Death Valley (2021)

Death Valley (2021) is a Canadian sci-fi horror film. Yes, it certainly is! I could simply say: a Z-movie, badly acted, with a script that’s so confoundingly bad you’ll wish you had a video premium subscription!

Or I could write: ‘The ultimate low-budget film. We change themes along the way. Survival, war, monster, zombie… avoid!!!

But that wouldn’t make me a professional film critic! Just a frustrated teenager who needs to vent his anger at having wasted his time.

Admittedly, there are moments that are boring as hell, misplaced silences, protagonists with improbable reactions and comments. The poster is promising and really not bad, but the film is rather a dud. No thrills, no anxiety. What more is there to say?

Quite simply this:

‘Death Valley’ opens with a scene of people trying to survive in an underground laboratory when a threat appears to be on the premises. Chloe, a scientist, manages to call for help and mercenaries are sent in. Their mission is not so simple, as they have to save the scientist by breaking into the bunker, but without being noticed by the militia present in this hostile area. If ‘Death Valley’ is sold as a monster movie, don’t expect to see the creatures very often. It’s a shame, because they’re well made, but their screen time is very limited. There are more confrontations between the two groups than with the bugs.

Once in the lab, the exploration is rather dull and devoid of tension and atmosphere. There are a few twists and turns, but not enough to spice up the mission. The best scenes are precisely those with the creatures, like in a survival film, but these moments are too rare. Although it had the potential to be a good little B-movie, ‘Death Valley’ ends up being an average film that isn’t very entertaining.

In fact, the more tolerant will say that it’s a B-movie action-horror, but it’s pretty close to a Z-movie. There’s certainly a hint of humour, but overall it’s very weak. The mutants are good, but the whole thing disappoints enormously, because it’s poorly directed. There’s effectively zero thrills or anxiety. It’s not an Alien or a Predator, even if those are the pleasures you want to rediscover when you get involved in feature films like this.

And yet the film starts off strong! The scenes that could be called war scenes, after the very beginning, are of lesser quality. I don’t necessarily know much about it, OK, that’s true, but it doesn’t seem very realistic to me
soldiers/mercenaries who make a lot of noise, who express their emotions, who don’t know whether one of their colleagues is dead or not, who fire six bullets at point-blank range when one would suffice, who act despite common sense and tactical interest… who run out of bullets…. and who wear chèches that could get caught in the rifle or branches…

And all the while, I was interested in what was going on in the complex!
It’s funny, because once they’re inside, they’ve got bullets again!
I’m very happy for them… but I don’t understand how it happened.
And what happens next? I’ll let you find out, if this genre interests you…

Well, on a more serious note, this is another rather underrated B horror film, as it’s far from the worst I’ve seen. Personally, it’s still good fun.

Admittedly, there are a bunch of flaws like :

• the sequence before entering the bunker, with all the slow-motion shots that were pretty lame and didn’t really serve any purpose
• not at all consistent about the number of bullets they have
• the protagonists don’t often act in the right way
• the acting left a lot to be desired at times
• the fact that we only see one creature each time, even though it’s explained that there are at least ten of them
• a woman suddenly turns into a super-villain

Yes !
There are still other faults that just don’t come to mind now, but despite the countless faults, they don’t really spoil the entertainment value, because there’s a good rhythm, a good horrific and visual atmosphere, and it’s all there!

While the promising, if very simple, script may be appealing, just don’t expect it to be a success of the genre. It starts like a thriller, with shoot-outs between rescuers and a militia. Followed by a sort of survival, the part in the bunker, which unfortunately doesn’t raise the level. No suspense, no extreme tension. One of those films that’s quick to watch and quick to forget.

Note that the director is also one of the main actors!
Matthew Ninaber – who starred in Psycho Goreman (2020) – plays the creature, while his brother, Jeremy Ninaber, plays one of the soldiers. Both are also in A Knight’s War (2025), also directed by Matthew. Kristen Kaster is also in these two films.

So much for this film!