Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

The_Dead_See If you've spent enough time watching the indie horrors that appear so frequently on Netflix instant, you'll know by now that only about one in three of them is watchable. Not good, just watchable. Donner Pass is one of the watchable ones.It's basically a tame slasher movie with a spin on the Wendigo myth thrown in (but don't expect something as good as "Ravenous"). It's elevated above the usual crowd by decent acting and direction, a restrained pace, and an interesting rape/revenge subplot. One thing I very much liked was that when the bad stuff did start going down, the characters made some pretty logical decisions (such as attempting to dig a car out of snow while the others stand guard post with weapons at all four corners). It's always a welcome relief when you don't have to shout "as if you would do that!" at the screen.Unfortunately, like with so many films of this ilk, the character writing is where it fails. Yet again we're introduced to a group of bickering twentysomethings that I have a seriously hard time believing would ever come together as acquaintances let alone friends. Each character never gets past the standard slasher stereotype - the bitch, the jock, the bad boy, the nerd, and the blank canvas final girl. And worse, most of the characters are so horrible that you never get invested in their wellbeing, which makes every death scene at best empty and meaningless and at worst, a relief.For any would-be indie horror film maker reading this, I implore you to take this simple formula to heart: "Make a character *we can like* and then put them in danger".It really shouldn't be hard but almost once a month I see a film where crappy characters are the principle flaw in an otherwise solid horror movie. If only we lived in a world where the first thing they taught at screen writing school was "how to make the audience give a damn".Rant over, back to the movie: Donner Pass is well made enough that, if you can get past the characters, it is worth watching. The subtle supernatural slant seems to rub a few viewers the wrong way but I actually enjoyed it more because of it (mundane slasher flicks bore me). I give it props for some intelligent plot decisions and for having a bit more of a grown-up feel than many tween-targeted slashers. It's not great, but it's worth watching. 5/10.

gavin6942 Donner Pass has a well-known and macabre history -- the place where George Donner and his party got stuck in the winter of 1846 and were forced to resort to cannibalism to keep from starving. But what if it was not just history? This is your standard young people alone in a secluded area type of horror film. There is some attempt to connect it to the legendary Donner Party, but it is done in such a way as to seem gratuitous and really outside the overall tone and thrust of he film.If someone were to make a film inspired by the story or actually set at the time, I think it could work well. "Ravenous" was a great film, for example. This one, though, is nothing special.

movieman_kev A group of unlikable 'teens' all of whom look like they're rapidly approaching 30 and act 10, go up to vacation at a remote cabin that's close to the fabled Donner Pass are stalked by an unknown killer.I'm more prone to be a tad lenient with first time writer/directors, and while Elisa Robertson may have done TV movies previously, I believe this might be her first stab at a feature film. However that self-imposed courtesy is surely tested here as everything about the movie is dreadful. From the atrocious sub-par high school play caliber acting, to the awful threadbare plot, and every mundane thing in between, this movie screams out to be publicly ridiculed. So yea, well I guess rules were made to be broken.Eye Candy: Krystal Davis gets toplessMy Grade: D-Where I saw it: the movie channel

FlashCallahan The stuff the words 'straight to Blu Ray' was invented for.Four teens, Two very unlikeable, one likable, and one very quiet go to the quiet ones parents cabin for a weekend of being in an average film.One has a secret ans will be involved in a twist come the end scene. Guess which one? Before the main narrative starts, we are invited to a back story of the Donner group, a legend where bearded people ate each other. Apparently in the States, it's quite an infamous story.Here in England, it sounds like a road where you would get a kebab, only less entertaining.Back to the story, the horrible one invites her boyfriend and his friends, who are even more unlikeable than ever one else.Fortunately, someone is prowling the grounds and killing them off one by one.The thing is about Donner pass, is that it's been done literally hundreds of times before, since the early eighties, and now it's one of the most tired of sub-genres out there.Evil dead was ground breaking in this 'Teens in a cabin being menaced by the supernatural' genre i'm on about.This is by the numbers dirge, with some rancid performances from some Abercrombie and Fitch wannabes.It's horrible stuff, made on a budget nearly the same of 'The Descent', but with none of the thrill, or the intensity.People will see this though, because it has the appeal, and will make it's money back, which in turn will cause more of this poison to be made.