It stands to reason that genre film lovers would make some of the best genre films. Of course, that's not a hard and fast rule — some fans-turned-filmmakers can become so blinded by their love of the movies that inspire them that they end up making a thinly veiled, watered-down version of what's come before. Yet when you're dealing with a filmmaker who has a keen creative sensibility and knows how to throw all their influences into a blender in order to come out with something that feels fresh yet familiar, then you're hitting that special sweet spot of genre cinema bliss.

Hitting that sweet spot is exactly what director Scott Derrickson has done with "The Gorge," a movie which is a veritable potpourri of genres, tones, and influences, all coming together in a way that's immensely satisfying. Derrickson has made a career out of proving his genre bonafides several times over,...