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Overall Rating : 3.5/10
Directed By : Michael Hurst
Reed Diamond (Goodnight & Good Luck)
Shawn Pyfrom (Desparate Housewives (TV) )
Ellie Cornell (Halloween 4)
Greg Grunberg (Heroes (TV) )
Supplied By : Anchor Bay Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Dec. 21, 2006
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| PLOT He was found 15 years ago wandering a road near the woods, covered in dirt and blood with no name or memory. But when this now-grown mental patient is given an experimental new drug, he suddenly begins to have horrific visions of a beast that slaughters beautiful young women. Escaping from the institution, he is befriended by a teenage outcast who needs the stranger’s help to unlock a few frantic secrets of his own. Together, the two will discover the violence of their pasts, the evil in their future, and the shocking secret that waits deep inside THE DARKROOM. |
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| THE REVIEW WARNING : This review will probably contain massive SPOILERS, as this movie is so confusing to explain that it will just make my life easier Well, in THE DARKROOM, we meet whom we think are two totally different people, with a lot of things in common, The film starts out in a mental hospital, where we are introduced to a patient that does not have any recollection of his past.... and since the man doesn't know his name he takes the name of a famous game show host each week and at the time of us meeting him his name is Alex in honor of, whom else? Alex Trebek. Dr. Allen visits the patient on this day to administer an experimental drug on him, that they hope will help the man remember at least some of his past. When injected the man see's sudden flash backs involving a vicious animal attacking women. and from their he wakes up and it seems the drug has failed. to make a long story short, the man ends up escaping the hospital, where he meets and befriends a troubled teen named Stanley. Both he and Stanley spends their days together often at a local dinner, but the man seems to still have a problem with the flashbacks as he continues to see visions of this unexplained monster killing innocent women. Stanley's life is not so perfect either as he has trouble at home as well with an abusive step-father and alcoholic mother. The father is always rude to his mother and to Stanley his behavior becomes suspicious and as the dad leaves on one of his late night creeps, Stanley and his new friend follow behind - and soon discover the perverse truth. They find out that the step-father is somewhat of a voyeur who sneaks around taking pictures of women while showering and in other various promiscuous positions. The both upset and curious young teen persuades the man to help him break into the darkroom owned by the father. In the darkroom they find more pictures of various women and one of them sticks out, her name is Kimberly. Kimberly has been a friend to Stanley and has been one to stick up for him against bullies and whatnot. They see a picture of an old vacation cabin him in which he and his family had used years prior, and that's when things begin to add up on so they hoped... Stanley and the nameless man, hijack his Mom's car and head to the cabin as fast as they could - when they arrive they find Kimberly chained, staved and beaten and it isn't long until problems arrive. The father arrives at the cabin and it is then leaned that Kimberly in in the predicament she's in because he hit on her and she laughed in his face(wow what a reason for torture huh? - such solid screenwriting shown here)... To fast forward he ends up killing Kim and Stanley and he face off towards the end in which the boy stabs the father, we think he's dead he comes back and slices the kid's face. While this was going on, it becomes clear that Stanley was talking to someone whom wasn't there, thus meaning that this whole story has been the patient remembering his past, and that HE is Stanley...... By now, when Horror fan's hear the name Mark A. Altman, most of them run for the hills so to speak. This is because everything he writes and produces has either been just ok to downright terrible - it all started with Uwe Boll's HOUSE OF THE DEAD. This is a film I had high hopes for seeing that the cast was fairly decent and that the DVD came in rather cool packaging but this goes to show that packaging is just nothing more than bait on the hook. For the first half hour, to be honest I was really digging the direction the story was headed. The relationship with the teen boy and the escaped mental patient seemed sincere, the boy had no friends and was bullied and seemed to find someone whom was different but also understood him. On the home front even watching the dysfunctional relationship of the parents, and their fights was interesting, right down to the mysterious reason as to why the father kept his darkroom locked. But as soon as one found out that reason, a once entertaining film, took a turn for the worse and later crashed and burned - and I mean really hard. Once they get to the cabin and the man reveals to Stanley that he had seen both the cabin and Kimberly in his flashbacks you knew where this story was going all along and it was highly predictable - and in my eyes very very disappointing and un-clever...... But I suppose, with the way Horror is these days I shouldn't be surprised with my disappointment. Horror films either are remakes, or they try to be so clever and original that it turns into on big laughable mess that fans really don't want to see nor do they have an interest in. Basically in the case of THE DARK ROOM we are taken into the story, and the various situations Stanley and the man face, deal with that man's many flashbacks of a monster that is NEVER explained....only to come full circle and it's like the filmmakers say to the viewer "Ha the joke's on you, this as been the nameless man's past you have been watching for nearly 2 hours of your life"....well gee thanks.. The acting is somewhat decent, here - just thank god we didn't have to see Lucy Lawless in any scenes that required her to act frightened, but unfortunately we do get HEROES' Greg Grunberg in scenes were he has to act evil and sadistic. Don't get me wrong I do like Greg Grunberg, as HEROES is probably my favorite TV show but he normally plays 'the good guy', and that seems so natural for him....here it is just not working for me, I couldn't believe the character. Shawn Pyfrom as Stanley, and Reed Diamond as the escaped mental patient respectively are great in their roles, but to bad for them the ending and everything for the most part ruined any plausible effort they gave to the film. Another film by Michael Hurst and Mark A. Altman, another disappointment(although both ROOM 6 and HOUSE OF THE DEAD II were alright.) However, i'd have to mark this one down for the film that is most disappointing - it started out so great, but I am sad to say that it bombed miserably... |
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| GORE
METER 3.5/10 I wouldn't call the effects used in THE DARKROOM anything special. The film does have blood, but it is all shown within the man's flashbacks...and is basically just women covered in blood - with the exception of the stab wound.. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 3/10 The score like the effects, wasn't something that stood out and made an impact, I do remember some rock tunes mixed with a little traditional scoring. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM I cannot begin to tell you just how disappointing this film is, like I mentioned I was really enjoying myself only to be let down with a twist ending that was just stupid - for the lack of a better word. This is definitely a prime example of a film that could have been something but ended up just like everything else out there and nothing more....I wouldn't say I recommend THE DARK ROOM - but if nothing better to watch, some might enjoy it better than me.... but in my opinion, there is a lot left to be desired and explained. This DVD will be released January 2, 2006 |
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