When Darkness Falls

(Watched as part of an early press screening)

Although I sat through the whole film, I felt it was an unfinished film. Nothing about it was good enough for home entertainment. It felt like a student film, although a student film would be better.

The narrative idea had a decent amount of potential, but Nathan Shepka executed it poorly. The quality was horrifc, acting just as bad.

The film poster i'd seen (Michaela Longdon looking in the mirror) was decent, proper thriller-esque poster. But looking at the poster on IMDB told me enough about how the film would play out.

Give it a huge miss is my advice, harsh but justifiable.

People have got to remember that this is an extremely low budget B movie. It's not going to have Hollywood-style production, directing and acting. You can count the production staff listed at the end almost on both hands, with some of them (eg Nathan Shepka - writer, actor, producer, director) doing more than one role.

People have already pointed out the strengths and weaknesses. The scenery was great (but then it's hard to get that wrong in the Scottish Highlands!). The music deserves recognition too. Some of the actors were better than others and they all had their good moments and bad moments. I think you've got to be prepared for some weak acting in places and just live with it.

The plot deserves more recognition as well. Yes, it had a few plot holes, but the vast majority of movies do. Most movies require us to suspend disbelief in the occasional moment. However, otherwise the plot actually had some exciting and gripping moments, with a few twists, and we are kept on edge and kept guessing.

A serious fault in the movie is the sound production and foley. Sorry to whoever did it, but it was just awful. There were moments where the editor tried to style it out by overlaying music or skipping the 'sound' in order to avoid the bad effects. The dialogue volume was inconsistent in some areas. The directing could be stronger of course as well (but remember, low budget), like making sure actors playing dead actually try not to blatantly breathe or by at least trying to make fight scenes realistic. The moment where one of them brings a crowbar down "on someone" (over his head) repeatedly - at 1mph - was hysterical.

But I'm giving it some stars because I managed to watch the whole thing and had a few moments that kept me guessing and really kept me going. Some of the actors and production team certainly showed great potential. Just remember, if you watch it, that you've got to be prepared for a very low budget affair with average acting.

There are less than 10 characters in this movie and all are ancillary except 5. Figure out the plot. Very poor acting. And just a ridiculous story too. I can't imagine ever leaving a friend in a bar with strange weird men and walking off into the country alone. This has way too high a rating and was one of the worst movies I've seen this year. It has a lot of ridiculous and silly dialogue on top of the poor acting. They also act like the women are far out alone in the country but you can see the road and a car going by. No attention to any detail on top of the poor plot. Very low budget and unwatchable.

This is one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time. The plot is completely contrived and seems to be written by a writer whose goal was to introduce as many plot twists as he could and try to top the "wow factor" with each successive one. This made the film completely illogical. The acting was wooden and the fight scenes were completely unrealistic.

I've traveled internationally, and one of the most fundamental concepts anyone who's traveled overseas knows is research the culture and the particulars of where you are going. Here you have two female American women trekking through the Scottish countryside with barely a clue as to what they're doing. Separating in a small rural town where they know NO ONE is one of the most illogical things I can imagine.

Do yourself a favor and skip this one and save yourself one hour and forty-five minutes of your time!!!

From the first moment of the movie, you know that the acting isn't going to be great. But having said that, apart from the acting, I think it comes together. The scenery is nice, the shots are not special, but hey are definitely not bad, and I have to say the story is actually quite interesting.

If you are willing to forget the bad acting and breathing dead people, there are enough interesting things in this movie that makes it worth viewing.

It's totally not a Hollywood movie where there are clues scattered everywhere, and the low pace of the movie is a pleasant.

Even though I gave it a four it's worth viewing, if you can forgive the acting.

My apologies to the actors though. The were very good for their roles, and I'd like to see more of them.