From the Dark

Haven't we seen this film before? FROM THE DARK has almost exactly the same set-up as the overrated IN FEAR, in which a young and bickering couple get lost in the Irish countryside and come up against something or somebody nasty. Thankfully, FROM THE DARK has supernatural elements and is thus interesting because of that, and better than IN FEAR, although it's still not a good film.

The problem with these lo-fi movies is that anybody can make them, they're that cheap. Grab a video camera and go out for a drive in your car - you've got a film. Thus, I think the script and direction have to be really special to make films like this work, and they're not that special here. FROM THE DARK feels like it wants to be a found footage type film, with lots of shaky-cam work all the while, but what it is is dull.

The script is the culprit here, failing to garner interest by keeping the foe in the shadows for 90% of the running time, and muddling the scenes when it is in the foreground. The opening scene, which brought to mind BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW, was the best part for me. For most of the time we're stuck with annoying and/or whiny characters that the actors can do nothing with. The last third of the film feels particularly repetitive and uninteresting, a low stakes game where the viewer doesn't really care what happens.

I'm not certain why the bad reviews. Yes, there are cliches, yes there are plot holes, yes there are some questionable choices made, but they are not Entirely stupid as in so many horror movies. I quite enjoyed it. And some of the cinematography was quite nice as well.

FROM THE DARK is an excellent low-budget creeper from Ireland. After opening with a hideous resurrection and a vicious attack, we are introduced to Sarah and Mark (Niamh Algar and Stephen Cromwell), who are just passing through the vast, mostly uninhabited countryside. Unfortunately, their car gets hopelessly stuck in the mud. The couple end up at a farmhouse where the farmer isn't quite... himself.

This movie builds tension slowly with some sudden jolts along the way. There's also a novel approach to the subject matter, adding to the sense of danger. Recommended for those looking for something a bit fresh in a well-worn sub-genre...

A couple on a trip through the Irish countryside find themselves hunted by a bog creature who only attacks at night.

Director Conor McMahon has been moving up in the world of horror over the last decade. He was the first recipient of a new funding scheme from the Irish Film Board, and this allowed him to make the successful zombie film "Dead Meat" (2004). He really caught people's attention in 2012 with "Stitches", a horror-comedy with a bigger (yet still small) budget that was picked up by MPI and Dark Sky. With "From the Dark" (2014), he is again working with Dark Sky, and possibly releasing his best film yet...

For "From the Dark", he may have found his muse. Niamh Algar is a Dublin-based actress from Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. In 2014, she graduated from the Programme for Screen Acting at Bow Street (formally known as The Factory), a program led by directors John Carney, Shimmy Marcus, Kirsten Sheridan, Lance Daly and casting director Maureen Hughes. She is not only a great actress, but capable of some impressive physical feats -- she both swims and boxes.

The film has been described as "taut", and that is not a bad summary. The two best things about this are the cinematography and the simplicity. The cinematography covers all the bases, from nice wide landscape shots of the Irish countryside (a special treat for those of us foreigners) to very close, very claustrophobic filming in the dark. The variation in styles really gives the film a broad range.

But then we also have the simplicity. For almost half the film, Algar's character is alone and in the dark. She has no one to bounce lines off of and must present herself with facial expressions. This is an actor's dream and nightmare. Luckily, she pulls it off with flying colors and is now poised for bigger roles. (Hopefully she does not abandon us horror folk, though).

This movie looked great and the beginning setup was fairly standard but done well. The initial dialogue between the main characters wasn't cringeworthy... though it's pretty much the only dialogue in the entire movie. So there's that. There is great atmosphere throughout and the monster is creepy in it's vagueness and mystery. More of a phantom than a raving beast. Unfortunately, beyond those elements the story is just silly. The heroine is level-headed and stoic the whole time, she never panics or breaks down... and yet she keeps doing the most inane things and ignoring opportunities to fight back and keep herself alive. I know that's kind of normal for horror films, but this one goes to a new level of dumb as characters do stupid things solely because the plot demands they not figure this stuff out. For one thing, they never seriously looks for a weapon. They're on a farm and there must be all sorts of sharp pointy implements around... but except for one moment, where she stabs the creature in the foot, she goes about completely unarmed. Also, it's quickly made obvious that the creature avoids the light. The house is full of papers and rags and stuff they could set on fire... and they've got a lighter... but not until far into the movie does she ever try making anything like a torch to keep the thing away or use as a weapon... and even that's only done halfway. Once she gets the tractor she could easily have set the entire house on fire... creating a huge amount of light to cover her escape... and yeah, that tractor would have gone fast enough to get away in... but somehow that whole element is dropped as well. There are several times where she's sitting with a decent light source and could just wait for sunrise... but no, she keeps screwing with that obvious plan in favor of things that end up putting her in the darkness and into danger, again. It's just frustrating... aggravating even... especially when everything else about the movie is so well done. Really, it seems like the whole situation was not well thought out at all and it ruins a movie that otherwise could have been a whole lot more fun to watch.