Before seeing the DVD in the store, I don't recall having heard of 'Darkness' before. I'm sure I must have read about it in some passing article at some point as the movie is from 1992 and I read a LOT about 'fantastic' films, but no information about it flared in my memory. That the case identified it as a 'cult classic' and that it had been restored for this release became enough for me to become curious.
Not so curious that I'd watch it immediately mind. I reviewed some of the extra features, saw how the restoration had improved the visuals and waited for the moment when I could watch it without interruption. As it turned out, that was a couple days ago.
It's small town America. A vampire kills our hero's family, altering them into vampires. The morning's sunlight ends their unholy existence. With nothing left to him, he begins hunting the creature, looking for revenge. A group of young people return to their town after a concert to find much of the town has been turned, most of their families included. Our hero tries to help them survive to daybreak.
It's an interesting movie and even now, a couple days later. I'm not complete sure if I enjoyed it or not. Some of the movie is let down by the do-it-yourself nature of its making as many of the night time scenes are very dark, some of the acting can be awkward (moreso in the 'normal' scenes than the horror scenes oddly enough), and some of the sound recording is a bit poor. I also didn't care for some of the editing choices. Some scenes are apparently edited for some artistic effect and I felt it more annoying than anything else. The characters are not introduced in a traditional manner and I found it difficult to keep track of character names or know who they were.
It's that lack of traditional manner that I also really enjoy about the movie. Often in movies characters get a chance to identify themselves, almost standing up in front of the audience, saying their name and stating their cliche ('Hi, I'm Beth and I'll be the stuck up rich girl for this movie.'). 'Darkness' feels very much like a documentary in this regard, with events being captured by a camera for posterity. Long time friends don't say things to each other that they already know in order to explain themselves to the audience.
The way that the vampires are treated is also very interesting. Movie vampires are generally sexy characters that hypnotize their prey into wanting the kiss of the vampire. In this movie, the turned are almost beasts, hunting in packs for those they can bite. Of the few (if not only) actual bite scenes in the movie is not a calm moment as victim sighs and vampire bites, it is a fight with the stronger vampire winning out, wounding its prey until others can join it and truly bring down the blood feast.
The gore effects, of which there are many, are also quite good, very impressive considering the no doubt low budget of the film. Lots of blood spurting and flesh melting and things like these.
All in all, as I noted, an interesting film but I'm not sure if I enjoyed it. Or perhaps how much I enjoyed it. From some of the special features, it appears this was the first in a trilogy. Part of me is keen to see the other two, part not so much.
Mildly recommended for those interested in low budget horror or gore films. I doubt anyone else would very this interesting at all.
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