Death Valley DVD Review

With a first-time director and a cast of actors who haven’t had as much practice as they once did, Death Valley is trying at times. The opening sequences involving L.A. resident Josh (Eric Christian Olsen) haggling with his friends (Rider Strong, Bumper Robinson, Wayne Young) over whether or not he should go on a birthday celebration road trip to the desert for a rave is trying, mostly because we know the conclusion. Going into viewing a horror-suspense film called Death Valley, we know they are going to make it to the desert, yet we are forced to sit through excrutiatingly difficult dialogue and a wasted attempt at attracting sympathy for the characters during the rave, until the next morning when the film actually begins.

Fortunately with horror films it isn’t always entirely necessary to sympathize with the characters as long as the situations are believable, and that seems always on the forefront of filmmakers Rudi Liden and David Kebo’s minds, even when the dialogue make them impossible to like. During these opening moments of establishment and trying conversations we are slowly pulled into a trap with the characters, only realizing it is too late long after anything can be done. It is easy to think you know what is going to happen when watching horror films, but it is rare to be taken off-guard. Although there were no specific twists that made Death Valley surprising, I found myself uncertain of where the film was heading from one moment to the next. Abandoning any formula, Death Valley is unpredictable and occasionally unpleasant, but far more of an experience than you might expect from such a straightforward plot.

As it happens Josh and his friends are the last to leave the following morning, only joined by a one-night-stand played by Genevieve Cortese. They find that the local meth-heads have returned to the area where the outsiders had thrown the wild party. Recovering from partying themselves, Josh and his friends just want to leave, but they find themselves forced into an unavoidable conflict with the locals. Forced to retreat and hide in the hills formulating a plan of escape, the leader of the desert gang known as “The Scorpions”, an axe-wielding psycho named Dom (Dash Mihok), becomes more and more bloodthirsty.

The comparison to Deliverance is inevitable, and it is pretty accurate, although budget and overall filmmaking experience should be an indicator that Death Valley is not at the same level. It is, however, the beginning of something promising. The DVD includes a commentary track from the directors as well as a making of featurette. There are also some addition deleted scenes and a gag reel.