From the Dark

From the Dark was a pretty good little thrill-ride, even if it's not the most flawless or intelligent film.

Basic plot: After their car gets stuck in the mud, a traveling couple have a run in with a creature that cannot be in a source of light. As the creature slowly diminishes their sources of light, they fight to stay alive and evade it.

Without spoiling too much, I will say that this film is basic survival horror without much story to bog it down as anything other than a simple little horror flick for mindless entertainment. The atmosphere is bold and the direction can be pretty creepy, even if the bold and interesting camera work can sometimes make it feel like too much. Still, major props for building a movie where you spend so much time paying attention to the background for the thrill of seeing something that isn't obviously there.

I do see many complaints from other viewers about the fact that there were a handful of light sources that were overlooked by the main character, but I must say, when thrown into every situation, do you often notice every detail or think clear enough to make the best moves possible? Apparently if characters in horror films aren't the brightest and sometimes make poor decisions, then it is unbelievable and a bad film. Heaven forbid anyone is flawed, ya know?

As far as finding light sources and just staying in them til sunlight, I do believe those people weren't paying attention. The creature was not entirely stupid or slow. Trying to remain in a light source without moving only led it to find ways around it and cut off the light. Even setting an entire house on fire wouldn't have been the safest mood: fires get out of control and I'm sure no one wants to burn to death.

Those things aside, horror films like this are pretty much built around the trope of wanting you to scream "NO! NO! DON'T DO THAT! DON'T GO IN THERE! IT'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU, STUPID!" which I think adds to the thrill.

So all in all, no, the movie isn't genius and it's definitely not a 10. But for what it is, it's a successful little thriller chiller., sure to appease people looking for something simple and creepy. Fairly solid, but not groundbreaking.

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).

I came across Niamh Algar a few weeks ago when I saw her in The Virtues so decided to check out her back catalogue.

This is the tenth film)series I have seen her in and one if my favourites with her being more feminine and vulnerable here but enjoyed her ballsy roles in Pure, Deceit and The Bisexual.

There is not much in the way of script here but the film with its small cast is much better than Niamh's later horror efforts in Without Name and Censor.

The cameraman seems to be besotted with her rear, taking shots of her from behind seemingly at every opportunity.

I know the film is set at night but it is very dark and difficult to see what is happening at times.

I am not a big horror fan but there were a few occasions that I did feel squeamish here so the director did his job well.

A great low budget film which has taken Niamh onto greater things but she does seem to have gone of the rails a bit with her performances in Wrath Of Man and Raised By Wolves but I am sure they will prove to be great vehicles for her future.

I know many have given this a low mark but I did really like it and would watch it again.

I am off for a bit of comedy now to see Niamh in The Last Right. A little less tense me thinks.

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.

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.