Les Mangeurs d'âmes

Left in Darkness wasn't actually all that bad of a film. The description on the back left me very wary of what I was about to watch. The beginning was rather odd with the star as a little girl whose deafness to her grandfathers recommendations didn't bode well for a long life. The dreaded rape scene wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be, considering what some twisted directors have done with the subject. The story is about a woman who is raised by her grandparents after her mother dies giving birth and father disappears. She is killed at an animal house type of party by the typical drunken sociopath frat boys. She wakes up dead between heaven and hell and must fight for her soul using vague clues given to her by dead relatives and a guardian angel of sorts. It moves relatively quickly and has some good horror scenes. The editing was good and the camera work was good. The dialog was a little flat. The acting wasn't too bad and there were some seasoned actors in bit parts.

I thought this movie would be a lot better especially since a lot of the other Stephen J. Cannell straight to DVD movies i've seen were pretty good.Ones like It lives,the garden and room 6 were enjoyable but left in darkness was a good script and good idea but it reminded me more of an all ages movie that you would see on TV.The score was more like a Disney movie and the acting was OK but not great.It was just not scary.I can't believe Steve and the director actually thought it was scary when they said it was in the making of or behind the scenes extra feature.The character of Donovan was the worst written because when he died he was an 8 year old boy,so why was he 20 something all of a sudden when Celia died.I didn't realize you aged after you died.I assumed you stayed the same age.Also why was he her guardian angel while she was alive,and then a demon or devil when she dies.That whole part was stupid and made no sense.It would have made more sense if she met Donovan again as an 8 year old boy the way he appeared to her in a cemetery.But aging him and making him evil is just very inconsistent.And as if a little girl is going to fly through the air after nearly being hit by a car.The monsters looked more like something from a sci-fi or fantasy movie not a horror.It was very predictable and not well executed.I have seen movies with way lower budgets that are actually scary and seemed believable.This one was more of a disappointment.

By minimal I mean there aren't all that many characters to get to know, and there also are not all that many sets...so basically a horror movie with a very limited potential for kills. Still I thought it was done rather well, could have been better, but then again most horror movies could would have and should have been better. This one has a very pretty girl with a number of tragedies that have marked her life. Her mother died when she was born, her grandfather died the prior year she just wants to have fun on her birthday for once. Well she goes with a friend to a wild frat party, which is mistake number one and her friend hooks her up with an obvious scumbag. Why do gals prefer this scum who would do what he does to a guy like me I will never know, but that is just the facts. This guy precedes to take her to the basement and gets her to tell her sad story and after she passes out from the drug in her drink rapes her. Great guy, eh? Well the drug in the drink kills the girl and is the movie over...no! It has just begun as the girl must now try to figure out the afterlife as her grandfather is there, but he seemingly wishes to do her harm and also there is her guardian angel who tries to explain things to her, but he also seems kind of menacing as well. There are flashes of others in her life, things looking for her soul and she also has the ability to look back on the life she left behind and see the party still going on. Like I said not bad, just needed more, the girl is really pretty and she does a nice job. I could have used a couple of more venues as I get really tired of the frat house. From the back of the box I was actually expecting more of a darker version of an earlier film I enjoyed "Highway to Hell", still there are worse ways to spend one's time.

On the twentieth-first birthday of Celia (Monica Keena), her friend Justine (Jessica Stroup) invites her to go to a party in a fraternity. Celia is still grieving the death of her beloved grandfather Joe (Tim Thomerson), who has recently died, and blames herself for the death of her mother in her delivery. In the party, she is drugged and gang raped; then she has an OD and dies alone in a bathroom. Out of the blue, she finds alone in the fraternity house and she is lured and attacked by Joe. However, her guardian angel Donovan (David Anders), who saved her life when she was a girl, explains the rules to keep the protection of her sanctuary and survive the massive attack of soul eaters. Sooner Celia finds that she is in a sort of purgatory and distrusts Donovan; further, she does not know who is telling the truth and how to reach Heaven.

"Left in the Darkness" has an interesting and original premise but there are to many rules to be followed in the purgatory where the lead actress spends two hours trying to discover who is really helping her and finding the way to the paradise. Monica Keena and David Anders have good performances in the lead roles. I have recently seen a movie with Jessica Stroup, but unfortunately her character has a minor but important participation. This film was released in Brazil directly on DVD by Flashstar Distributor and deserves to be watched at least once. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Terror na Escuridão" ("Terror in the Darkness")

I was drawn to this film by it's interesting premise. Of course, as a straight to video film I wasn't really expecting much even though I hoped for the best. The film sat somewhere in the middle for me. It was enjoyable and somewhat interesting, but I couldn't help but feel it had much more potential than it displayed. Perhaps on a higher budget with a better script, we could have seen something really special. When the movie was over, I shrugged... I wasn't overly satisfied, yet not disappointed. But as far as straight to video films go, this one is definitely in the upper class.

And what was up with Monica Keena's lips?