Dark Nature

After seeing the low rating for this movie I was really surprised how much I liked it. I generally enjoy horror movies set in the wilderness and so I definitely had to check this one out. My expectations were rather low because of the rating but I went in with an open mind and by the end I was genuinely surprised.

The movie starts off by introducing us to our main character and her trauma induced by her ex and while I am actually tired of this whole trauma theme because it's really overused in horror, I think that in this case it made sense and I was not turned off by it.

After introducing us to the rest of the cast, our lead named Joy played by Hannah Emily Anderson keeps hearing her ex and even starts seeing him in the woods. She is sure that he is following them but other group members also see and hear things so the question is: Are they really followed by somebody or something? Honestly the movie really takes it's time before something happens and during that time you have to endure these characters talking about their past and getting to know each other. But towards the third act the movie really picks up momentum and goes into a direction I did not really expect. They are some great makeup effects and a decent amount of gore that I really didn't anticipate. While there are some character decisions that I didn't understand and probably only were made to serve the plot I enjoyed this movie overall and I think this low rating is not justified. Lower your expectations and give this one a try if you like horror movies set in the wildness. [6,5/10]

I had never actually heard about this 2022 horror movie "Dark Nature" prior to sitting down in 2023 and watching it. All that I knew here was that it was a horror movie that I hadn't already seen. And thus, of course I opted to give it a viewing.

Writers Berkley Brady and Tim Cairo put together a rather bland storyline. Sure, there were some nice enough aspects in the movie here and there throughout the course of the 85 minutes that the movie ran for. But ultimately, I have to say that the storyline in the movie felt rather pointless and without any actual meaningful contents. And that made it a somewhat dull viewing experience.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but they actresses and actors put on fair enough performances, though they had only so much to work with in terms of script and storyline.

Visually then "Dark Nature" was adequate. It was a not a movie that made a whole lot use of special effects to bring its storyline to the screen. The creature design was interesting enough, though I have honestly no clue as to what that creature was supposed to be.

Suitable for a single viewing, "Dark Nature" wasn't really all that impressive. And it is not a movie that I will be recommending for horror fans to rush out and get to watch. Nor is it a movie that I will ever pick up and watch a second time.

My rating of director Berkley Brady's 2022 movie lands on a four out of ten stars.

This doesn't really succeed in any of the points it is trying to make.

It is not a good drama, because characters are not really explored.

It is not a good horror, because the creators didn't learn properly from 'Descent'.

It's obviously had potential, but eventually fell flat.

Even though creature is explained in bits and pieces, it's not really a good explanation.

The buildup is weak.

Indeed, the whole thing feels a bit pointless.

Overall, the movie is pretty simple and straightforward, in case you wondering to watch it or not, I must say that there are no interesting turns or unexpected occurrences.

I cannot say I enjoyed it. I was waiting for something to happen, waiting for movie to bloom, but it does not live up to any good expectations.

The basics are there, you can watch it before falling asleep, surely, but it won't be a movie to remember.

Acting was good, not amateur. Stoty was compelling enough to watch till the end. Kudos to the actors who performed in obviously difficult circumstances. Not sure why the low ratings. This film rates well among similar survival, haunting scenarios. Somewhat a Blair Witch vibe, but with a satisfactory resolution. Some unresolved issues regarding the abusive husband's fate, but it doesn't detractfrom the whole survival story. Reminds me of another excellent similar film, The Ritual, which i highly recommend. The actors in this film did a great job, also the director writer. I would say stick with watching it.

"Dark Nature" is a Canadian horror film written and directed by Berkley Brady in her directorial debut. The film stars Hannah Emily Anderson, Helen Belay, Madison Walsh, Roseanne Supernault, and Kyra Harper all of which you probably never heard of.

The plot revolves around Joy, who is recovering from an abusive relationship. She joins her friend's therapy group on an isolated mountainous retreat. Led by a doctor with experimental methods, the group is soon forced to confront a monstrous entity and since this is a no-spoiler review this is the story in a nutshell.

I would say as a low-budget first attempt, "Dark Nature" has some good things going for it. The actors doing a good job of looking scared, especially towards the end of the movie, and there is a good plot progression. Unfortunately due to low-budget filming, cringe dialogue, overuse of flashbacks and an anticlimactic ending it is really loses a lot of points in my book.

The opening scene is surprisingly the worst offender in this entire movie, which is odd, since it should be the easiest one to film, inside an apartment (or a motel room or some sorts??) the dialogue is cringe and the camera work is horrendous. However it gets better later on and becomes somewhat watchable.

Again, without any major special effects, no CGI and limited number of cameras, Brady manages to product a reasonable film minus some dubious editing cuts. However I felt the ending could use a closure epilogue. It's not that it ends on a note where "viewers can figure it out", it just ends without a closure to the main character Joy. The movie is fairly short (sub 90 mins) so I think a 3-4 minute epilogue could do this film a lot of good and maybe even elevate my score from a 4 to a 5.

Considering everything this is one of those not fully-baked but watchable soft thrillers. My exact score is 44 / 100.