Dark Awakening

After inheriting his mother's house, a city attorney and his family living in her remote country house until it's sold find that the imaginary friends their son claim to see are really ghosts of children haunting the house for a past crime he committed and set out to prevent them from happening.

Frankly, this one wasn't all that interesting of an effort. Most of this one is based on the film not really being all that forthcoming with the supernatural antics which are quite expected when they occur. It's completely heavy reliance on the expected false scares from bumps in the night to the ghosts appearing in the background behind people which is rather lazy to be this heavily featured here. Likewise, this occurs in accordance with a slow, drawn-out pace that doesn't in the slightest generate any kind of suspense or thrilling action with the rather bland feeling here generated by the utterly slow start here. This isn't helped by the fact that the few events we do have here are brushed off without much care or concern, as the fact that these do happen but nothing much is done with them to show any kind of impact they have on the family makes them lose their power and intensity quite often when it's always moved aside to deal with something else. Whether it's the family dealing with the funeral arrangements, the slowly-dawning back-history they have with the area or the mounting frustration they have with the son's fascination with his imaginary friends which take up all the first half of the film that all hold back the supernatural action within here which is what really hurts this one overall. The other big issue is this one drops them for a bland realistic thriller finale which is seen coming from a mile away and comes off as redundant due to not surprising anyone while completely removing the ghosts from the equation. These here really hold this one down overall. One of the few positives is the fact that there's some solid work done through the frequent hauntings to give the idea that something's going on, as these do manage to feature the idea that the house has something going on with the idea of the different visions and encounters in the house. From the ghost in the bedroom, the incident in the bathroom where she gets pushed under in front of him and the different flash images around the room where the deformed ghosts are watching everyone are featured here to give a solid setup about the effects of the house and its history. That leads nicely into the backstory about the killing spree he undergoes as a kid which is rather dark and chilling for what's presented which does help this one out somewhat. As well, the creepy featured look of the ghosts manages to get a lot to like here, and along with the gory kills here gives this a lot to enjoy here. Otherwise, there's just a whole lot to like in the film.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, violence against animals and domestic violence.

This may be Lance Henriksen's best role yet since he starred in the TV series Millennium. The film itself is shot with a filter that mutes bright tones and gives a richness to every color. The actors outside of Henriksen are also quite good at their craft, even if the lead male thinks he's Jack Nicholson toward the end of the story. The pacing is done well, but the opening courtroom scene was unnecessary to the plot of the story. The film ratchets up rather quickly in its last minutes, turning into quite a Slasher film comparable to The People Under the Stairs and The House of the Devil. Henriksen, by the way, plays a real Christian just as Edward Woodward did in The Wicker Man (a character that backfired on the director who made the film to be antichrist instead of Christian, with the opposite result). I'd like to give this film higher than a 6, but the Twilight Zone stares and small-town weirdness provides a factor not suitable to this ghost story. Like most of the films Henriksen stars in, this one is a mish-mash of ideas that don't finish percolating before the story is finished.

The premise of this film has been seen before, but dose that mean it's flawed? Or bad? No. "Dark Awakening" shakes up that fact, coming out meaningful, and simplistic, making this an enjoyable film on many levels.

The movie kicks off quite nicely, I like how the movie executes the characters coming together, offering some chemistry. Honestly, though, that said chemistry goes on and off- the characters seem as if they don't belong together in some sequences of the movie. But never the less, the movie overall executes the said motion nicely, and solidly. The story, also, pays off. I personally liked it. I felt as if the plot / story was unique for what it was, giving a nice, refreshing take on the genre of horror. The story also gives the audience a unique sense of terror, and suspense. [ Me at least ] . . adding to its fresh, new take. With that being said, this horror movie takes on a unique take, instead of letting down. The ghost / paranormal execution of the children was great too. I liked it. The makeup / execution filled with a sense of dread, and terror, something other movies tend to actually miss.

In this case. "Dark Awakening" was a unique take, it had a plot seen before, with common clichés. But fortunately, the movie refreshes, giving the audience more then what they bargained for. It also has good, solid visual effects, along with a scary atmosphere that hits the audience head-on. I'd recommend it to horror fans when it hits theaters.

[ For a personal record, I'm not the biggest fan of horror, this was a pleasure for a 2015 horror flick. I liked it. ]

I made the mistake of not watching the trailer first. It's pretty disconnected and I couldn't convince myself, not once, that I had made the right decision in purchasing this film. I cringe even now. Sigh. The acting was simply not up to par. Lance Henriksen was the only reputable actor out of the cast of four--does that make you feel good about this? And if you don't guess the ending I'm worried about you. So often did this feel like a made for TV movie. The scenes were awkwardly pieced together and the cinematography was not genre appropriate. It looked like a soap opera. And I don't know what was going on with the music and the sound. Even the house was boring. The makeup on the kids was decent. But the ghost kids fail to deliver and were a contrived vehicle. I knew by the end, when a particular minor character was killed off by her own bad driving, that this movie was the biggest mistake I've made in a while--in terms of paying for it. The rating on this one will surely drop. I wouldn't even recommend watching this on Netflix--if it goes.

Dark Awakening is a creepy, edge of your seat horror/thriller. If you enjoy films such as Poltergeist, The Shining, Stir of Echoes, or Paranormal Activity I would strongly suggest checking out this one!

In addition, Lance Henriksen and Jason Cook give terrific performances and their chemistry works very well. Lance's character even offers up a few light hearted seconds of humor.

Dark Awakening may start off like other haunt films but clearly becomes a brand of it's own with many twists and turns, this is not a picture to miss out on.

Much credit is due to director Dean C. Jones and the producers, they set out to fill a house full of ghastly screams and have done a heck a job!