Devil in the Dark

I actually enjoyed this film! The setting really adds to the terror and the two brothers having to see past their differences and fight to the end builds tension. Doesn't have the most thought out storyline, but I still recommend viewing.

In British Columbia, Adam (Robin Dunne) visits his estranged brother Clint (Dan Payne) to reconnect their relationship after fifteen years apart from each other. Clint has always been the favorite of their father Glen (Daniel Cudmore) and Adam feels grief and sorrow. The plan to go in a hunting party along the weekend to hunt deer and supersede their problems. When they stumble upon a cave surrounded by deer antlers, they flee from the spot. But they are chased and stalked by a supernatural creature. Will they escape alive from the being?

"Devil in the Dark" is a promising little film that begins as a drama switching to horror, but maybe with lack of budget to be completed. The cinematography and location are wonderful and the acting is good. But there are many subplots without explanation or conclusion. For example, Clint is the manager of a lumberyard and needs to fire four workers and…what? When Clint and Adam were children, Adam went missing from his father Glen and Clint in the woods. What happened? What is the creature in the cave? What happened in the cave? My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

'Devil in the Dark' drew me into seeing it, with a cool and creepy poster, an intriguing idea with a potentially relatable central relationship and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

Actually found 'Devil in the Dark' fairly watchable, if not an easy film to rate or review. Had to think long and hard about what my thoughts were and how to articulate them. 'Devil in the Dark' is not great, or good, has a fair share of problems (fairly big ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There are however a number of decent, even good, qualities in 'Devil in the Dark', at least it wasn't intelligence insulting or inept (unlike some films seen recently) and the potential is not completely squandered.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is very atmospheric, likewise with the very nice way it's shot. The music is suitably spooky and doesn't distract at all from the atmosphere, while not exactly enhancing it. The acting is better than average from the whole cast.

There are some scary and suspenseful moments once the film gets going and the central family relationship does have some genuine emotion, with the origin of the conflict being one of the few things agreed made completely clear.

However, the story does feel over-stretched, especially in the first half, and too much of it feels vague, under-explained and gives off the sense of incompletion, with more loose ends than you can count. There is too much overlong exposition and too many extraneous scenes that could have been cut, and the central relationship/family scenes are too heavily focused on in favour of generating more scares.

Dialogue can be stilted while the pace is uneven, especially in the first half where things take too long to get going. Didn't find the ending that scary or surprising and the big reveal was more silly than shocking.

Overall, watchable but not devilish enough. 5/10 Bethany Cox

This is a strange little flick that got me completely. The story looked not that promising, two brothers estranged because one was dad's favorite and the other one was the sissy, are going for a hunting hike deep into the woods.

Once in the woods this flick goes deep into characterisation and just when you think, okay no we know their backstory things slowly change into a supernatural flick.

It's not a big production which shows due the fact that it doesn't have any notable effects or even a spot of red stuff. What this flick do has is a good score, good acting and an all over atmosphere that creates slowly the creeps. Maybe you will be reminded of Blair Witch due the antlers hanging in trees and the night scene's full of weird noises but in fact this isn't a found footage.

I liked it a lot and clocking in under 90 minutes do adds towards the fact that it never is a boring flick even as it's mostly about the two brothers starting to know each other again. Nice surprise to start the year with.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Devil in the Dark's an interesting little film.

Its actually not an easy one to review either. You can see a lot of familiar tropes on offer here.There are elements reminiscent of The Omen, The Descent, Blair Witch (without the annoying shaky camera thing or a witch), films like Snow Beast (for those of us who remember 70's horror) and no doubt others you can think of.

All of this takes place in a wilderness setting, offering lots of atmosphere, with some genuinely creepy, nighttime scares. What is particularly praiseworthy about this film, is how the stark outdoorsy scares are transported back to civilization in the closing scenes of the film. An interesting final twist that raises the hairs on the back of the neck.

The acting is not too shabby either, with a somewhat predictable back story that establishes the fractious relationship between two brothers.

All in all not a bad little horror flick. I give Devil in the Dark a seven out of ten.