devil's pass did it much better..

Have you seen In The Mouth of Madness?

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I liked Devil's Pass a lot, too, but it's a different kind of movie. Both films are about people investigating a "real" incident, which requires hiking through the wilderness. Both films have some romantic drama between the characters. That's pretty much it.

First of all, the fact that DP is based on a true, real-life incident grounds the film in reality; YBR is not only based on a fictional incident, but it's one that is even weirder than the real Dyatlov Pass events, which God knows were weird enough. Thus, you have YBR being less reality-based right from the start.

There is an element of steadily building, surreal strangeness in YBR that is absent in DP. They even start off differently: The early scenes in DP seem perfectly normal - exactly what you'd expect in the circumstances. Most of the early scenes in YBR are weird, with a distinctly off, "something's not quite right here" feeling.

That's the point of the movie: It's not meant to be a straightforward retelling of events. It's about the increasingly surreal environment and its effect on the characters more than about telling a linear story with a clear explanation and resolution.

SPOILERS BELOW


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I was expecting a type of 'portal' or at least some sub-plot regarding world war II weapon experimentation to be awaiting these hikers.. i.e, a somewhat similar vein to "devil's pass".

See, this is what I mean. You were looking for a clear explanation of what happened to the original victims and to the movie characters. DP gives you one because it's a straightforward action/horror movie. YBR does not give you one because it's a surreal horror movie where things make less and less sense as the story progresses and where the end is obviously not real at all. The goals of the filmmakers were different, so of course they got different kinds of films.

There's nothing wrong with preferring movies that have clearly explained endings - most movies are like that, and I suspect most viewers prefer them. DP fits that category and is quite entertaining. YBR definitely does not fit the category. I agree it's not for everyone, or even most people. On the other hand, I don't think you can brush it off as an inferior version of DP and similar, more straightforward, horror-in-the-woods movies.

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