Passing Darkness

A profound and intensely moving short film which initially brings to mind Ripley from Aliens (who would do anything to protect her effectively-adopted daughter Newt), for as the story begins Elaine is summoning powerful forces within her in order to protect young Samantha from the dark forces that appear to be threatening her.

But as the story progresses it becomes more akin to the best of the old Twilight Zone episodes, both philosophical and deeply touching. (In fact, much to my surprise -- given the brevity of the movie -- I was brought to tears.)

Once again Ken Mader has made a film whose writing, acting, direction, cinematography and music seem to be from a much higher-budget studio film. Whether you like your warriors sci-fi or Samurai, don't miss it!

Saw this film at a festival and was blown away. Beautifully shot, great acting, compelling story that's very twisty in a "Sixth Sense" sort of way, and a woman with a sword... can't beat that! Plus it was great to see one of my favorite actors, Don S. Davis from "Stargate SG-1" in the movie, along with Andrea Thompson from "NYPD Blue". And the little girl in the film, Danielle Renee Fazio, is an amazing young actress. Reminded me a lot of Dakota Fanning. Writer-director Kenneth Mader shows he has the skills to become a major force in Hollywood if he gets the right breaks. I can't wait for the feature version!

I was privileged to view Passing Darkness at the Big Bear International Film Festival recently. I also enjoyed discussing this film afterwards with the passionate, talented director, Kenneth Mader. It amazed me how much action and mystery was packed into a short. Its enigmatic, although well foreshadowed ending, totally surprised me because of the many plot twists. The acting of Debra Hopkins, especially, was so dramatic but realistic, that I was totally shocked by how I'd been misled as to what the plot was really about. The thrill-building music score by Alan Derian increased the suspense. The writer/director brought out the best possible performances in the memorable actors, created an eerie mood in the cinematography and edited it with increasingly swifter cuts that brought the audience's senses reeling by the movie's end.