Dark Heaven

I realize people have different taste and different opinions on many subjects, but to actually find more than two people who liked this film (if you can call it that)and would admit to it by writing a positive review is disheartening to say the least.

I picked up this film solely on the recommendation of a co-worker Starky. She told me how wonderful and creepy this movie was and I took a chance. After watching the movie a good year or so ago, I'd rather be stuck watching all 13 episodes of Cop Rock. Nothing and let me underline NOTHING in this movie made sense. I don't know if they were trying to follow the style of Jacob's Ladder with dream sequences or what, but it didn't work. The costumes were horrible and I swear it looked like these Angels had plastic swords and I remember some deal with a floating balloon, that again, MADE NO SENSE!

I've read how some people picked this movie up solely based on the cover art of the DVD box, which at first I found ridiculous, but ever since I picked up the movie Rest Stop, I can no longer laugh. I picked up that movie based on the cover on the box and thinking I had missed a good horror movie at the theater that finally made it to DVD. How wrong I was on that one also. Both movies are bad, the writing is terrible, the acting is terrible, the character's actions make no sense and you just sit her wondering how they get any money at all to make this kind of crap!

Amen! to all the others who have spoken before and gave this movie the boot. This was a tragic waste of celluloid. My time would have been better spent alphabetizing the magazines in the bathroom. This movie was only 'apocalyptic' because those of us who wasted our time watching it kept wishing the world would end. The acting was horrible. In the moments I managed to stay awake, the weak interpretation of revelations look like a bad version of the 'Left Behind' series. I couldn't tell if Doug Schulze was trying to get us to recapture our lost faith or run from it. If saving souls is the goal, may these reviews be your salvation and spare your poor soul from viewing this pathetic attempt at a movie.

I have waited for a new horror offering from Douglas Schulze for a long time. He made this creepy little gem called Hellmaster way back in 1992 and after that seemed to drop from the face of film-making. So finally, in 2004 I pick up this movie at my local video store with intriguing box art (which is usually deceiving) and low and behold Douglas Schulze is credited as writer/director. I'm amazed and perplexed how this one escaped my knowledge so I have to rent it. However, I am less than pleased with the results. At the beginning I was very pleased. Dark Heaven started out great. It was amazingly quiet and visually impressive. It was so just so stylish and very much like Silent Hill. Creepy in other words. But the film falls apart about halfway through with its lack of logic. I understand that Schulze was probably going for a dreamlike quality based on the ending of the film, but everything seemed to flow up until the middle. So it was almost good. From listening to the director's commentary I found out Dark Heaven was in production for something like four or more years and I believe that's where the film suffered. It seemed like they just shot a piece here and there whenever their people were available. Maybe that's why it ceased to flow. Schulze obviously has the ability to direct a creepfest, now if only he could get proper funding and a proper schedule. I wouldn't overlook this film completely because it does has some genuinely eerie moments and a solid cast.

Head down to your local Blockbuster and pick up this great film. The cover art is a little confusing as it's more of a psychological horror film. Not much gore to it. It's a very rich, deep film about a cop who seems to be having more than just a bad day. My only warning is that the first 15 minutes are a little confusing but after that, the psychological terror becomes more understandable and not just strange. I'm not going to give much away about the film as you need to discover it on your own. After you're done, listen to the commentary track. It features the co-founders of MPI, the Motion Picture Institute of Michigan. Check it out! If you enjoyed this film, I'd also recommend checking out the horror film "Hellmaster" and the delightful comedy "Rachael's Attic".

This film was truly terrible. Besides the special effects being far, far, far below par, the story itself was very poorly done. The main character seemed oblivious to logic and common sense thru-out the entire film. The viewer is not allowed to discover or learn anything for himself, instead everything is spoon-fed to him. The characters themselves were shallow and one dimensional. Things that should have been explained are left in the air and things that were easily decipherable were explained to the most minute detail. And the story concept in itself, while good on paper just doesn't play well in live action.

When all is said and done, I think you would have more fun smacking your hand with a hammer.