In Search of Darkness

There was so much hype surrounding this with those brilliant crowd fund trailers. It would truly be hard for it live up to its promise. What stands is a decent effort but fails to offer anything really new and doesn't spend nearly enough time on any of the films and skips so many amazing gems of the decade. That being said it's decently entertaining but I would have preferred a ten hour cut instead of the four and a half one this is.

Just tons and tons of horror thrown at me. I loved it. Interviews with directors, actors, practical FX artists, horror hosts, and lovers of the genre. I liked the format as well. They showcased several films per year as well as topics such as exploitation in horror.

I've only really been into the horror scene the last few years and have mainly stuck to the more well known movies so there were a number of films highlighted that I've yet to see. That alone was a treasure to me. I now have a checklist. :) For a 4 1/2 hour documentary, time flew by.

As for negatives, I thought they spent a little too much time on certain series, such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, but they are talking 80s horror. Also, it would have been great to see more key actors and crew. For example, a lot was said about Tom Savini's work yet he's not an interviewee. Budget, scheduling, and the willingness of the individuals could have all played a part in who participated though.

Count me amongst those who were ecstatic at the prospect of a four and a half hour documentary on my favourite decade of horror, the 1980s. I felt disappointment set in pretty early however, as the obvious budget limitations had the film feeling like a slightly better produced YouTube video. That feeling may have also stemmed from a number of the talking heads being actual YouTube video bloggers. These people can be entertaining at times, but are ultimately little more than fans themselves. I would have preferred their time given to other folks actually involved in the making of these films. Then again, if Joe Bob Briggs was simply allowed to talk for four and half hours we would have gleaned much more than we did from the ensemble.

The best moments of In Search of Darkness were the sections in which the cultural and historical relevance of 80s horror was analyzed. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the doc is comprised of simple and brief commentary on classics of the decade. The decision to structure the discussion year-by-year (marked by title cards) made the project feel laborious at times.

I'm glad I watched the film, in the sense that it felt like talking about horror movies for an afternoon with fellow fanatics. Don't expect a deeply thorough examination though.

Way over hyped and over priced. I've heard the same things from the same directors for years. Nothing really new other than a few annoying personalities. The Dead Meat podcast guy is kind of overbearing in this. It was ok. Not worth $60.

Lots of juicy clips from films, not much substance otherwise. No big names among the talking heads. They are pleasant enough but don't bring anything new to the table. Its nice to see how some of those 80's femme fatales have aged-Barbara Crampton is still impressive while Heather Langenkamp doesn't seem to care much about her appearance.

It is really disappointing that this documentary spends too much time on well known franchises such as Halloween/Friday 13th/Nightmare on Elm Street while other much better films are not mentioned.

A couple of UK releases are mentioned, but nothing from Europe or Australia.

The guys behind this video need to expand their horror horizons.