Today we return to yet another favourite found footage movie which incorporates Lovecraftian elements: Renny Harlin’s The Dyatlov Pass Incident (also known as The Devil’s Pass). A real event, the Dyatlov Pass incident (in which nine hikers died in the Ural Mountains in 1959) has emerged as favourite focus for conspiracy theorists over the last decade, and this film certainly plays in that sandbox. As per usual, discussing the Lovecraftian elements of the film without givng away key plot points is rather difficult, so there are spoilers from here on out.
In brief, it is revealed that the actual Dyatlov Pass incident was the by-product of Soviet attempts at weaponisimg ancient alien interdimensional technologies - a project with ties to the Philadelphia Experiment, hinting at a wider narrative underpinning the film’s plot - which have lain dormant beneath the Ural Mountains for hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of years; the incomprehensible nature of this technology also brings about monstrous transformations upon those who are subjected to its power, becoming something akin to dimension-shifting Lovecraftian ghouls. Whilst there are no explcit Cthulhu mythos elements in the film, it nonetheless recapitulates some very Lovecraftian themes and, even though it is extremely flawed in parts, The Dyatlov Pass Incident is worth a watch - if only for the interesting plot elements which minimally elevates this above typical found footage fare.
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