Until Dawn Review: How To Make The Most Disrespectful Video Game Adaptation Yet
Copyright © Sony Pictures, Screen Gems, PlayStation Productions, Vertigo Entertainment
Title: Until Dawn
Director: David F. Sandberg Based on: Until Dawn by PlayStation Studios
Release Date: April 25, 2025
Although some video games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Bros. were respected in the movie arena, the lesser-known ones are still not treated right. Last year, Borderlands became a huge box-office bomb as well as one of the worst movies of its year. For today, we are talking about Until Dawn, Sony's new horror movie based on the video game of the same name. Going out with a budget of $15 million, the movie made a standard box office success of $53.6 million grossed. However, critics were mixed about the repetitive plot structure, but audiences (mainly those unfamiliar with the game) were quite positive on the other hand. Until Dawn does disconnect from the game it is based on, but if you do ignore that thought, the movie just turns out to be your average teen horror survival.
Although some video games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Bros. were respected in the movie arena, the lesser-known ones are still not treated right. Last year, Borderlands became a huge box-office bomb as well as one of the worst movies of its year. For today, we are talking about Until Dawn, Sony's new horror movie based on the video game of the same name. Going out with a budget of $15 million, the movie made a standard box office success of $53.6 million grossed. However, critics were mixed about the repetitive plot structure, but audiences (mainly those unfamiliar with the game) were quite positive on the other hand. Until Dawn does disconnect from the game it is based on, but if you do ignore that thought, the movie just turns out to be your average teen horror survival.
Summary
"One year after her sister disappeared, Clover and her friends head to the remote valley where she vanished to search for answers. Exploring an abandoned visitor center, they soon encounter a masked killer who murders them one by one. However, when they mysteriously wake up at the beginning of the same night, they're forced to relive the terror over and over again." - Google
"One year after her sister disappeared, Clover and her friends head to the remote valley where she vanished to search for answers. Exploring an abandoned visitor center, they soon encounter a masked killer who murders them one by one. However, when they mysteriously wake up at the beginning of the same night, they're forced to relive the terror over and over again." - Google
Reasons
Qualities that were mixed in Until Dawn were the scares, time loop lore, and tone. On the tin, as the time loop restarts, the new night sets room for more death ideas. A few moments were enough to get a light scream. For the majority of its time, it overly relies on jump scares and cheap kills for decoration. Another thing to be addressed was the lore. In the time-loop mechanic, it is interesting to see how it has effects on the people that are dying over and over again. Other parts of the lore were unexplained enough to leave plot holes. Furthermore, I know this point is a small one, but the tone is something that pays homage to teen horror. This film adaptation keeps the serious tone from the game. If it wants to be like the game, then it should make it less campy for a bit more depth.
The good things about Until Dawn are the interesting concept, solid chemistry, and eerie visuals. Like what most people said about the movie, the time loop mechanic is a really fresh spin on the slasher trope. Think Groundhog Day but in a horror format. If it were not for an adaptation of something, then it would have worked so well. In front of the time loop chaos, the chemistry is believable. The cast interacted with each other to make the survival more engaging to watch. It is sad that their characters had no personalities whatsoever. Moving forward, this is another small thing, but the visuals made the film look like the game. It introduce a new setting called Glore Valley which has foggy woods and an abandoned house. The hourglass was sure a 100% must for the time-loop motif.
To move on to the bad, Until Dawn had game disconnection, poor adaptation, and generic characters. The main reason why most people hated the movie was how it was changing so much from the source material. Honestly, adapting a choose-your-own story is difficult, but that doesn't mean the adaptation has to be a linear story. Compared to the game, this movie scrapped the elements that made the game loved by horror fans, aside from Dr. Hill, the Wendigos, and a few references. Speaking of which, it poorly adapts the elements it keeps from the game. In this movie, the Wendigos look less grotesque than they are in the game, and the mythology is stripped to make them a singular threat. Additionally, death is final in the game, while death makes you respawn in this movie. Last but not least, the characters were so generic. Instead of the original characters from the game, it introduces a new group of friends led by Clover, except they are just archetypes we have seen before. Even Dr. Hill is flanderized from an actual character to twisted waste.
Conclusion
To end this time-looping review, Until Dawn is not a good nor bad horror movie to survive in. Sure, it has severe disconnection from the games, but it is more of a middle movie if you focus only on the time loop mechanic. It's more of a visually stylish and star-studded thrill that can serve as a boredom buster. If Sony named the movie something else instead of Until Dawn, then this would have been a good horror flick. I know, I haven't played the original game in my life, but this is just based on research I got from comparisons between this movie and its source material. For anyone who is subscribed to Netflix, choose whether you'd want to watch this movie or not, just like how you choose the characters' fates until it becomes dawn.
Comments
Post a Comment