CHERNOBYL DIARIES starts with an interesting premise only to descend into a very predictable film with a very cool shooting location.   I guessed where it was going to end up before the characters and story told me.   CHERNOYBL DIARIES is from a story written by Oren Peli (who cow-rote the final screenplay with Carey Van Dyke and Shane Van Dyke) and takes the premise of a group of friends (a guy, his girlfriend, her friend, and his older screw-up brother who lives in the Ukraine) and two tourists from elsewhere going on an extreme tourism trip to Prypiat (where the workers from the Chernobyl power plant were housed) led by sketchy tour operator Yuri.   They were supposed to be in Prypiat for a two hour trip only to find their tour van sabotaged.  They are in for a fight for survival as they try to find a way out or Prypiat.

The trailer shows the best parts and we end up with a barely fleshed out (and predictable and clichéd) story with mostly annoying characters (but I guessed right on what character (or characters) survived the longest and one of them is actually the only character other than Yuri that I like).   The production value in the locations they are pure gold.   These types of locations would be an ideal location for a post-apocalyptic movie or photo shoot.   I wish the movie had more substance to it and had more scares to it.  The initial set-up is great only to have it unravel.   The ending is the type of ending I want to mock.   Overall, I'm disappointed by THE CHERNOBYL DIARIES.  Skip the theaters and rent it on DVD or Blu-ray.

this review is (c)5-27-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

Info on PRYPIAT-   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prypiat