There is a long history of films using video games as inspiration. This often creates a built-in audience that wants to live out the story in a new way. That’s likely some of the appeal for Until Dawn, a new horror film that’s based on the popular game.

Here, the filmmakers have to find a way to capture the experience. It’s clear from this film—and its tag—there is hope of turning this into something bigger. But will it work? That remains to be seen.

This film focuses on Clover (Ella Rubin), a struggling young woman who is in grief after her sister—Melanie (Maia Mitchell)—disappeared a year earlier. Now, she’s on a road trip with her best friends, Megan (Ji-young Yoo), Max (Michael Cimino), Nina (Odessa A’zion) and Nina’s boyfriend Abe (Belmont Cameli). Her friends hope this will provide some closure for Clover as they try to retrace Melanie’s steps. But Clover hopes to find her sister.

At a roadside gas station, Clover comes across a clerk (Peter Stormare) who provides a clue. He suggests her sister might have disappeared in a nearby town. So, Clover and her friends set off. What they find is something unexpected.

Trapped by a vicious storm, they come upon a creepy visitor’s center. It’s abandoned, and soon the five find themselves under threat of a killer. They’re dispatched quickly. But they don’t die. They wake, with the memory of their death, forced to relive the night. This cycle continues, each time unveiling a new, terrible threat. Can they find a way to survive the night and escape?

This isn’t the first time a horror film has borrowed from the Groundhog Day formula. This one does it a little different, and certainly it has a darker tone. Its deaths are quite graphic and the stakes of the world definitely feel dire. That probably owes something to the source material.

The film is directed by David F. Sandberg. His credits are an interesting mix. Of late, he directed the two Shazam! films. I liked the first as one of the best of that iteration of the DCEU, offering a blend of action and humor. But prior to his superhero films, he worked on horror films. He directed Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation. That is probably a better guide here, as this film feels darker and more serious in tone.

I could have used some more humor. Instead, from nearly the beginning this is a grim slog. The creativity of some of the rounds of slaughter notwithstanding, this is a darker journey. That can be OK if you’re invested in the characters and the world, but there’s not enough here to ground either of those things. There’s also not a lot in the way of explanation of what’s happening, how, and why. Perhaps that’s a part of the lore of the game that is built-in knowledge for some, but having never played the game I was puzzled.

The final act is a little ho-hum, too, then we get a teaser that indicates this process continuing in another spot. Maybe that’s meant to pique your curiosity, but it didn’t work for me. This felt like one of those Halloween haunted houses that takes things a little too far and doesn’t want to show you the exit. By the time you get there, you’re just relieved the whole thing is over.

Until Dawn is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Matthew Fox is a graduate of the Radio, Television and Film program at Biola University, and a giant nerd. He spends his free time watching movies, TV, and obsessing about football. He is a member of the FSWA. You can find him @knighthawk7734 on Twitter and as co-host of the Fantasy Football Roundtable Podcast.