with most seeming to love it, or at least like it, including the party I went with. (I was the one dissenter in our group) So, based on the audience reaction, I'm gonna say that this is very much a personal opinion here. It's basically kinda similar to Session 9, (in terms of atmosphere) only in a forest, and I'm one of the apparently few horror fans who was totally non-plussed by Session 9, while most like that one also, so anyone who likes Session 9, should like this.

3/10 from me. It just thoroughly annoyed and bored me from start to finish. That having said, based on audience reaction at Dead By Dawn, I'm actually gonna recommend fans to check it out, as it'll probably go down quite well with you. Just wasn't my cuppa tea at all though.

Bit of a mix between Lost and The Shining, I really enjoyed this actually. In fact I love it when I find a really low scoring film on IMDb that I enjoy! Quite creepy, incredible sounds / score, especially the constant old style music that plays incessantly through the woods, driving the characters insane.

Quite light in gore (no bad thing) but the few scenes there are are fairly shocking, especially the one seen from a distance, which was pretty chilling.

If I had to choose between Saw, Scream (any) or this, I would choose this any day.

Oh yeah I mentioned the sound already but its really good. Very atmospheric.

Been googling for 'meaning behind the film' type stuff since the DVD stopped, and that in my opinion is what a decent horror should make you do.

OK, seriously, i just took the time to register JUST so i could post my review on this movie...from start until about 1 hour and 10 minutes into the movie it was great...really really great...these guys did an extremely good job staying on budget for this film...their mix of strange sound and cinematic views created a great suspenseful atmosphere...up until 1 hour 10 minutes the movie, in my humble opinion, is an 8...good movie...

HOWEVER...the ending is SO terrible that it actually brought my rating to a 3...i see other comments equating the Lynch-style ending to this movie but i have to disagree...

the ending is so muddied that the viewer feels robbed..the whole..."i just sat through this super-great movie to see it end like that???"...so cheap and open was the ending that it cant even be genre-ized...and i agree with other posters...it definitely stays with you...but not in a good way...in an annoying way...TOO many unanswered questions and plot holes...its not a tragedy...its not EXACTLY a horror...not TOO suspenseful..just.........weak..

bottom line..prepare for disappointment...