Avaliações de usuários

The Orphanage meets Private Ryan. This is certainly a different type of WWII film. Not your daddy's tale of bravery.

But, it is just what you would expect from writer/director Jeff Burr, who gave us Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Puppet Master 4 & 5, and Pumpkinhead II. A slightly bizarre twist on the usual WWII story.

Two deserters, Ryan Francis and Scott MacDonald, come upon a group of orphans that have mental and physical handicaps. The man and woman who ran the orphanage before the war trained them to fight. Deming (MacDonald) is a real sleaze, who tries to rape the woman despite her obvious scars. They are attacked by 60 Germans who are after treasure in the building where they are holed up.

The story is a mixture of strange and tender amidst the horrors of war. There is enough of Burr's past work to keep horror fans interested, but there is a beauty underneath, if you look for it.

Check it out for a different take on war.

This movie is about two American deserters in WWII. Apparently they were court-marshaled for an accident involving a flame-thrower, but not too much is revealed about that, with the exception of the same flash-back annoyingly popping up every 10mins. As they travel the European countryside, not very much interesting happens to them. The two actors are your typical unknown amateur actors who sound like they are reading their lines rather than speaking them. And when the reach a strange orphanage, the story gets weirder before it gets any good.

I thought the direction really wasn't that good, with the exception of the action sequences, which were up to the standard of any other good action director. But the rest left something to be desired. Some movies with small budgets can sometimes pull of really great things, and you are surprised to find out that it was a small budget. This one doesn't and reeks of a B-movie all over it.

If you really love war movies and are desperate for another one, check this one out, I am sure you won't be too disappointed. But the rest of you can pass on this one, you won't be missing much.

After a superior opening sequence in the minefield, the film winds down, with much walking and talking. It then picks up again when the battle begins between the orphan army and the Nazis. At this point the movie really has nowhere to go. Obviously the rag tag children are not going to defeat the Germans and their tank. Unfortunately the battle sequences are not always credible, and seem stretched to the maximum. I think that the initial idea of the two deserters could have been further developed, rather than boxing everything into a conclusion that is rather unlikely and therefore somewhat unsatisfying................. - MERK

Andrei Dumitrescu is exceptional. Vote Basescu!!!

It's good to see there are still some filmmakers out there who push their craft beyond some tired formula. Despite a low budget (which shows at times) this film is obviously a labor of love for the director and the cast. The scenes involving the children are superbly handled and director Jeff Burr deserves enormous credit for their effectiveness. I love war films and this one works on that level, but it can't be pigeon holed as just another war movie. There's a lot going on and sometimes the filmmakers' reach exceeds their grasp, but more often the movie is very, very effective. This movie will have you talking

Outside "The Offspring" and "Night of the Scarecrow" Jeff Burr might be recognised as a journeyman for commercial horror sequels (for the likes of "The Stepfather", "Pumpkinhead", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Puppet Master"); while competently fun still they were mechanically pitched. However Burr's "Straight into Darkness" feels more personal (being dedicated to his dead father), and I would say it's his most accomplished and creative production where its independent tailoring help provide his own vision. Burr's streamlined direction really did surprise me here, where it was more artistic, strange and atmospheric like something out of Michael Mann's 1983 "The Keep" (although there's nothing supernatural going on)… actually it's has the same surreal, dream-like feel where I would see it as a mixture of "The Keep" and definitely "Castle Keep" and throw in "Freaks (1932)". Burr interweaves a fairy-tale air amongst the horrifying spiral into the macabre madness of war. Again it's rather atypical, more so an uncompromising journey story of redemption and affiliation than just an all-out assault on the senses. Sure there's explosions and gunfire, but its trimmed and meaningfully unsettling in its execution. Especially the hanging trees' scene and the eerie final sequences involving an armed band of deformed orphan children taking on a German battalion with a tank, where its depiction of innocence shows it's never spared in war. The reason given to why the Germans are attacking them comes as a surprise, and only makes it even more gut wrenching. I wouldn't call it perfect, as the tight script is predictably penned and the moody narrative can be confounded by rapidly jerky flashback sequences that really don't share any light upon the characters, but just add more emotional baggage from the vague imagery.

Two deserting American soldiers in the final days of WW2 managed to escape from custody by surviving a bombing attack on their vehicle. They head off in to the snowy European woods where they try to survive and this would go on to show how these two men really tick -- as one is psychotic while the other is naïve. While holding up in an abandoned house, they encounter a ragtag of orphan children who bare the scars of the war.

I wasn't expecting much, but Burr projects a desolate, forlorn war-torn landscape amongst the picturesque Romanian backdrop. Stylishly striking set-pieces are formed, as the earthy action is beautifully poised, but at the same time hard-hitting and suspenseful. How the action and music went hand to hand had me thinking of Alex Cox's "Walker"… haunting scoring cues with slow-motion, emotionally over-wrought illustrations. It can be reflective -- pouring in blood and sweat, demons and pain with dark underlining.

The performances of Scott MacDonald and James Legros as the deserting American GIs are commendably good. The script could have done a better job in delving into these two characters than it did, because there were complexities dug up. But motives are quickly squeezed out. A gruff looking David Warner appears and Daniel Roebuck also. The kids are convincing in their roles.

Nothing spectacular, but quite an aspiring and gripping low-budget indie war effort.

I don't see how anyone could give this "gem" any good comments. Long, slow moving, drawn out storyline, barely visible plot, bad acting, absolutely pointless flashbacks/dream sequences. I could barely stand to watch the whole thing but I just had to see if ANYTHING would redeem this mess. The description on the CD case made it sound like a thriller on the edge of scary type of war movie. It wasn't sad, funny, scary or thrilling. It was just plain old boring. I haven't seen anything else by Jeff Burr but if this is the best he can do I'll avoid any of his other works like the plague! Save your money and rent something worthwhile, like Erasurehead.

I saw this little gem at a film festival in LA. I went in expecting to see another war film but I was in for a treat! I don't want to give too much information away so let me say the movie takes the viewer on a twisting, turning surreal journey that will disturb you at times, frighten you and bring you to tears before the end credits roll but you will be glad you saw it. The movie encompasses several different elements-the perils of war, a touch of macabre, sadness and redemption. All these elements are woven together nicely by director Jeff Burr-who also wrote the film. One of the many things that really caught my eye was the imagery-during the outside scenes the snow is so white you want to touch it while the rest of the picture has a steely bluish gray look that makes you feel like you are experiencing a dreary winter day. The movie also has an eerie dreamy sort of quality to it with great use of flashbacks that only add to the tone of the film. Last but not least, there are a few bloody scenes that prove very effective in disturbing the viewer, without turning the whole film into a gore fest. This film may be "low budget" by Hollywood standards but that's what makes it stand out above the rest. I like the fact that this was not a typical big budget film with big overpaid stars and a bunch of teenagers that looked like they just came in off the WB. The people especially the children were real and that stood out thru out the movie. I think director Jeff Burr did an outstanding job on this movie and I look forward to seeing more of his films. I hope that this comes out in theaters so everyone can have the opportunity to witness a truly moving film.

Don't waste your time on this one. It starts off well and ends up in a mess. One of the most irritating features is that it is riddled with what may be flashbacks (or flash forwards)for the main character.But you never have enough context to put them all together or make sense of them. They appear like mosquitoes and are just as useful. It picked WWII as the backdrop to show the misery and futility of war.Perhaps it never occurred to the creative minds behind it that we might be speaking German today if the allies had decided not to fight. A poor choice of wars. One of the two soldiers undergoes a sudden transformation that is neither believable nor understandable. The ending appears to have been cut off before it led to anything satisfactory. I wanted a refund of my time after I realized it was over.

This movie is such a mesmerizing and impressive experience that you won't regret to do. Beautifully shot on Romania with strong acting by a cast that includes Ryan Francis, Scott McDonald (JACK FROST!), Linda Thorson and David Warner. Probably, STRAIGHT INTO DARKNESS is Jeff Burr's masterpiece. It have flaws, like some obvious dubbing for the German characters, played by romanian actors. But none of them diminishes the valour of this great movie, that also benefits from a original and powerful script, not to mention the haunting, beautiful musical score.

STRAIGHT INTO DARKNESS have a sincere, thought provoking anti-war message and manages to be more than just a movie. Knowing that the kids casted on it were real life orphans only made the experience more human and emotional. War and general movie fans, be sure to don't miss!

Thoughtfully composed and disarming cinematography. I liked the minimalist approach to dialogue while letting the images speak for themselves. The use of real people, fantastic people, especially the child actors, was critical to the message and I was reminded greatly of Brecht's poem "Children's Crusade". The pace of the film slowly but steadily reaching a crescendo towards the end, with it's final flourish and eloquent testimony to the futility of war. I would recommend this film to any Humanities teacher wanting to broaden their students experience and understanding of the real world by looking through a different telescope.

This is a film that lingers on in your memory for days and weeks afterwards. Jeff Burr deserves a bigger audience.

Okey, i feel i have to write a review about this film, so anyone else wont use 90 minutes of they're lives on it. This is actually the first review I've ever written. I just feel i have to do it.. I have seen a lots of films, and I've got a decent collection of DVD's. Anyways, this film is now in my top 3 worst films I've ever seen. I don't even know where to start? The acting is so bad it actually made me and my mate laugh a couple of times. The story is just boring. The only thing that made me see the whole movie, was the hopes of seeing a girl take off a face mask.

Now, this might be a movie you have to see several times to get it. But trust me, I'm not going to do that. Id rather sit and watch paint dry. By the way, did i mention that this film is horrible?

Conclusion: PLEASE, don't see this movie!

I recently saw a special screening of "Straight Into Darkness" at the Italian Institute of Culture as part of the "Best of the Milan Film Festival" series. The title is very appropriate -- disturbing and thought provoking, the film takes the audience straight into the darkness, violence and brutality of war. The actors are terrific, most notably Scott MacDonald as Deming. The character's base, savage "survival at any cost" mentality is terrifyingly portrayed by Mr. MacDonald. I was so involved in the story that I was ashamed of Deming being an American. I have seen many films set in World War II, but none has ever affected me quite like "Straight Into Darkness."

I caught this on broadcast TV. At first it captivated me and I wanted to see more. But then as it wore on, I got more and more turned off by the two soldiers/characters. One was a psychopathic jerk, while the "sensitive" one didn't seem to have any balls. His constant flashbacks to his past became quite annoying. The station I watched it on didn't cue it right between commercials. So it started it wrong and repeated a good portion of what it had shown before. I saw that I wouldn't see the ending, and realized I didn't really care. The only reason I tried is that it got a decent Rotten Tomatoes score, somehow. IMDb's rating seems much more accurate. Maybe it got better in the second half - I'll probably never know...

(2005) Straight Into Darkness WAR

Co-written and directed by Jeff Burr directing a straight to rental film that has two US war deserters of Losey (Ryan Francis) and Deming (Scott MacDonald) with one of them is psychotic, stumble upon an abandon building inhabited by disadvantaged school children, and an older couple Deacon (David Warner) and Maria (Linda Thorson) who succumb to fighting against wondering overwhelming Nazis odds! The war scenes are some of the worst I've ever seen and unconvincingly at that, and the acting could've been better. It's a low budget and uninvolving with good intentions.

This film has too many mini flashbacks and closeups not very fond of this technique its has too much of this elements that using it makes no sense, there is also too many whispering can't even understand what is it for, in making a film does over using an elements make the movie cringy, there are also a lot of fillers on this film that even thou it will cut off you can still understand the storyline of the film, and some scenes are just unrealistic that even a younger audiences can differentiate it. Overall the storyline has its own potential to shine, that's why its important to choose what elements should a film creator use to avoid over usage of one element.

From experience, let me say, for any parent with young (<10yo) kids, don't get this one out as a "lets stay up late and watch a movie" movie. Even with the aid of copious amounts of bourbon its emotionally gutwrenching and hard to sit through.

This isn't a spoiler but essentially the movie revolves around a WW2 era setting with 60+ machine-gun toting German infantry with tanks versus a handful of mentally retarded/physically disabled (and sometimes both) children and their teachers along with a few deserters from the US army.

Its graphic/highly suggestive scenes of kids killing soldiers and being killed themselves is hard to take, even with the best attempts of the director to make it less of an impact. It contains strong violence and children, what more can I say? Even closing your eyes won't help as the sound effects (kids screaming/machine gun fire/bullets hitting flesh noises/kids groaning/cut to close up shot of a dead 5 year old child filled full of bullet wounds) are equally as descriptive.

Once again, for any person with ties to kids under 10 or so, don't go with this one, its not a "nice" film. If you do watch it, be prepared for realistic and detailed violence on a large scale directed at disabled kids as well as adult actors.

I gave it 4 stars only because I managed to make it to the end. What a train wreck. The story was terrible. I would go deeper into why it was so bad but I don't want to list any spoilers. Only two main characters who were both unlikeable. The director did a much better job with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as that was actually good. Those that gave this a 10 need therapy. They must give 10's to everything. It was bad. Please don't waste your time. It wasn't much of a war movie. It definitely wasn't a horror movie. There was one good character actor in it and one that used to be but is now long forgotten.

This is an excellent film. As promised, I won't include spoilers. It has the feel of "Johnny Get Your Gun," and is a little like Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket." It shows two human's experiences in a very, very dangerous place and time. The two characters have almost contrasting personalities, yet stranded alone must depend on each other. Deming, a nasty and frightening character, is played by Scott MacDonald. He is a fantastic actor, who simply becomes the roles he takes on. Losey, played by Ryan Francis, is more thoughtful. He has more heart, and a conscience.

This film did very well, with good reason, at the film festivals that have shown it. Though it has a low budget, this for the most part does not detract from the film. The movie does have it's light moments, but for the most part, is for the brave hearted. Jeff Burr and Mark Hannah, the director and producer, made excellent choices when they picked the spots for shooting the film. They perfectly reflect the tones of the scenes, be they sad, frightening, or, once in a while, light and hopeful.

All in all, this film is very well made, and well worth your while, with a new take on the horrors of war.

This appears to be a good movie, for those who like this sort of thing. There's not a lot of happiness here, but we see people get things done and stand tall despite obstacles, even though the two stars are nothing more than cowards at the beginning.

The main adult actors all give good performances. I would also add the German officer to that list. He is not evil but just doing his job. At one point he states that he feels like a father to his men.

The children do a great job, and I would single out the boy with no legs and the girl with the mask, even though neither says a word. You can just see their determination and courage.

A few years ago a TV detective lost either his wife or his son in a car accident. When the son was alive everything appeared blue. When the wife was alive colors were closer to yellow or orange. That's how much of the movie is. Colors are much more vivid in the flashbacks and visions, though in one case Losey is having a nightmare and everything quickly turns blue, followed by bright orange when there are explosions. It's quite an effective technique. I do wish the brightly colored flashbacks had lasted longer and had more character development, because we really needed positive images.

It's quite good if you like this sort of thing.