Poking around in old mysteries best left unexplored is the premise of this indie horror flick from the writing and directing duo of Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton. In 1940, what caused an entire small town in a remote part of New Hampshire to walk deep into the mountains and disappear? Now, with coordinates to the trailhead declassified, a group of young researchers sets out along the same path searching for answers. Needless to say, the journey doesn't go as planned, with puzzling occurrences -- memory loss, weird GPS readings, songs playing in the distance -- disrupting the integrity of the group and the sanity of the seekers.
The middle third of this film is best, with storytelling and stylistic touches that ratchet up the intrigue. Fans of TV's Lost may recall the compelling early seasons, when the sensory weirdness of the island was unexplained, and thus much more interesting. But suspense and mysteries have to find some believable, if not logical, outlet, and Yellowbrickroad seems to get trapped in its own forest of creepy ideas. But until then, there's a fair amount of enjoyment to be had tsk-tsking at another band of know-everythings disregarding warnings to stay away. AMC Loews
