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Watching someone play a video game that they never let you play is a singular kind of boring. A similar \u201cwhy am I here?\u201d dullness arrives early and stays late in \u201cUntil Dawn,\u201d the new supernatural slasher film based on the popular horror video game<\/a> of the same name.<\/p>\n The game, about the eerie goings-on that happen after sisters go missing from a remote mountain resort, is played in a choose-your-own-adventure style. With interactivity off the table, the film relies on a traditional slasher formula: Clover (Ella Rubin) and a group of her friends make the terrible decision to visit a remote valley\u2019s welcome center seeking answers about the strange disappearance of Clover\u2019s sister.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Inside, a masked killer starts slaughtering the characters one by one. But here\u2019s the \u201cHappy Death Day\u201d-style twist: Each night the characters\u2019 lives, and deaths, get reset by an hourglass clock. It turns out there\u2019s a deus ex machina madman at work in this uncanny valley, and as part of his diabolical project to learn more about the mechanics of fear, he reboots days and forces his victims to survive (they don\u2019t) until (you guessed it) dawn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The director, David F. Sandberg (\u201cAnnabelle: Creation\u201d) does an exhausting job moving along a script, written by Gary Dauberman and Blair Butler, that\u2019s made slack by mediocre monsters, muddled time loop stuff and underdeveloped characters who seem straight out of a lesser \u201cGoosebumps\u201d<\/a> episode. The spectacular and repulsively funny deaths by spontaneous combustion deserve their own, better movie.<\/p>\n Until Dawn<\/strong>
Rated R for face bashing, gut busting and exploding torso jump scares. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes. In theaters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n