Death Valley – Routine Action Horror
Director: Matthew Ninaber
Writer: Matthew Ninaber (Screenplay)
Starring: Jeremy Ninaber, Ethan Mitchell, Kristen Kaster, Melissa Joy Boerger, Matt Daciw
Plot: Mercenaries with nothing to lose are hired to rescue a bioengineer imprisoned in a cold war bunker. Upon entering the ominous facility, they find themselves in a fight for their lives when they come under attack from an unknown and deadly creature.
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Death Valley starts when Beckett (Ninaber) and Marshall (Mitchell) are recruited as part of a rescue team to enter a former cold war bunker to rescue a scientist Chloe (Kaster) who was involved in the research team there.
Once the team manage to get into the bunker, they find the enemies outside are the least of their worries, as within the bunker is a deadly creature that is looking to hunt them down.
Thoughts on Death Valley
Characters & Performances – Beckett and Marshall are brothers in arms, hired to lead a team on their latest mission, they know they can trust each other on missions, despite having different styles, with Beckett being the more people person, expecting a child back home and Marshall being the loose cannon. These two characters are the type of character you would come to expect in action horror, but neither are given that ‘it’ factor to become something even fresher to the genre. Chloe is the scientist that is trapped in the bunker, she knows more than she is revealing to the men trying to save her. The performances are solid enough for the film, with each one seemingly getting inspiration from other films in the genre.
Story – The story here follows a group of mercenaries hired to rescue a woman from a bunker that has a dangerous creature hunting down people within the walls and a military presence on the outside. This is a story that does seem to be a blend of ‘Overlord’ and ‘Resident Evil’ with the ideas of what needs to be done in the rescue mission, along with how everything unfolds for the people involved. The story will try to bring us a new edgy reveal, but getting there is by the book, not bringing us anything fresh leading up to the impact trying to be made.
Themes – Death Valley is an action horror that will bring the action of military style, with the horror coming from the creature being an unstable figure bullets don’t damage, a creature that does take a while to see, but once we see it, you will feel like you have seen it before.
Final Thoughts – Death Valley is an entertaining if not all too familiar concept.
