Broken Darkness

The obligatory bad copy elements from The Last Of Us video game is unnerving. And the purpose of the Rose character was lost when Santos didn't follow up with some deeper connection with the Sam character. Sam's story arc needs dynamic conflict with Rose which was almost nowhere to be seen as Rose became an ornament, as if she was a background character. Technically, the weapons display was too much hip shooting with little aiming down sites. Something which is going to annoy some viewers.

Santos has some direction style which leads to a moody apocalypse film. There is a visual style with the soundtrack. If he got a writing team and didn't cast what seems like his girlfriend or sister he might air on the side of a better piece. Most of the other actors were pulling their weight. But Brendan Sean Murray was on screen for just 60 seconds before I noticed he exuded a high caliber of acting.

I dare Santos to try again. But to take notes from a scriptwriters guild pool of mentors and film makers to put Quality Assurance to the script and storyboards before expensing the budget forward. And to find out what the difference is between a bad copy and an actual film homage is like with his own spin on a directorial signature.

Novice South African Director, writer, producer, editor, visuals and sound editor Christopher-Lee dos Santos did a fairly decent job with his directing and visuals, but was flawed in every other department, especially the writing. Maybe he wore too many hats in this film.

The highlights in this film was the outstanding underground set/locations (set in Johannesburg, South Africa) and the great cinematography. The directing and acting was also fairly decent for a B-grade low budget film

The film actually started off very good for the first 30 mins or so. The story held my interest, the score intensified the suspense, and I couldn't wait for what was going to happen next. Then after that, the score took a turn for the worse, the sound had serious issues (e.g. faint gunshots), and the scenes dragged on forever, that the overly long 2 hour length felt like 3 hours. It needed to be edited down to 70-90 max mins.

Then there were the serious plot issues that plagued this entire film. E.g. what was the point of his son? How and why does the film shift to a pointless journey above-ground? I'm thinking a 5th grader could have written this better.

Had it not been for the great cinematography, sets/location, decent directing and acting, I would have rated this a 1/10.

(2017) Broken Darkness SCIENCE-FICTION HORROR/ ACTION DRAMA

Credited to four or more different job labels from co-producer, executive producer, editor, writer and directed by Christopher-Lee dos Santos that opens with a group of survivors of a meteor shower that wiped out much of the planet earth. At the same token, created a barrage of ghouls/ zombies whatever one wants to call them, a group of them escaping to live underground. At this point I was not sure who were the main stars were until it became apparent that the ghouls were running amok underground as well, forcing survivors who were initially planned to make a future there to escaping toward the surface. As we see Sam (Sean Cameron Michael) and Rose (Suraya Rose Santos) building a rapport.

This post apocalyptic indie film has a few good moments intertwined through a pretty good storyline. The beginning had a scene or two that didn't quite sit right as far as the main character's reaction to a tragedy not the acting more so the writing but after a few quick hiccups this story heads in the right direction. The acting by all the main character's were brilliant, a few side show bob's would appear from time to time but the pace of the movie was never disrupted. Although this film is set in a post apocalyptic era the landscapes provided a peaceful charm. Special effects and the cannibal mutants were decent and the videography using certain angles at the right time provided optimal suspense. The ending sufficed and you definitely get the feeling when it's over that your leaving with more then what you came with. All in all I give this film a good movie rating at 7. Do take the time to check this out if the opportunity arises.

The movie has a decent concept and the cinematography is good enough. The acting is passable and the the crew used decent cameras and lenses,

The real issue here is the pacing. The movie suffers from a massive editing problem. You could easily pull about 20 minutes out of the movie, and with some creative editing make it a little bit better.

Like others have said in their reviews, the movie doesn't really know what it wants to be, and at times its trying to be too much all at once.

Overall, if you're like me and enjoy watching low budget films with unknown talent, you could do a whole lot worse.