Nerdly » ‘Ditched’ Review

24th Jan2022

‘Ditched’ Review

by Phil Wheat

Stars: Marika Sila, Kris Loranger, Lee Lopez, Declan O’Reilly, J. Lindsay Robinson, Reamonn Joshee, Lara Taillon, Tom Lim, Lianna Makuch, Mackenzie Gray | Written and Directed by Christopher Donaldson

Canadian horror Ditched opens with Melina, a paramedic, who wakes up in an overturned ambulance with no memory of the accident. With her are the rest of the ambulance crew, a cop who was escorting the ambulance in his car and two prisoners, one trapped in the cop car and the other strapped to a gurney in the ambulance – both of whom are prison medical transfers. It turns out though that the accident was anything but… The group quickly discover that they are the victims of an ambush and now they’re trapped in a ditch with someone or something outside just waiting to attack.

Ditched starts out very much like a myriad of other “trapped” horror films, with the cast of characters trying to figure out what’s happened, and in this case, also who everyone is – the amnesia aspect initially giving the film a terrifying edge; with Melina not knowing what’s happened she becomes the films “final girl” from the get-go, putting herself in danger; and that’s from the prisoner INSIDE the ambulance!

However the film doesn’t stay in that territory for too long. Having established its cast – introducing the prisoners, the ambulance crew, and the cops, Ditched turns into an Assault on Precinct 13-style siege film, with a gaggle of “things” in the woods surrounding the accident site, waiting, watching and eventually hunting those inside the ambulance. Yes, I did say things, because that, for the most part – is how writer and director Christopher Donaldson plays his film – the attackers covered in fur and looking more beast than man. Are they crazed psycho hillbillies a la Wrong Turn? Ditched‘s setting would suggest so, but here’s where Donaldson’s film takes a different turn.

I could have settled for backwoods killer mountain men, I would have taken inbred hillbillies etc., after all they’re tropes of the genre. But no. Instead Donaldson decides that his monsters are men after all, weirdos who dress up in heavy camouflage (the kind of outfits that you see snipers use in action movies to hide in the woods) and don’t say a word. However what they do is get vengeance for those wronged by the people involved in the accident. First, one of the prisoners, Sideburns, gets taken out by the woman who he raped; then one of the cops, a racist, corrupt cop that is, is killed by one of the camouflaged attackers… Then you realise that Donaldson’s plan for Ditched is far, far, removed from the “killers in the woods” story the audience expects.

That doesn’t mean Ditched strays far away from the tropes of the genre. We still get plenty of gore – the kind of excessive gore you’d expect from a Wrong Turn clone (which this is certainly not) – a severed head, entrails torn out, gruesome knife wounds, a hear torn out of its chest and a rather wicked chainsaw attack that would look out of place in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre film! But rather than being the be-all and end-all of the film like some other backwoods horrors, the gore only enhances the already terrifying story. And by terrifying story I mean the terrifying performance of Kris Loranger as Franson, the prisoner strapped to the gurney inside the ambulance. His portrayal is truly evil, remorseless and chilling; and he uses black humour at just the right times to add that extra edge of insanity to the character.

Unfortunately Ditched is not without its problems. Mainly in the aforementioned camouflaged killers. When they do start talking they turn out to be pretentious, overbearing, righteous assholes. Then there’s the very issue of the HUGE amount of coincidence the films own internal plotting needs for the story to work. How the hell did the attackers know everyone involved in the prisoner transfer would have shady pasts, would have skeletons in their closets? How would they know all that and be able to bring along the “victims” of everyone along to wreak revenge? It’s a gaping hole in the film’s logic that Donaldson tries to explain by revealing more of who these killers, nay vigilantes, are… Yes, it turns out this entire film is actually about a group of people seeking vigilante justice, with the leader of the group spending – ultimately – far too much time trying to justify the how’s and why’s, slowing down the film considerably as it comes to its conclusion. It’s desperately needed however, even if the film suffers from copious amounts of exposition.

In the end, 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!