Chernobyl Diaries
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: May 25, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
32
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
8
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
Entertainment WeeklyClark CollisMay 25, 2012
If nowhere near as scary as the original Paranormal, the result is superior to many of the low-budget terror flicks that have arrived since (yes, The Devil Inside, we're talking about you) and benefits hugely from Dimitri Diatchenko's performance as moviedom's Worst. Tour. Guide. Ever. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMay 25, 2012
The novelty of the setting ultimately proves highly effective. Shot mainly in Eastern European locations that effectively stand in for Prypiat, which is now actually a tourist site, the film is highly convincing in its verisimilitude. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMay 25, 2012
Chernobyl Diaries is afflicted with a fatal flaw that damages many horror films: after a better-than-average setup and a promising first half, everything falls apart. Read full review
50
VarietyJoe LeydonMay 25, 2012
Scattered stretches of suspense and a few undeniably potent shocks are not enough to dissipate the sense of deja vu that prevails throughout Chernobyl Diaries, a wearyingly predictable thriller about "extreme tourists." Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasMay 25, 2012
It's mostly boilerplate horror, plucking visual ideas from better sources and relying on the sick novelty of referencing an actual catastrophe. Read full review
40
Total FilmKen McIntyreJun 21, 2012
Diaries is dark and gruesome, but with little in the way of genuine shock or surprise, you should expect the expected. Read full review
40
Time OutHank SartinMay 29, 2012
If, as some critics have claimed, "The Cabin in the Woods" made the horror genre obsolete, someone forgot to tell screenwriter Oren Peli. Read full review
40
MovielineAlison WillmoreMay 25, 2012
The problem with Chernobyl Diaries isn't that it's offensive, it's that it's dumb. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 25, 2012
In Chernobyl Diaries, directed by Bradley Parker, stupidity is taken to extremes. Read full review
38
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMay 25, 2012
There's a nagging question at the heart of Chernobyl Diaries. It isn't what, or who, is stalking these kids. After awhile, the answer becomes apparent, leading to a denouement that, while mildly exciting, feels like a ride you've been on before. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia PuigMay 25, 2012
Despite an unlikely setting and a moderately intriguing premise, Chernobyl Diaries proves to be a generic horror flick where young tourists are systematically victimized in unoriginal and not terribly scary ways. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenMay 25, 2012
The lack of suspense and surprise in this dispiritingly rote film becomes its own form of contamination. Read full review
30
Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoMay 25, 2012
If this horror movie cashes in on the audience that echoes its character's awareness ("That's where the nucular thing happened, right?") then we're about to learn how low our national academic standards are. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisMay 26, 2012
The movie wants us to find this frightening, but there's no suspense, no terrifying images. Read full review
20
The New York TimesAndy WebsterMay 25, 2012
The "Paranormal Activity" movies don't teem with metaphor, and neither does this film, directed by Brad Parker. The original "Night of the Living Dead" left you with plenty to chew on, so to speak; Chernobyl Diaries just leaves you feeling empty. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineNick SchagerMay 25, 2012
With the faux-verité aesthetics of [Rec], the American-tourists-in-Eastern-European-hell setup of Hostel, and the brain of a mushy radioactive mutant zombie thingie, Chernobyl Diaries is little more than decomposed horror leftovers. Read full review
10
SlateDana StevensMay 25, 2012
You might actively root for their collective demise, if you could rouse yourself to care one way or the other. Go gallivanting in Chernobyl and you get what you pay for, nimrods. Read full review
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