Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Donner Pass’

Written by Scott Edwards 

What better break from a long year than going to the mountains with some of your best friends. I am a firm believer in breaking the mold and going somewhere where you should not have a care in the world. As time has changed however, it seems to get harder to find times when your friends are available to go on such an adventure, but once it does happen, it is always an magnificent adventure.

Thomas has invited a couple of his friends from school to head up to his cabin for a long weekend. Although he is new in the school, a couple of his classmates have taken a liking to him, or so they pretend. Although nobody in the group are the best of friends, the chance to get away from their parents and drink in the mountains is too much for them to pass up, and Thomas’ cabin is in a part of the mountains called Donner Country, as the Donner party had their break down somewhere around where they are headed.

With stories being told about the expedition gone wrong, they group gets stopped to chain up as the roads get more treacherous. While getting the car ready to make its last push up the mountains, the group hears about a crazy killer loose in the area that is eating his victims. With thoughts that the Donner party may still be there, the group pushes on and arrives at the cabin and wastes no time in settling in when a surprise comes their way. With Nicole being one of the most popular girls in school and going up the mountain with Thomas’ group, she cannot be without her boyfriend for more than a day. But her boyfriend has brought the party with him as another group of four students have arrived at the remote cabin.

Thomas is not happy about the situation, but his friend Mikey is telling him to let it slide. As these are the coolest kids in the school, they will all owe him, and it will move the outsider Thomas up the ranks so much faster. Agreeing to let them all stay, the party kicks into full effect, but when the new group runs out of beer, everything starts to take a turn for the worse. When some of the kid’s head into town to get stocked back up, they go missing and Thomas has to lead the group down the mountain to look for them. Finding his classmate’s dead body in the snow, with his organs pulled out, everyone starts to believe that the killer they were told about is stalking the cabin, but the killer is not the only one to be afraid of as secrets are passed amongst the group and tensions start running high.

A perfect movie to watch when it is snowing outside, as it just makes you go to the window and wonder what is out there. With the legend of the Donner party being brought back to light and life, it is fun to see where the characters beliefs fall on what happened, compared to what is happening to them now. With blood being the driving force behind the killer’s hunger for the kids, along with anyone else that ventures into his country, his interactions with the mountain are just fascinating and enhance your imagination further. This is just a fun ride, as high school horror movies are starting to get a soft spot in my soul, since there are so many more twists and turns that can be taken with the young casts. Stay Scared

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