Straight Into Darkness

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."

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.

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.

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

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.