Studio: Shudder/Dread Presents/Black Fawn Films
Director: Matthew Ninaber
Writer: Matthew Ninaber
Producer: Chad Archibald, Cody Calahan, Matthew Ninaber
Stars: Jeremy Ninaber, Ethan Mitchell, Kristen Kaster, Matthew Ninaber, Matt Daciw, Jacqueline Ninaber, Jonah Fortin
Review Score:
Summary:
Mercenaries on a mission to rescue a scientist face off with a mutant monster in an underground Russian bunker.
Review:
What’s in a name? For discerning indie horror film fans, what’s in a name can make or break whether or not that fan will even watch a movie in the first place.
In this case I’m specifically speaking about distributor names, which are often the first clue regarding quality. Anybody who has been around the B-movie block once or twice knows of at least three logos that may as well be replaced with red flags given their reputations for releasing poor productions. Since people at a couple of those companies follow me on social media and could be reading this right now, I’ll avoid the embarrassment of calling anyone out directly. Let’s just say one rhymes with Mild Pie Decreasing, another involves opening a bottle of wine, and the last one has to do with ventures that are usually the exact opposite of the first word in their name.
Advance upward a tier and separating “95% guaranteed awful” from “could turn out pretty good” gets more subjective. Now I’m talking about Shudder, Blumhouse, and others who aren’t equal to major studios, but aren’t built on bargain basement barf either.
No one is ever exempt from detonating an outright bomb once in a while. Sometimes, less-than-desirable titles are part of a package acquisition deal, a favor for a filmmaker friend, or some other obligation tying someone’s hands when the time comes for distribution.
For the most part though, I personally find streaming releases on Shudder to be more worthwhile than not, particularly once you learn how to parse press releases to determine what’s likely to float your boat and what’s an easy “not for me” pass. And since I generally trust the taste of Shudder’s curators much of the time, I decided to try “Death Valley.”
Second thoughts arose about ten seconds after pressing Play. That’s when a “Dread Presents” credit appeared onscreen. I stopped covering Dread Central’s movies in 2018 or 2019. Although a few of them buck the trend by having decent period piece production values, on the whole their output has been unimpressive to say the least, and that’s putting it mildly. Frankly, I’m unconvinced their label will ever possess the pull, much less the cash, to pick up anything close to a top title. Now I wondered if I should cut bait on “Death Valley” before my hook fully dropped into the water.
With Shudder saying yea and Dread saying nay, a Black Fawn Films card provided the tiebreaker. As said several times in previous reviews of their movies, though they’re capable of delivering films that garner a downturned thumb, the Canadian collective making up Black Fawn is a consistently reliable producer of low to medium-level horror movies. While I wasn’t drawn to the unfamiliar name of director Matthew Ninaber, or to the family affair fact that the film stars his brother Jeremy, I saw usual suspects Chad Archibald and Cody Calahan as producers, and so decided “Death Valley” was still worth a shot.
Besides “what’s in a name,” horror fans may also sarcastically ask, “Who is this for?” With movies like “Predator” very much in its veins, “Death Valley” is an action-suspense hybrid where military men face off with a mutant monster in an underground Russian bunker. If “Aliens” is letter A, and a $900 DIY-er shot on a cellphone in a cardboard tube passing for a tunnel is letter Z, then “Death Valley” is somewhere around P. It’s not for people expecting a theatrical-level FX extravaganza. It’s not totally throwaway VOD filler either. It’s an average indie for forgiving fright fans who are used to mid-road movies in the neighborhood of syndicated sci-fi TV from the 1990s. Think along the lines of a tick below the first season of “Stargate,” with all of the uneven acting, compromised set sizes, yet earnest effort that entails.
The film’s first third consists almost entirely of forest-set firefights. I’ll refrain from indulging my impulse to joke about what faux professions would seem to better suit these actors. I will say you’ll never believe these guys are seasoned Spec Ops mercs, but their costumes and prop weapons are on point. When minor movies get that much right, it does help to get up the “adults playing make-believe” hump, even if subsequent events never quite get all the way over. I’ll also say that “Death Valley’s” early action at least features more muzzle flashes, smoky explosions, and squirting squibs than the truly abysmal “Apex” (review here), and that movie starred Bruce Willis.
Since “Death Valley” sticks to a straightforward plot of two dudes rescuing a woman from a monster as well as from a Russian militia, the second third trades gunplay for the simplicity of sneaking around. Flashlights shine down dark corridors. Spinning siren lights throw colors around. There’s also an obligatory crawl through ventilation ducts, commotions causing temporary separations, and other staple scenes that come part and parcel with a subterranean escape.
The film’s final third slows down even more so it can account for last minute exposition dumps and various character confrontations before final faceoffs with the main creature and Russian foes. Once revelations are out in the open and assorted conflicts are resolved, “Death Valley” shakes out to be pretty much exactly like the imaginary ‘90s TV show mentioned earlier.
Even though I watched “Death Valley” with all of the modifiers in mind, e.g. understanding it was made by people with unproven pedigrees whose script had a scope bigger than their budget, I still can’t recommend the movie. Unintentional cheesiness and spotty performances take the biggest chunks out of its credibility. Sloppy small details add splash damage too, like the word “Initiative” repeatedly misspelled, including on an embroidered patch worn by the scientist in distress.
But I can’t give “Death Valley” a failing grade either. The creature looks cool, certainly good enough for an “X-Files” monster of the week. It’s also obvious that the Ninaber Brothers squeeze every drop of their sweat onto the screen, doing their damnedest to make bullet-riddled battles read as real even when their resources are well below that of the blockbusters that evidently inspired them.
So here we have a classic case of caveat emptor. Take a look at the cast, creators, and companies involved with “Death Valley” for yourself. Assuming this isn’t your first low-budget horror rodeo, you can figure out if this film is for you simply by what’s in a name.
Review Score: 50
If you want to see impossible amounts of blood explode crimson colors like the world’s worst version of a gender reveal, well, “Abigail” at least has that.