An Unknown Compelling Force

Mysteries can be found all over the world, in many different cultures. Some mysteries can be explained, while some mysteries are still looking for answers. I have always been fascinated by mysteries in history, and especially cases that have been brought up in books, documentary films, or even in podcasts. There are so many unsolved cases out there, and yet there are a lot of people who are devoted to find out the truth. Investigations are important to do, since you may discover new answers to mysteries, that no one thought could be solved. Just to give you a good example of a mystery that i have read a lot about, we need to travel back to the year of 1966, in Point Pleasant, West Virgina. It was here where there were sightings of a large winged creature call Mothman. Author John Keel wrote about this in his 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies. I actually bought this book last year, and it is quite a fascinating book. Author John Keel give us some very interesting details about what happened in Point Pleasant. If you are curious about this case, you should also pick up the book The Mothman Prophecies. It was in the year of 2002, that we actually got a film based on this case, with the same title as the book. One of the interesting detail about this film was to see legendary actor Richard Geere doing a supernatural horror film, that´s definetely different from the usual releases of Geere´s film catalogue. The Mothman Prophecies tells the story of Washigton Post reporter John Klein ( Richard Geere ), who is doing research on the legend of the Mothman. Still shaken by the death of his wife two years earlier, John is sent to Point Pleasent, West Virginia, where there have been sightings of an unusual creature. I have seen this film several times, and i still think this is one of the best film in Richard Geere´s career, he actually did a good job for trying the horror genre. Director Mark Pellington ( who also directed the good 1999 thriller Arlington Road ) managed to tell a story, based on the Mothman case in a suprisingly effective way. It´s definetely a film worth checking out, and if you get the Imprint Limited Edition of The Mothman Prophecies on Blu Ray, you get some really interesting special feautures. I am always curious to see documentary films on mysterious cases, and i have seen quite a few over the years. And there was one documentary film i have heard of since this summer called An Unknown Compelling Force, that was bringing up the famous mysterious case of the Dyatlov Pass incident in Russia, back in 1959. I have read about this case years ago in mystery books, and i believe i also saw some documentary as well. But this latest documentary film about this case, seemed to dig deeper into what happened than what i have heard before. Is this one of the more interesting documentary films of this year, or is it just a cheap attempt to make money of a famous mysterious case?

Early February of 1959, nine Russian hikers died in the nothern Ural Mountains. The experienced trekking group from the Ural Polytechnical Institute, were found on different locations, without all winter clothes that they would have needed to survive. What happened to them on this mountain? 

I only knew a little bit about the mysterious case of the Dyatlov Pass incident, so going into a documentary film like this that tries to show the evidence, it is not hard to feel intrigued by this case. The fact that each member of this expidition team was found in different locations, with very brutal injuries, and without all the clothes that they would have needed in the freezing cold, is very strange. The cuttings in one of the tents, that they left the tents without supplies or even properly winter clothes is very strange. Did someone force them out of the tent? Were they attacked by someone? There are a lot of questions you could ask about this case, and i think this documentary film does a great job going through details of the victims, and what happened to them. Then we have all the different theories of what might have casued them to run, was it a Soviet Yeti, was it aliens, or perhaps a military cover-up? In mysterious cases such as the Dyatlov Pass incident, it´s not strange that a lot of people will have different theories, since there are details that are difficult to explain. An Unknown Compelling Force is definetely a well made documentary film from director Liam Le Guillou, and you can clearly tell that he have a passion for this particular case. His investigation takes us all the way to Russia, at the exactly same location where this happened, and he have a lot of interesting interviews with both locals who lives there, people who worked on criminal cases and give their opinions about the evidence, but we especially get to hear some very interesting details from Russians who have worked to solve this case for many year. We do get to hear about the theory about a Yeti possibly could have done this, and i still feel that they left this part without any particular evidence, ecxept for the world famous photo. I would have liked to hear more about this, since i feel that this is one detail that´s been discussed for many years. Other than that, i have to say that An Uknown Compelling Force is a interesting documentary film, especially for those who like to find answers to mysteries. Definetely worth checking out, if you want to find out more about this specific case. One thing is for sure, i wont be skiing near the Dyatlov Pass any time soon, i think i prefer the After Ski cabins instead.

Rating: DDD