Did you know that 80% of all the British horror films that exist were made after the year 2000? That's an awful lot of stuff that isn't Hammer, or Amicus, or the output from other studios during the 'Golden Age' of the 1950s-1970s . One of the most recent entries on this increasingly massive list of 21st century British horrors is writer-director Tharun Mohan's THE DARKNESS, now getting a UK digital release from Reel 2 Reel.
Lisa (Amelia Eve) and David (Cyril Blake) move into an isolated country cottage that David has inherited. Lisa's a writer with one book behind her and is searching for inspiration. She finds it when an old trunk yields an old journal telling the story of Niav and the life she experienced in Ireland over 100 years before at the hands of her not exactly period hipster husband Brian (Adam Bond complete with 2020-style coiffed beard and man bun - see below). But Niav's ghost has more to tell - or does it?
THE DARKNESS has decent direction and some nice locations. According to the press release it's set in Ireland which is a bit of a surprise seeing as there are very few Irish accents on display here and cars boast UK registration plates. The story takes a while to get going and when it does the various revelations the script has to offer are delivered in dumps of exposition that merely serve to confuse an already garbled storyline. By the end it's difficult to work out what exactly what was going on, and a desperate-feeling final attempt at a twist just makes things all the more confusing.
There are plenty of low budget British horror films that don't make sense, of course, but one gets the feeling THE DARKNESS is supposed to. Tharun Mohan can certainly set up a shot and the film is not the work of a hack, but at the same time it fails to deliver a decent story, instead giving us something that quickly becomes meandering and ponderous. Ultimately, THE DARKNESS has the feeling of a lesser Jose Larraz or Norman J Warren picture, but unfortunately without sufficient style or the lurid exploitation elements that have led to the longevity of those 1950s-1970s works and the affection still held for them.
THE DARKNESS is out on digital from Reel 2 Reel on Monday 3rd May 2021
You know, in horror movies the "the protagonist/hero is a (horror) writer" should be listed alongside "it was only dream" on the list of "never to be used again" plots.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you. Screenwriter should also be banned!
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