The Devil’s Pass Review (2013)

 

The Devil’s Pass is very entertaining found footage horror film that most people have missed.  It has mind blowing ending that I recommend highly.

The Story

The Devil’s Pass follows a group of American students who are investigating the true life mystery of nine Russian hikers who befell unexplained deaths while hiking in the Russian mountains in 1959. But what they discovered was something very terrifying.

The Review (Spoiler Free)

The Devil’s Pass plays with the real event called “The Dyatlov Pass incident.”  The Dyatlov Pass incident refers to the unsolved deaths of nine Russian hikers in the northern Ural Mountains in Russia in 1959. During the night, something caused them to tear their way out of their tents and flee the campsite while inadequately dressed for heavy snowfall and sub-zero temperatures. After the group’s bodies were discovered, the authorities determined that six had died from hypothermia while the other three showed signs of physical trauma. One victim had a fractured skull; two others had major chest fractures. Additionally, another team member was missing their tongue and eyes. The investigation concluded that an “unknown compelling force” had caused the deaths.

The Devil’s Pass is filmed in found footage style. These American students went missing, but they left behind video footages of their experiences.  You are watching this found footage video.

The pace of the movie is bit slow.  First half of the movie is about their journey to Russia and meeting different people on their way.  Intensity starts to build up second half of the movie where they were camping at the spot where nine hikers went missing.

The best part of the movie is the big surprise ending.  It is totally unexpected. It will blow your mind.

Although acting is just average and some of the characters are bit annoying, the movie is worthwhile to watch.

Spoiler Ending (Spoiler Alert!)

The Devil’s Pass has very creative theory about that happened to the nine Russian hikers in the northern Ural Mountains.  The theory is that the Russians have discovered a time portal deep inside the mountain.  The Russians were studying this time portal trying use it as advantage during the Cold War against United States.  In order to study the time portal, they have sent people through the portal.  From the experiment, they have discovered that these people are turning into dangerous creature with super strength, and it became very dangerous.  So eventually, they have shut down the experiment and hide the time portal from the world. Until these 5 American students discovered it by accident.

First sign of trouble for these 5 American students was the avalanche and two Russians who are shooting at them. This tells us that the current Russian government knows about this hidden bunker and they are trying to scare them away from the bunker.

The movie gets very intense when the students discovered the hidden bunker deep inside the mountains.  First strange thing that they discovered inside the bunker is the camera.  It turned out to be the same camera that they are using to film. This was the first hint that the movie has time travel elements in it.

Eventually everyone dies except for the two students.  At the end, they are trapped inside the room with the time portal.  They had no choice but to go through the time portal since if they leave the room, they are going to get killed by the monsters.  So they went inside the portal not knowing what is going to happened to them.

It turned out that they have travelled back in time to 1950’s when the Russian were experimenting with the time portal.  Also their body has mutilated.  The Russians brought them back inside the bunker with their video camera.  This is the same video camera that they found inside the bunker earlier.

So they have been locked in the bunker for many years until these American students have discovered the the bunker.  The mind blowing surprise is that these students were basically attacked by them.

In the Nutshell

The Devil’s Passe is found footage horror with mind blowing ending.  To maximize the enjoyment, it is best if you go into the movie completely blind. Don’t even watch the trailer.  I give 5 out of 5 stars.

If you already saw this movie, help us rate the movie by click on the Star Rating. 

Profile

Genre: Found Footage

Rottentomatoes Rating: 53% / 29%

You can watch on: 

Trailer

https://youtu.be/Mbq3dR-SEr4

10 comments

  1. I still do not get the ending. The camera goes completely incomprehensible (audio & visual). I understand there was some weird creatures due to the fact that the last two students that were walking & exploring the bunker tunnels found the weird inhuman skeletons. Military secrets & strange creature coverups, ok. I buy it. But what happens to the students that were walking around the tunnels? I enjoyed the movie until the ending scenes because I can’t clearly see nor hear what’s happening. Could you shed some light please? I did not know anything at all about this movie’s plot at all, so every bit of it was a surprise & all was going well….UNTIL the camera goes crazy at the end. Do the students die? How do they die?

     
    1. Basically, the secret wormhole is where you can time travel back in time, but at the same time, it turns you into a monster. The last scene, the two survivors jump into the wormhole not knowing what will happen to them. They eventually went back in time were Russian were active in the tunnel. Russian captured them and put them in the cages. They been in the cages for very long time until, same two people came in the tunnel many years later… very cool ending.

       
  2. Hi Sam
    Thanks so much for that breakdown of the ending. I usually catch unconventional endings & prefer them. This time, so much happens in such a short time while the camera footage is almost ruined. I think they used that effect just a bit excessively at the end. I thought the movie was going to be mediocre (ok, maybe a little better than that), but I was very pleasantly surprised. Now that I know exactly what happens at the end, I like it even more. 🙂
    Thanks for your time!!
    Sheri

     
  3. Hi Sam
    Yeah.. I’m curious about this film. What’s with the ‘Eastern European’ lets go travel to and then disappear films all about? There’s been plenty. SHANT be going there any time soon.

    I told my daughter about this film cos I was blown away watching it. I just about got ‘Back 2 the future’ and ‘Total recall’. How dense am I? But this film with your explanation. I totally get it.. Super cool film. But that GIRL was ANNOYING !!!! pardon my french. I Almost switched over cos of her. I just wanted to punch her.

     
  4. The girl with the tattoo is the girl who died in the avalanche, so where is the girl who crossed the portal with the guy?

     
  5. Remember the old lady that said there were 11 bodies? Well thats tje two ppl. They went thru the time machine. And they made the 10th and 11th ppl. Time traveling. Its not that complicated. Thats why there camera was still there. They were the 2 extra bodies the old woman spoke of. They were there in 1959 also.

     
    1. Awesome someone who actually put those 2 parts of the movie together I thought it was only me who knew that 9 + 2 with a strange machine added up to 11 explained a lot earlier in the movie

       
  6. At the beginning the old lady talks about how the original 9 hikers went missing, but when she went looking they found 11 bodies. There was 2 extra bodies then there should’ve been. They were told that it didn’t happen and gaslit by the government Because they were hiding something. So the group of people doing the documentary on the original hikers eventually they find the original campsite and find a secret government bunker in the mountain. Being forced to go inside the bunker. Eventually only two are alive and the first weird thing they found is a camera, but it’s the camera they have in their hand with the same footage that they had just recorded. Those creatures opened the door that held the portal so that they were lured into it, leaving them no choice but to go through the portal. When the two people go through the portal they end up outside the door of the bunker but they are now 50 years in the past on the same day that the nine hikers bodies were found. Hence being why that lady said there was two extra bodies found. At the end you see the people who originally went to look and discovered the 9 dead hikers & noticed the two extra people and the government/military dragging them inside the bunker. The military hang them up on hooks to experiment on them because they are not human anymore. The unhuman creatures took over the military why the logs stopped the year that the original hikers died . The creatures that took over the secret government bunker are the same creatures that were attacking the last 2 survivors (them) while they were locked in the bunker, that is why the creatures cannot hurt them because they are the creatures.
    That was why they had dreams Luring them to that mountain because really it already happened. When they time travelled it made it possible for them to exist for the last 50 years as the creatures in the bunker but also in the present when they made their way to the bunker just so they could find the portal again

     

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