BA_Harrison True story: in 1864, a group of emigrants travelling through Donner Pass, California, became trapped by such heavy snow that some of them eventually resorted to cannibalism in order to survive.Not quite so true story: in 2014, BA_Harrison resorted to chewing off his own legs in order to relieve his frustration at watching yet another run-of-the-mill slasher in which a bunch of unlikeable teens get slaughtered by a homicidal maniac.After a reasonable intro in which we witness the gruesome events of Donner Pass, 1864, this film follows a group of present-day teens who travel to a remote cabin for a weekend break only to be bumped off one-by-one by a mysterious killer. Ho-hum.To be fair, Donner Pass does get slightly better towards the end, when the plot takes a strange turn involving rape/revenge, and a cannibalistic antagonist who can pass 'the hunger' to his victims, but for the most part it is routine teen-friendly nonsense the likes of which we have seen countless times before.A brief bit of topless action from a soon-to-be-dead blonde in a hot-tub and some reasonable gore (including one character who gets a pick-axe through the throat AND a claw hammer in the eye for good measure) helps to make the time pass a bit less painfully, but you won't be missing much if you decide to pass on Donner Pass.

Claudio Carvalho In1846, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the area known as Donner Pass, a starving man kills three others to eat their flesh during the winter, but a boy witnesses the murders and flees.In the present days, the teenagers Kayley (Desiree Hall), her boyfriend Mike (Colley Bailey), her cousin Nicole (Adelaide Kane) and the outcast Thomas (Erik Stocklin) travel to the house in Donner Pass of Thomas's parents that are in Europe. Thomas recommends his friends to be careful with the house since his parents do not know that they are spending the weekend there. They learn that the police are hunting down the criminal James Michael Epstein (John Kassir). Out of the blue, the troublemaker boyfriend of Nicole, Derek (Dominic DeVore), comes with his friends Brody (Antonio Trischitta), Valerie (Krystal Davis) and A.J. (Brandon Morales) in his SUV to stay with Nicole, despite the protests of Thomas. Soon their beer runs out and Brody drives the SUV to buy some more in the town. Brody goes missing and soon Mike, Kayley and Thomes find his body eaten. Meanwhile Valerie is murdered near the house and the car has flat tires. Who might be the cannibal that is attacking the group? "Donner Pass" is a terrible slasher with an awful gore story of cannibalism and one-dimensional characters. The explanation for the anthropophagy is ridiculous and most of the characters are non- charismatic. In the end, watching "Donner Pass" is a complete waste of time. My vote is three.Title (Brazil): Not Available

Wuchak I bought "Donner Pass" (2012) blindly, thinking it was a film about the Donner expedition that resorted to cannibalism to survive the winter of 1846-47 because a pass in NE California was blocked with snow. Well, it starts out that way, but the story soon shifts to the misadventures of a modern-day group of youths who stay at a vacation cabin in the dead of winter where someone or something starts viciously mauling the kids one by one. Ah, this made it more interesting (I really wasn't in the mood to see a depressing tale of Winter survival through cannibalism anyway).Gorgeous redhead Desiree Hall shines as the female protagonist and there's at least one solid male protagonist as well. One guy -- who's family owns the cabin -- is an awkward misfit; and the good-lookin' brunette he's sort of set-up with disdains him (cutie Adelaide Kane). The social dynamics get real interesting when a second group of uninvited youths join the party and tensions start to flare. I've been in situations just like this and it rings true. Dominic DeVore stands out as one of the bad dudes.Although I label "Donner Pass" a slasher adventure, it's just as much a monster flick, even if the "monster" turns out to be human, which I'm not saying. So, really, this is just a classic creature feature utilizing the true story of the infamous pass.I'm giving it a fairly high rating because it's a good modern example of the slasher genre. Everything jells together for an effective horror romp in the California wilderness (shot at Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino National Forest and Monterey Park, California). Another plus is the awesome song played during the opening & end credits -- "High Ground" by Orenda Fink. The film doesn't overstay its welcome at 90 minutes.GRADE: B+ or A-

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