A found footage mockumentary that turns a real incident into a science fiction twist you didn’t see coming. 

• Entertainment factor: ★★★★☆
• Scare factor: ★★☆☆☆
• Twist factor: ★★★★★
• Science fiction factor: ★★★★☆
• How shaky is the camera? Not shaky.

The Dyatlov Pass Incident or Devil’s Pass is a found footage horror film with a big twist that turns into science fiction. Its was filmed in Russia. It stars Holly Goss, Matt Stokoe, Luke Albright, Ryan Hawley, Gemma Atkinson. Directed by Renny Harlin. Written by Vikram Weet.

Duration 1h 40m

Some background information about the true history of the incident

The Dyatlov Pass incident actually happened in January and February 1959. A group of 10 people set up an expedition to climb the mountain Otorten, led by Igor Dyatlov (hence the name). But before they started their climb one of them had to abandon the expedition because of sickness. The others went up the mountain but because of bad weather they got off track. 

When after a while nothing was heard of them, a group of volunteers went up the mountain to search for them. They found them all dead. They were found scattered around the campsite. Six of them died of hypothermia, and three of them died of deadly wounds. But the strange part is that the wounds were internally without bruises on their bodies or any other signs of violence. The official cause of death was an unknown exceptional force. One of them had their tongue cut out, which makes it even stranger. They also found radioactivity on their clothes. 

Some witnesses said that they saw big glowing orange balls in the sky. So people started to speculate the involvement of the military, or some unknown force that killed them. Either way, exactly how and why they were killed and what actually happened remains a mystery. 

Plot

Now Holly King wants to go to that same place to make a documentary and see if they can find out something. She takes film maker Jenson Day with her, Denise Evers as the sound technician, and JP Hauser and Andy Thatcher as guides. They arrive in Russia and want to speak to the man who abandoned the expedition but they are not allowed. Back in a bar they meet a man named Sergei who will take them to the starting point of their hike and as a bonus he brings them to Alya, one of the volunteers who went on the rescue mission in 1959. She tells them that they found 11 bodies instead of 9. 

When they arrive at the mountain, the hike begins and soon Holly makes a gruesome discovery of a tongue. When they camp out for the night, two creatures are seen in the background without them knowing. They arrive at the place where the original expedition was found dead. There Holly and Jenson find a door to a bunker, with the lock outside instead of inside, to keep something in. They decide not to open it and not to tell the others. 

That night an avalanche hits their camp and not everybody makes it alive or in one piece. So they set off a flare. Very soon, too soon, two men come climbing up the mountain and start shooting at them. The remaining crew flees inside the bunker and discovers some secrets that they could never have anticipated. 

Continue reading below this announcement.

Short Review

It starts out as a normal documentary and nothing much happens. The whole situation about the death of the expedition members is strange and they find of a tongue and creatures in the background create a foreboding feeling that this isn’t going to end well. 

Holly handles the camera but she frequently puts it down so we have a wide shot of her and the others. Every time the footage has glitches you have to pay attention. There’s something about to happen or to see. Like two creatures in the background on all fours. 

Although nothing happens in the largest part of the film, it’s not boring. Holly has a conversation with Jenson about her fascination with this place and the 1959 expedition, because she dreamed about it when she was little. Her urges to find out what secrets the mountain hides and why she was dreaming about it, compels her forward, while the others don’t have her drive. 

The real horror starts when they find the bunker and have to hide inside. That’s where they find a lab and secret experiments and even files of another experiment that actually happened. The Philadelphia Experiment on the ship the USS Eldridge entailed to make it invisible and experiments concerning teleportation were held, where people ended up inside or half inside the ship. This experiment explains what is about to happen. 

They used all the information of the real Dyatlov expedition and of the Philadelphia Experiment and put them together to create a new story that creatively turned that information into a science fiction horror with surprising elements. While the Philadelphia Experiment really took place, the photo’s and added information is a plot device to put those two historical events together. It’s smartly done without adding too much extra information, to create a new horror story.

The end of the film has a nice surprising twist, two original creatures and will eventually explain what happened. It’s a fun twist and totally not what you would have expected. 

SPOILERS When Holly, Jenson and a wounded JP make it inside the bunker, they not only find a lab and files of the Philadelphia Experiment but also two creatures who can teleport. While the creatures kill JP, they seem to herd Holly and Jenson to a specific place. They find an execution room, but also natural caves.

One of those caves seems like an endless warped tunnel, full of magnetic radiation and functions as a portal. They figure that this is the reason those creatures can teleport. They assume that if they think very hard about a place when they step through the portal they might end up there. As it’s there only way out and the door to the bunker is fresh in their memory they hold hands and step through the portal.

They do indeed end up at the door of the bunker, but they died during the leap. They are found by Russian soldiers while two volunteers among which Alya are also present. The soldiers tell them to go away and that they will take care of it. One of them picks up the camera, but doesn’t hold it like a camera. They find their clothes strange and hang the bodies on meat hooks.

But the two bodies twitch and they aren’t dead. Holly and Jenson teleported outside the bunker but instead of jumping through space, they jumped through time as well and ended up in 1959. That explains why Alya said there were 11 bodies found. And the creatures who attacked them were Holly and Jenson. That’s why they coached them towards the portal to correct the timeline.