Le Chemin Sans Retour

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.

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...

I watched this film when I was sick with bronchitis. I was glued to the couch, coughing and hacking, watching this movie and wondering if I was hallucinating, or if the movie was really this freaking weird. The answer is a resounding 'yes.' This movie really is extremely weird.

YellowBrickRoad is an assault on the senses, and I believe that was completely intentional. The visuals, the characters' reactions, the never-ending path, the hopelessness, the desperation, the cacophonous sounds-- all of these things created a unique and subtly terrifying environment. That said, I didn't necessarily find the movie scary, but I did find myself thinking about it for a few days after watching it.

But, I wanted to like the movie more. I wanted more substance. I love movies with an pseudo-historical backdrop, and I wanted to know more about the town's former inhabitants and the path. I guess I wanted a bit more investigation and a bit less acid trip. Yet, I was left with the impression that the semblance of an acid trip was the writers' and director's intention.

So, if you keep the film within its hallucinatory context of a deconstructed and wholly disturbing reality, you might glean some enjoyment out of it. Don't expect your typical horror fare, though, because this is a strangely unique plate that almost borders on experimental.

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 found YellowBrickRoad to be deeply unsettling, like a nightmare that tugged at something deep inside me. This is definitely a slow, mostly subtle horror film, and not for everyone, but I found it better than most that I've seen. This was a surreal, disturbing experience that took a group of ordinary people in a pretty ordinary setting and situation, and gradually morphed it into an anxious world without reliable reference frame in which we're not sure what is real. If I like a movie, and I did like this one, I tend to strongly empathize with the characters and their situation, and I found myself feeling the anxiety of questioning reality and my own grasp of it. Shortly after watching the film I went to sleep and proceeded to have what seemed like hours of dream obviously derived from the movie.

Comparable films are "The Blair Witch Project" (the original one--for obvious reasons when you see this one) and "Session 9" for the slow, character-driven build and growing sense of dread.

Yes, there was one plot detail which strained credibility, was a little distracting, and I think could've been easily avoided, but I was willing to overlook that given that otherwise the overall experience worked for me. Regarding the ending, I know many posting here found it unsatisfying. I feel strongly about endings and usually like them to be clear and unambiguous, and I liked the ending of this film. Having said that, I understand why some would not like the ending, but it made sense to me and sealed the horror of the story.