The Grief Tourist

Going to dark places taking literally. Our main protagonist is not someone that will win a popularity contest. But that is not the kind of movie you should expect anyway. This is exactly what it says: Dark! And the main actor is great depicting the downfalls and the character trades in general.

Which also makes this is a very uneasy view. This won't go down easy with people who can't stomach a few events. You might see a few things coming, but there are still some surprises that are going even deeper into the tunnel. Very well shot this was a favorite at the Frightfest in London where it was playing. Not for everyone, but if you can dig it (you'll know a few minutes in), you'll have a hell of a ride

Grim and grimy offering from British director Suri Krishnamma who really seems to capture the unpleasantness of a true crime aficionado who gets just a little too close to those ghastly past events. Michael Cudlitz is solid in the lead and Melanie Griffith puts in a brave performance as a desperate and well past her prime waitress looking for love. Or at least something in her godforsaken town. Bleak throughout with little colour or light relief and grubby and difficult to enjoy whilst even the sex scenes lack glamour or titillation. The fantasy sequences are well done without any fancy effects and the whole is utterly convincing, its just completely uncompromising and oh so ghastly.

For one thing, the dialog was so low in volume I had a hard time hearing it. The acting and story line was the worst I have seen. Melanie Griffith should be ashamed of herself for starring in this TRASHY movie. IT REALLY SUCKS!!! DON'T WATCH IT.

This review was written by Amanda Baverstock, a UK resident who saw the film in London during Fright Fest. A spot on review! With her permission, I am posting here.

"Dark Tourist is a dark slice of cinema. No doubt about it. It makes for truly uncomfortable watching but please, do not let that put you off because if it does then you will certainly be missing out on an emotionally cerebral and breathtaking performance from Michael Cudlitz. Here he portrays a man quietly being torn apart by deep-seated inner demons like no other actor can.

Cudlitz is in pretty much every scene, something I hadn't even noticed until a friend pointed it out to me afterwords. Now that takes some doing! To own the film so effortlessly that you don't realize just how few actors were actually involved in this project. Cudlitz's performance is never contrived. 'Dark Tourist' puts to good use his voice in a superbly sentient narrative thread that runs throughout the film. It draws you in, closer and closer towards to the inner turmoil that is Jim Tahna.

Michael has an acting style that utilizes subtle nuance and body movement so naturally it's a joy to watch and both build towards a perfect picture of a tightly wound man who's hurting beyond measure.

Whilst Cudlitz is definitely the lynchpin of the film, Melanie Griffiths brings her unique brand of vulnerability to a role so sympathetically portrayed that the whole cinema actually gasped in despair during one pivotal scene. I won't elaborate. You'll know which one when you watch! And Pruitt Taylor Vince always has immense presence and in this film he adds a hugely important layer to the plot.

"Dark Tourist' is not pleasant viewing in any shape or form.

This film will certainly leave you thinking 'What if'. What if the characters involved simply had someone who listened to them at a time when they needed it most? It will certainly make you uncomfortable because it reflects the general murky malaise society has towards understanding and treating people with mental health issues and it leaves you questioning what would happen if more people had the help they needed, when they needed it most.

So yes. I thoroughly recommend 'Dark Tourist'. It's a film for people desperately fed up with formulaic cinema, filmmaking that is afraid to challenge and it flips the bird at writers and producers content in churning out bland cookie cutter films."

Disturbing, raven hued serial killer noir, 'Dark Tourist' has a cogent script, oodles of style, and an especially compelling performance by Michael Cudlitz as the introspective, taciturn, downward-spiralling nightwatchman who exchanges the solitary grind of his thankless job for a thrilling terror trip into the stark, sweltering Californian hinterlands, morbidly retracing infamous mass murderer Carl Marznap's (Pruitt Taylor Vince) historical killing spree! While well-paced, and razor-sharp in its execution, 'Dark Tourist' might not have enough wanton 'Slash N' Gash' to satisfy the more splatter-happy Grindhouse gorelings, but Krishnamma's angsty, flawlessly acted, sexually sordid thriller has a genuinely unsettling fatalistic tone that rigorously infuses the repressed, increasingly unstable psychopath's (Michael Cudlitz) grisly exodus with a palpably zesty threat of inexorable doom!