Derelict, Dark Descent Into Hopelessness

Oh yeah...dark and depressing. No humor...no cheer...no comfort. If you like your horror dark, literally and figuratively, 2017's "Derelict" is your film. Of course, whenever the killer is wearing a gas-mask...well...horror fans will want to pay attention.  This Australian film will have no koala bears or kangaroo babies...just darkness and a gas-mask clad psycho.

Okay,the pretty Grace (Amy Celisano) and hunk Cory (Taran Dunn) sneak into an abandoned power plant located way off the beaten path. They probably are looking for an opportunity for pre-marital sex...or are they? No matter, their fates will be quite sad. Fast forward, three grouchy blokes hike hours to reach this plant. But why? Andre (Christopher Sansoni) knows why but he isn't letting his mates in on his little secret. His mates? The grouchy Rowan (James Broadhurst) and the wimpy Michael (Tristan Balz). They reach the behemoth structure and immediately explore. That is, they think that's what they're doing...Andre knows better, but he isn't letting on.

Immediately we see they are being followed into the cavernous derelict structure. As Andre leads them down into sub-levels, their torches begin to weaken. Then he appears to them, a menacing fiend with a hook wearing a gas-mask. He chases them down further into the belly of the derelict...and our grouchy trio begins losing it. As the flashlights begin dying, booby traps abound and the masked man begins attacking. Uh oh...there is someone else sown there, Liam (Justin Burford). He's been lost down there for days and he was searching for the same thing Andre is looking for. Madness begins setting in and Michael begins deteriorating physically after being pricked by a used needle. The darkness closes in on these blokes and so does our masked fiend.

Just what is Andre looking for? Who exactly is our gas-masked fiend and why is he wielding a hook? What is the secret of this derelict power-plant in the middle of nowhere in the land Down Under? Not the feel good film of 2017, "Derelict" is a grim study of the rapid disintegration of some very grouchy and unlikable Aussies. For a downer of a claustrophobic horror film, enjoy "Derelict," directed by Christian Broadhurst.