Film reviews: Chernobyl Diaries (15) | Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 3D (15)

Published on 21/06/2012 15:04

MORE than 25 years after reactor four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, holiday operators in Kiev are doing a thriving trade in guided tours of the abandoned Ukrainian town of Pripyat.

Chernobyl Diaries (15)

Rating: **

MORE than 25 years after reactor four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, holiday operators in Kiev are doing a thriving trade in guided tours of the abandoned Ukrainian town of Pripyat.

Screenwriter Oren Peli draws inspiration from Pripyat’s demise for this thriller about a group of 20-something tourists who regret their decision to venture off the beaten track.

Shot in a documentary-style, replete with juddering handheld camerawork and ambient sound, the film uses the cover of night for most of its big scares, forcing us to squint into deathly darkness.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 3D (15)

Rating: **

A BIZARRE premise becomes a dull, disjointed slog on the big screen, even with the directorial brio of Kazakhstan-born film-maker Timur Bekmambetov.

Balletic, gravity-defying action sequences arc the blood of the undead at the camera in glorious 3D as the script, adapted by Seth Grahame-Smith, lollops through 45 years in Lincoln’s life.

The snappy title promises much but delivers sporadic, slow-motion thrills and (blood) spills and Benjamin Walker in the title role is a bland, unappealing hero, almost completely devoid of humour and charm. The rest of the cast have seen better days too.