The Darkroom

Aside from the main character's visions of monsters and gore, I would have to say this is a thriller. Pretty original plot concept and good acting as well.

The story follows a man who is offered an experimental drug in hopes that he can remember why he was found on the side of the road covered in blood. The movie then leads you into his journey of finding these memories.

Nice twist at the end, though I have a feeling most people will know what that twist is about 10 minutes before it happens, but it doesn't distract from the effect.

Overall it's original, I like the concept, the actors were well suited and nothing really seemed out of place. A couple goofs here and there due to shoddy editing possibly, again, nothing that really distracts from the quality of the story. I rate this a 7/10. I give it 7 instead of 6 because of the lack of recognizable actors and how well the roles were played.

A man (Reed Diamond) in a mental institution, who's been suffering from amnesia for 15 years, is given an experimental drug to restore his memory. When things go awry, the man escapes, leading to a journey into the unknown.

Enter Stanley (Shawn Pyfrom), a boy whom the man helps to uncover the terrifying truth behind his stepfather Bob's (Greg Grunberg) secret life.

Meanwhile, a bizarre mud monster haunts the man's nightmares, and even his waking hours. How could this be connected with Stanley's situation?

THE DARKROOM is a rather disturbing horror film with a healthy dose of mystery tossed in. All of the characters are solid with a special shout out to Lucy Lawless, who plays against type as Stanley's abused, alcoholic mum...

This one has a pretty good plot but it didn't appeal to me at all. It starts out with a young kid being discovered with blood all over his hands, and he spends the next 15 years in a mental institution, because he has no memory of what happened or who he is. Along comes a researcher with an experimental drug that might unlock the now adult guy's mind and help him. The movie then leads us on a journey as the guy escapes the hospital and makes friends with a young kid and gets involved in his life. The kids alcoholic Mom "Lucy Lawless" is remarried to a jerk, and things get a little unsettling as the kid and his new friend decide to follow his step-dad to see what he is developing in his darkroom, and where he goes at night. There is a pretty good dose of blood and gore towards the end when everything is revealed, and story wise, the movie is not that bad. Not my cup of tea, but I can see how some fans might enjoy this movie.

Reed Diamond plays a man suffering from amnesia who's been in a mental asylum for over a decade after he was found wondering the back roads with blood on his hands. The doctors want to test out an experimental new drug that'll return his lost memories if it works. But when the drugs give him hallucinations of a demon, he chooses to escape instead. While outside he befriends a young boy whose stepfather (Greg Grunberg) mistreats his mother, won't let her near the darkroom in his basement & acts suspicious in general.

While the general 'mystery' of the film is a tad easy to identify way before it's revealed, I found Mr. Diamond's acting to be enthralling enough to keep my attention throughout. (In the interest of full disclosure, I've been a huge fan of his since Homicide and his brief, but extremely pivotal, role in The Shield up through Journeyman & Dollhouse) Not a great film nor a good one, but serviceable enough. Although I did like it better than the previous films that I've seen from Director/writer Michael Hurst (Room 6, Pumkinhead 4, Mansquito)

Eye Candy: one fleeting pair of boobs in a hallucination

My Grade: C-

That might be a bit harsh for me saying that, but sadly so far in his directing career its true. Just have a look at what he as done so far. They barely make it past the 3 star mark.

Why did I watch this movie? 2 reasons. Lucy Lawless and Heroes star Greg Grunberg. Lucy was outstanding in this movie, her performance carries the whole movie. I do hope she gets a "blockbuster" and breaks into the bigger league of actors, she clearly has the skills. Greg was not so impressive, typical TV acting style.

The movie is oddly categorized as a horror. The only "horror" is short flashbacks, and they last a max of 2-5 seconds with a little blood in them. I personally would call this more a "drama/thriller".

But no matter how interesting the story actually is, bad directing, editing and acting (appart from Lucy) destroys it. You get no real connection to the actors, something which is very important in a story like this one. You just sit there watching feeling nothing. Its like watching a bad TV soap....actually I think the TV soap would be more interesting.

My advice: Stay away from this movie...or better yet just stay away from anything Michael Hurst is involved with.