Destination Death - DVD

Film: College friends Clarissa (Harriet MacMasters-Green), Paul (Robert Capelli Jr.), Geneva (Tara Haggiag), Tommy (Antonio Cupo), Rasheed (Mourad Zaoui), Jameela (Giorgia Massetti) and Angelica (Manuela Zanier) vacation together in Morocco, camping in the Atlas Mountains. But when aspiring journalist Clarissa's camera is stolen in an ambush, a real nightmare begins for the friends. For the backup camera Clarissa acquires at the antique shop of the mysterious Mr. Tollinger (Aramand Assante) turns out to be cursed. Anyone photographed with the old Polaroid camera must die a short time later. And as Clarissa's group is steadily reduced, the survivors must try to figure out the camera's secret before it gets them too.

Destination Death is the directorial debut of Italian Francesco Gasperoni, who also wrote the screenplay. Admittedly, he makes very clear use of familiar motifs from other films in the horror genre. Photos showing the impending death of the people photographed on them are familiar from the classic The Omen, for example. For four films now, all the protagonists of the Final Destination series, to which the German title is also supposed to allude, have been trying to jump from the brink of certain death. And the group of young tourists, who are confronted with a merciless killer - real or supernatural - in the seclusion in a foreign country, is truly no new idea.

The film's problem, however, is not its lack of originality, as Gasperoni handles the familiar clichés very deftly in some scenes. Rather, it's the fact that some elements just don't quite want to fit into the picture. For instance, the makeup, especially of lead actress Harriet MacMasters-Green, looks as if the stylists copied it from an 80s TV series. The song in the credits would fit much better to a romantic comedy than to a horror movie. And the actors seem way too old to pass for students. No wonder, since Robert Capelli Jr. is approaching 40 by leaps and bounds, and Antonio Cupo is well past 30.

What the film does well, however, is that it is not a slasher, but thanks to the picturesque locations of Morocco, it can build up a very own, atmospheric atmosphere. Admittedly, Destination Death isn't really thrilling or even scary. But a certain entertainment value can't be denied to this movie. Alright, the dialogues are flat, the actors overworked and the effects rather poor. But that's where this directorial debut from an obvious horror fan gets its fun potential, which can make for some nice moments, especially in the last 20 minutes. Certainly not a work that can seriously be called good. But genre fans have also been entertained much worse.

Picture + Sound: Since only a data-reduced press sample was available for the test, no rating can be given about the final picture and sound quality at this point.

Extras: Except for trailers, the DVD unfortunately has no bonus material to offer.

Conclusion: Destination Death certainly has some entertainment value, but the low budget and inexperience of debut director Francesco Gasperoni always make themselves felt in a negative way. The amusing performance of Armand Assante and the almost charming trash factor of the special effects make the not exactly original story a thoroughly enjoyable horror fun in places

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp