Dark August

At least the title of this thing is accurate. I watched "Dark August" in August, and it most certainly made my month a little darker and a lot more boring! Phew, what a dud this is. There are numerous low-budget movies from the 70s that are dealing with occultists and garden & kitchen voodoo-spells, but this must undoubtedly be the most amateurish one.

Set in the nonetheless beautiful state of Vermont, "Dark August" deals with an artist who has been cursed by the grandfather of a young girl whom he accidentally hit with his jeep. The effects of the curse aren't so bad, though, as the artist only sees appearances of grim-reaper figure, and occasionally suffers from chest aches whilst at the grocery store. When there are actual accidents, it's other people that get injured, like his brother-in-law who plants a saw in his upper leg. Still, our protagonist gets slightly annoyed by the curse's burden and seeks help from a spiritual medium.

I don't know what else to write about "Dark August", except that it's boring, that the acting performances are pitiable, that the musical score doesn't fit the tone of the film, and that the lead actor looks fifty-five even though he's supposed to depict a man in his late thirties. The only worthwhile sequences are the ones featuring the white-bearded grandfather, like when he causes a little riot in the town center, or when he pulls out his hunting rifle. Bullets are definitely more efficient than lame curses...

"Dark August" follows a New Yorker living in rural Vermont who becomes a small-town pariah after killing a young girl in a car accident. Even worse, the girl's grandfather seems to have set a curse against him, unraveling his life and sending an ominous hooded demon to stalk the woods outside his house.

Released to apparently little fanfare and unearthed by Arrow Video last year in their volume 2 "American Horror Project" Blu-ray box set, "Dark August" is an odd duck. While watching the film, I consistently had the sense that I was watching something that should have been mildly revered amongst genre fans had it received an adequate release. The film, despite its low budget, is slickly made and looks like a professional studio endeavor, at least so far as low-budget horror is concerned.

To some degree, "Dark August" embodies the neo-genre of "folk horror," a signifier that has grown more common in recent years. For a film about witchcraft and the occult, it has a very down-to-earth sensibility, but this also makes the scares feel almost too close to home for comfort. It's a moody and atmospheric affair that has a lot in common (both tonally and stylistically) with its New England-set peer "Let's Scare Jessica to Death," albeit with less narrative nuance. In "Dark August", the audience knows indubitably that supernatural goings-on are at work, and the source is clear from the outset.

The demonic presence that taunts the protagonist appears as a cloaked, faceless figure that meanders through the woods, and the presentation of it is bone-chilling. Director Martin Goldman sets these scenes in pure silence, and uses clever cutting techniques to give the audience the sense that this figure is lurking behind every tree. For extra measure, there are abundant shots of the leafy Vermont hills illuminated at dusk, and the inherent unease of the landscape only magnifies the sense of dread. It's truly the stuff of nightmares.

Acting-wise, the film is also fairly solid, with J. J. Barry and Carolyne Barry (a real-life couple who co-wrote the screenplay) as the leads. Their performances feel grounded, ostensibly helped by their deep involvement in the project. The film's real "star" is Kim Hunter, who appears as a clairvoyant white witch figure who attempts to help the protagonist rid himself of the demonic energy that has been thrust on him; her acting is very naturalistic here, and Hunter never lets the character devolve into archetype, which could easily happen in a film like this.

The only real pitfall for me in "Dark August" was the conclusion, which felt a bit hamfisted and abrupt, but I ultimately think that everything else outweighs this minor shortcoming. For fans of regional, downbeat supernatural horror (bordering more on psychological), I cannot recommend "Dark August" enough. It is a thoughtfully-made effort that manages to evoke a sense of true disquiet--the kind of horror that feels like a bad dream. 8/10.

A modern yarn about a curse. Less a horror movie than a modern folk tale, I suspect those expecting horror are the ones most disappointed in this.

I was impressed overall with the cinematic competence of this semi-obscure film. Well-cast, well-acted, and well directed, there is also a soundtrack by William S. Fischer which adds a lot - in particular a beautiful piano piece while the local witch assembles a remedy for a child.

Great Vermont scenery, and J.J. Barry is well-cast here as a modern everyman thrown into this bizarre and tragic situation.

The magical ritual herein will be interesting for students of the occult: drawing variously from Christianity (the Lord's Prayer), Qabbalah, bits from Crowley (IAO) and Wicca, along with a fairly extended tarot card sequence are well done.

This is not a great film but it is a good one, if you aren't expecting something to keep you on the edge of your seat. This is just not that kind of story.

I remember reading wonderful review of "Dark August" written by Stephen Thrower in "Nightmare USA" and I wanted to see the film so badly.It finally happened.A young girl is accidentally killed by a car driven by a careless city artist.The girl's grandfather curses the young man.His life is turned into nightmare as he sees a mysterious figure in black."Dark August" is well-made and captivating black magic terror tale set in a small American town.It has its share of gruesome surprises and is surprisingly well-acted.The climax is memorable and horrifying.It's a crying shame that "Dark August" is so criminally obscure.But I live and breathe such obscure horror.8 out of 10.

It comes as no surprise that "Dark August" turns out to be the only movie written by its lead actor...because surely no one else would have cast this guy in a lead role, let alone one where he's frequently shirtless in order to show off a body that really does not cry to be shown off. He plays a very Noo Yawk fella who's left the stressful city for a Vermont small town, only that isn't working out because he accidentally ran over a little girl (she ran out of a field in front of his car), and now the entire town hates him. Worse, the little girl's grandfather may have put some curse on him, which manifests itself in various boring ways here--glimpses of mysterious hooded figures, the hero having seizure-like episodes, etc. But basically very little of interest happens, then the movie just stops.

Despite the modest budget, it's not badly made, with relative polish if no great style. But the script is the kind you can tell is "horror" only because the writer knew that genre was marketable; it doesn't manifest any real knack for or interest in horror, let alone original ideas in that vein. What it's really interested in is providing a vanity showcase for an actor whom it doesn't flatter. J.J. Barry is the type who would have been fine as "Cop #3," "Pushy Neighbor" or some other stock supporting figure, but he is not appealing physically or as a personality; in fact his protagonist comes off as a blowhard, yet the film (and actor) still seem to mistakenly believe we're rooting for him. Not improving things is the heroine, who is an OK actress but has a pinched, beaky face and rather alarmingly bony figure--so of course they both get nude scenes that are presumably meant to be "sexy," and are anything but. Also off-key is the rather cheesy-sounding electronic score, which might have been apt if stereotypical for a sci-fi subject, but is just wrong for this supernatural tale, which needed something less shrill and more unsettling.

Worse movies have gotten distribution (and even been commercially successful), but you can see why this one completely disappeared. It's not technically incompetent, and some of the supporting actors are decent. Yet in terms of the most basic rewards--lead actors you enjoy watching, a plot that goes somewhere, providing any thrills or novelty--it has almost zilch to recommend it.