Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘YellowBrickRoad’

Written by Scott Edwards

Trying to find out why somebody has done something unspeakable can be a sticky situation, especially if they are a friend. Not being able to understand what drives some decisions in people can make it difficult to figure out what is really going on in their heads. When your friends end up hitting rock bottom and do not divulge this information to you, you can feel helpless and only want to understand where the problem is coming from, but most of the time, you will be left in the dark as your friend has to figure it out on their own.

In 1940, the small town of Friar, New Hampshire was left dormant by its inhabitants. Without rhyme or reason, everyone in the town left their lives behind and started to walk up a winding mountain trail called the Yellow Brick Road, never to be heard from again. When it was discovered that the entire town was evacuated for no foreseeable reason, the army dispatched a search party and located most of the hikers, but none of them were still breathing. For this reason, the Yellow Brick Road had been deemed off limits for anyone and everyone that wanted to travel it, but seventy years later, it has been re-opened and the curiosity seekers will have free reign to hike it once again.  

A group has decided to take to the road and put an end to all of the mysteries that surround the small town of Friar. Trying to talk to all of the residents about what they believe might have happened to the past occupants of the community, they are not able to get much information at all. Trying to create a book about their account while they make their way up the trail and find the real reason why the entire town took the stroll; they decide to keep a video log to show their loss of sanity. As they get further into their investigation, everyone starts to get a shorter fuse with their counterparts and find that their memories are starting to disappear before trying to conquer the trail.

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As the group hits a clearing in the woods, they stop and listen to the wilderness around them and are met with the surprise of hearing music. Figuring out that it was Big Band music from one of the locals that has decided to join the group, and also learning that everyone who took the hike seventy years ago loved it, they start to show a bit of concern. The music is quiet to start with and easy for everyone to shut out, but as they move further north, the music gets louder and louder and starts to work against the group members in different ways. Then out of nowhere, the music stops, and this is what starts to drive the group crazy as they do not know what is causing it, if it is real at all or if they are all suffering from a mass hallucination.  
 
The group decides to keep moving north, but with every step they take, the men of the group start to form hatred towards the women they are traveling with and turn to violence. Not understanding what is happening to them, the group is faced with a decision after witnessing their first death, to move forward with their adventure or turn back and go home. Without knowing what the trail has in store for them, it becomes apparent that there is something much more sinister at work then they had prepared for.  

Wow is all I can say about YellowBrickRoad. I have been putting it off and putting it off for a couple of months and I do not know why. Something about the description left me apprehensive about giving it a view and boy was I wrong. Watching as each character starts to lose their sanity on the old trail was just fantastic and having a living soundtrack that the characters are hearing as well as the audience is something you don’t see in film that often. Playing with the common fear of being lost in an unfamiliar place, along with having an unseen or maybe even a nonexistent villain providing music for the hike is just altogether creepy element this movie provides. This movie caught me off guard and I am happy that it did. Trying to be a character study was the wrong choice for the storyline and is probably why it has lower ratings, but if you let that rest and watch it for what it should be, you will be far from disappointed. Stay Scared.

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