‘They deserve this’
Ditched is a 2021 Canadian horror film about the survivors of an ambulance crash fighting off escaped inmates and other beings in a forest. The group quickly discover that they are the victims of an ambush with the perpetrators hunting them down one by one.
Written and directed by Christopher Donaldson (Sleeper; Necessary Evil series). Produced by Chester Sit and Mark Sommer.
The Shadowbrook Pictures production stars Mackenzie Gray, Marika Sila, Michelle Molineux and Lara Taillon.
Plot:
After a routine prison transfer crashes in the forest, young Inuit paramedic Melina (Marika Sila) finds herself surrounded by murderers with a mere 100 feet to climb out of a ditch to escape. When they are attacked by unseen forces in the forest, Melina’s short journey to safety becomes the ultimate contest of wills…
MOVIES & MANIA says:
Ditched is an unpalatable combination of overused lighting and lens flares plus a highly improbable plot and dubious moral stance. The splattery effects and cool synth score add value but aren’t enough in themselves to make Ditched worth seeing.
Reviews:
“Ditched embraces gel lighting, ensuring a vibrantly colorful forest setting and gorgeous neon shots, even if it doesn’t quite make sense for this premise. Donaldson peels back the layers here, revealing a less supernatural presence and one more rooted in vigilantism. While not wholly satisfying on a narrative level, the gory moments deliver.” Bloody Disgusting
“There is no reason or acknowledgement immediately presented to the audience for why the criminals are there, how their paths intercrossed, or why these mercenaries are present. When the audience finally gets answers, the secrets that spill are more demonizing than initially thought and it truly raises the question of how does one define evil and can someone be redeemed through their work after an evil deed has been done.” Eye Crave
“Once the film hits the climax, Ditched goes from a basic B-horror film to something more thematically deep and interesting. Overall, it provides more depth and motivation to the characters than what was initially established – while showcasing some great blood and gore effects to boot. Though Melina’s arc is a little rough at the beginning of the film, she really comes into her own by the end.” Gigcity
“The way the plot unfolds is totally unexpected and will hold viewers on the edge of their seats waiting to see what they will learn next. Melina’s character is relatively weak for the first third of the movie, but she finds her voice and does a good job right through to the end of her story. Loranger is hands down the best actor in the cast playing a psychopath like a pro.” Grimoire of Horror
“Donaldson skillfully peels back layers while planting seeds for further mystery, and keeps the suspense at a hand-wringing pace. The members of the sizable cast give solid performances, especially Sila as a confused, scared, but strong single mother who just wants to make it home to her daughter, and Loranger as a mysterious man with a unique way of words.” Horror Fuel
“A dazzling, disturbing, film that goes down some very unexpected, dark avenues; delivering bombshell moments aplenty and a haunting conclusion. A superior Carpenter-esque movie, and a savage, blood-soaked, thought-provoking, moralistic, art-house infused blast of modern-day exploitation cinema.” Mr Geeky
” …it feels like Ditched suffers from reverse Jaws syndrome. In Spielberg’s classic, the shark famously stays hidden for much of the movie. Here, the furry monsters seem to be all over the place, all the time. Their motivation, when revealed, opens another can of worms […] Sila, who also appears in the TV series Tribal, is a strong performer…” National Post
“Ditched is an interesting take on familiar themes, with some superb visuals (the lighting used is a particular highlight) and a fantastic synth soundtrack that adds a lot to the film’s atmosphere; and a denouement that made one hell of an impact!” Nerdly
” …the film fails to characterize the attackers as a formidable unit rather than a scattered group of fursuits, reducing the emotional impact of the reveal. Ultimately, the genuinely valiant artistic efforts of the cast and crew lose validity amidst an underdeveloped script and questionable directorial choices…” Nightmarish Conjurings
“Donaldson has reached back into the George Romero/John Carpenter cookie jar […] If you are a fan of bloody siege movies, like Feast, You’re Next, or Straw Dogs, you might get a kick out of this one. You’ll just have to put up with some extended monologuing. And again, the end is totally worth it, if you’re not squeamish.” The Scariest Things
” …one of the greatest examples of style-over-substance gone awry, Ditched has a very ugly-looking combination of coloured lighting, dark smoke-filled woods, and lens flares galore. The plot itself isn’t particularly that pleasant, with bad acting and over-the-top extreme gore just for the sake of it. I don’t know what the ultimate message of Ditched is trying to say, but it’s one nasty piece of work…” Sean Kelly on Movies
“The ultimate answer to what’s going on would require so much coincidence, effort and string-pulling that it’s laughably stupid […] Ditched proves Donaldson has a great sense of the visual, but he hasn’t improved as a writer since he was working with Uwe Boll […] Ditched is what should have been done to the script for this incredibly improbable exercise in style over substance.” Voices from the Balcony
“The kills in this movie are brutal and bloody which I enjoy, Ditched is more of a revenge movie mixed with some slasher. It seems that the movie tried to have funny scenes but it didn’t work in my opinion. The movie is only 86 minutes long which is not bad.” Welcome to the Darkside
YouTube reviews:
Trailer 1:
Trailer 2:
Release:
Ditched premiered at the Popcorn Frights film festival in Florida in August 2021 and played at a slew of other festivals.
The movie was released online by Dread on January 18th 2022.
Cast and characters:
Mackenzie Gray … Caine
Marika Sila … Melina
Michelle Molineux … Young girl
Lara Taillon … Officer Kerr
Reamonn Joshee … Sideburns
Shawna Pliva McGill … Mother (as Shawna Pliva)
Kris Loranger … Franson
Yaro Krushko … Gilly Man #2
Lee Lopez … Aiden
Declan O’Reilly … Jake
Lianna Makuch … Glynnis
Louie Koutis … Old Man
J. Lindsay Robinson … Officer Revesz
Gilly Man #1 (as Tommy Lim)
Filming locations:
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
