MovieChat Forums > The Dyatlov Pass Incident (2013) Discussion > Why American students?

Why American students?

posted 11 years ago by brandonstrandy
17 replies | jump to latest

So this movie is a UK/Russian production and all the main actors are British. I wonder why the script made them Americans from University of Oregon and having all the British actors putting up the American accent in the process. Wouldn't it be more natural for them to be British students from a UK school? The rest of the plot would not be affected at all. Or maybe the actors really wanted to challenge themselves or make the movie more relatable to an American audience? Was it ever released in movie theaters in the U.S? I don't remember seeing these...

[–] Adept34501 11 years ago

To market it to US audiences.

[–] brandonstrandy 11 years ago

I thought that might be the case. Still American moviegoers usually don't have problems with foreign horror/thriller films so long as they are well made, hence the success of films like 28 Days Later.
It was amusing but also distracting to see their British accents slip through from time to time, especially when the characters get excited/start yelling. It almost felt like all the main characters were suffering from dual personality disorder, with a Brit person and an American inhibiting in the same body.

[–] Adept34501 11 years ago

I think the success of 28 Days Later was an anomaly given its genre. I don't think Devil's Pass was ever headed for a threatrical release but was meant to cash in on the found footage trend which for some reason won't die. At least this movie had an interesting premise.

[–] raf-33 11 years ago

28 days was a success because it had a fantastic director who had never did horror before instead of the likes of the tired Wes "I only do scares" Craven, people who only stick to one genre always become mediocre, regardless of the genre because they end up making movies that are just 90-minute long cliches.

Opinions are just onions with pi in them.

[–] Royalcourtier 9 years ago

American audiences are deeply racist and xenophobic. They don't like films that do not feature American actors.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (6571724) 9 years ago

lol yeah wish we could be as gentle and tolerant as the rest of the world. Looks like someone was cranky and just wanted to whine a little :-) Boo hoo mean old Americans lol give me an effing break.

[–] Gambit771 9 years ago

He should've said insular and homogeneous but he does have a point.
Americans only like to see Americans as a rule acknowledging exceptions and sadly British films pander to this which is a shame as it lowers the quality of the film and story.

[–] Joe-88 10 years ago

LOL, nice to see people had similar views! I thought the same thing. Mostly because the accents were off at times and it would have been more natural had the all-British cast used their authentic accents.

But it wasn't just the accents, it was also cultural mannerisms. Like the scene at the Russian bar where they overacted the stereotypical annoying American tourists, lol. I'm sure they had lots of fun pretending to be Americans, and certainly it's more of an acting challenge, but I don't see any special reason the characters had to be from the US.

As for marketing it to American audiences, as others mentioned it's not necessary to repackage something British for it to be successful with American audiences. They didn't have to rewrite James Bond be from the CIA instead of MI6.

[–] serenity_lopez 10 years ago

Well it is Russia and USA who are enemies no? It's more interesting to see American students travelling to Russia to try to uncover horrible secrets hidden by the Russian government. Not knowing if they will make it out alive or not, with them being American it makes it even tenser.

It's quite simple in my opinion.

[–] templesofice 10 years ago

That's actually a good point. I remember the scene where that guy tells them to leave and one of the guys says, "Hey, were friends now, remember?".

[–] ToHelenBackAgain 9 years ago

Yeah, I think y'all got it, there. We're ostensibly allies now, but it's an uneasy alliance always. That was probably the reason for making the students American.

Also, if they're American there's no need to give them any specific personal motivations for their general innate foolhardiness. 

"You are NOT the boss of me... SHE is."

[–] infoed 10 years ago

I agree. The main girl was really struggling at some points with the accent, especially notable at the beginning, where she seems to be trying so hard to get the accent right that the rest of her acting suffers.

It was distracting as they kept missing the "r" sound when they'd get excited, as mentioned before. I don't think it would have made any difference to have them be British.

[–] bloodymaryhorror 8 years ago

"Alexandah, Alexandah. Alexander."

[–] rileyinlondon (42) 8 years ago

Yes, thank you! That was where it kept coming out.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Otkon 9 years ago

Luke Albright will be sure happy to learn he is British.

I would think that UK school children at university level would be too mired in actual academics over making ill-prepared documentaries fueled by conspiracy theory. Because that doesn't sound very prim and proper. While American college kids are adventurous and frivolous and know about the Philadelphia experiment because they are raised on caffeinated sports drinks and short-wave radio.

I am so used to Hawley and Atkinson's British accents from Emmerdale as well as Stokoe's from Misfits that I could hear them slipping in and out. Goss was passable. Get it?

[–] Intothenightalone 9 years ago

It's for mass audience appeal. So that people see it as a "movie" and not "oh that' british horror movie" which may turn off some audiences.

Australian movies do this as well. Triangle is a horror movie set in the US. Unfortunately, it was shot in Australia and looks very Australian to people who are familiar with Australian architecture and accents.