Dark August

Obscure horror flick about a Mikhail Saakashvili lookalike stalked by the grandfather of girl whom he accidentally killed. There's certainly nothing significant about "Dark August", unless we interpret it as a '70s time capsule.* What I mean by a similarity to Robert Altman's movies is that one scene has two groups of people simultaneously carrying on conversations. Of course, I might be the only person who interpreted that. Otherwise, I would never think to equate this movie with Altman's films.

Anyway, this flick is just a way to pass time. Starring J.J. Barry, Carole Shelyne and Kim Hunter.

*In the past month, four 1970s icons have left this life: David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

At least the title of this thing is accurate. I watched "Dark August" in August, and it most certainly made my month a little darker and a lot more boring! Phew, what a dud this is. There are numerous low-budget movies from the 70s that are dealing with occultists and garden & kitchen voodoo-spells, but this must undoubtedly be the most amateurish one.

Set in the nonetheless beautiful state of Vermont, "Dark August" deals with an artist who has been cursed by the grandfather of a young girl whom he accidentally hit with his jeep. The effects of the curse aren't so bad, though, as the artist only sees appearances of grim-reaper figure, and occasionally suffers from chest aches whilst at the grocery store. When there are actual accidents, it's other people that get injured, like his brother-in-law who plants a saw in his upper leg. Still, our protagonist gets slightly annoyed by the curse's burden and seeks help from a spiritual medium.

I don't know what else to write about "Dark August", except that it's boring, that the acting performances are pitiable, that the musical score doesn't fit the tone of the film, and that the lead actor looks fifty-five even though he's supposed to depict a man in his late thirties. The only worthwhile sequences are the ones featuring the white-bearded grandfather, like when he causes a little riot in the town center, or when he pulls out his hunting rifle. Bullets are definitely more efficient than lame curses...

A modern yarn about a curse. Less a horror movie than a modern folk tale, I suspect those expecting horror are the ones most disappointed in this.

I was impressed overall with the cinematic competence of this semi-obscure film. Well-cast, well-acted, and well directed, there is also a soundtrack by William S. Fischer which adds a lot - in particular a beautiful piano piece while the local witch assembles a remedy for a child.

Great Vermont scenery, and J.J. Barry is well-cast here as a modern everyman thrown into this bizarre and tragic situation.

The magical ritual herein will be interesting for students of the occult: drawing variously from Christianity (the Lord's Prayer), Qabbalah, bits from Crowley (IAO) and Wicca, along with a fairly extended tarot card sequence are well done.

This is not a great film but it is a good one, if you aren't expecting something to keep you on the edge of your seat. This is just not that kind of story.

After killing a little girl in a car wash, Sal (J. J. Barry) is plagued by a series of "accidents", and stalked by a tall, dark figure. It seems that someone hasn't taken kindly to Sal's actions and is slowly destroying his life.

Enter Adrianna (Kim Hunter), a mystic who could be Sal's only hope.

DARK AUGUST is a somber tale of supernatural dread and doom, culminating in a final confrontation between good and eeevil.

Both Barry and Hunter are believable in their roles, which is essential in a film like this.

Recommended for fans of paranormal revenge...

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to my review of 1976s Dark August.

Before I get into the film review, here are my ratings for the movie.

The story gets 1.5 out of 2: The Direction a 1.25: The Tempo and Flow receive a 1: While the Acting gets 1.25: And my Enjoyment level earns a 1.25 out of 2: Dark August, therefore, receives a total of 6.25 out of 10.

The particular thing I admire about this film is the story. Even though it's primarily a revenge flick, the writers JJ and Carolyne Barry, and Martin Goldman, go the extra mile. The central plot is about a girl killed in a road accident, and her grandfathers quest for revenge. However, good old grandpops doesn't grab his rifle and hunt the man down. No. He lights a black candle and recites an incantation to bring forth an ancient evil to kill the driver. It's here and in additional incantation scenes that the Barry's and Goldman add the extra touch. Believable dialogue for spell-casting. The spells are no lame-ass Hogwarts Latin one-word crap. There are feelings and power in these words. For me, Dark August includes the most genuine spell-casting phraseology put on film.

On the whole, the writers provide the audience with a good storyline and believable and relatable characters. Though, it does suffer from slowness at times. These pausing periods, which aren't too terrible, could have been used to continue to build the characters and story.

Goldman also directed this little treasure of a horror film. He possesses a fine eye for iconic compositional shots. In the opening sequence, he gives the audience a pan of the landscape, and it's magnificent. The sun is setting over mountains on the horizon. Goldman captures a light-leak from the setting sun to the left edge of the screen. As he pans, the light-leak moves correspondingly. The entire scene gave me a pleasant and euphoric feeling. It's delightful when a director plans every shot of the film. There's a particularly eerie shot of a mysterious robed figure as he stands between the trunks of two trees. The image is centre-screen and framed by the forest. Add to this the quirky and discordant music, and Goldman injects a cold chill into you.

I found it a bonus and a plus to my enjoyment that Goldman uses local people in his shots. The townsfolk are most evident in Sal's first mental attack. At the time, he's in the local store. In the background, the people are shopping. And they don't appear to be acting shopping. I particularly enjoyed the two kids messing about. The realisticness of this scene was great.

The only place that Goldman staggers is with the pacing of the storytelling. The slow pace works, for the most part. However, some segments needed a tad more speed. Surprisingly, this is most evident in the second incantation sequence. It's too long. Though I know it needs to be creepy, the scene is exceedingly slow and creates a dragged out feel. Nevertheless, it's eloquently written.

The cast is on their top form also. And, co-writers JJ Barry and Carolyne Barry do surprisingly well in the lead roles. They work splendidly as a couple; their real-life relationship possibly helped to make their scenes more realistic

I completely believed in the evil grandpoppa. William Robertson perfectly executes the evil stare. There's no way I would've messed with him. I'd have packed up and turned tail and ran. Shame his speaking sections don't possess the equivalent power. Luckily for both the film and the audience, the grandfather represents the quiet and brooding type. I'm not too convinced he even voiced the opening incantation as this voice oozes ominousness.

The only gripe with the performances was that of Kim Hunter's. She delivers a quality performance as the witch. Nonetheless, when she starts the end enchantment, she comes across a little flat. Her monotony could be another reason why the scene appeared slow. It's a shame as this is part of the story's conclusion and was required to hold the audience's attention.

Dark August is an odd title and doesn't do the film justice. I say this because there's no mention of the month, and it's not dark. Well, not that dark. There are hints of suicidal thoughts, though these are only slight. More depth to Sal's grief would have been better. After all, he was the cause of the granddaughter's death. You know he's troubled, but I couldn't help feeling that I wanted more.

That said, this is an enjoyable movie if you like slow creepy flicks. There's no gross-out gore. Even though we witness one of the men saw into his leg, we never see the girl get run over, even though we see the scene a few times. The accident happens off-screen.

I would recommend Dark August for every Horror fan, except the gore-hounds. It's rightly worth one sitting, though I will be going back to it in the future. I wouldn't recommend it for newbies either. The slowness may put you off watching other horror flicks, and that would be a shame because there are so many excellent ones out there. No, this one is for the seasoned fans.

Once you've escaped the evil granddad, make your way through the forest and check out my Absolute Horror list to see where this revenge flick ranked in my charts.

Take Care & Stay Well. Get Inoculated.