The Dark Lurking

This is another movie about experiments that go terribly wrong (Yep. Those craaazy scientists again!).

As a rule, Boloxxxi does not spoil (not knowingly, anyway). It is my every intention to continue this noble tradition. So I have to ask you this question: Would it spoil it for you to know what sort of experiments these afore mentioned crazo scientists were up to? ---If the answer is yes, then STOP RIGHT THERE!! Proceed to the next reviewer and God bless. However, if your answer is no, then forge on ahead good soldier and may God have mercy on your soul.

In an underground facility in outer space somewhere scientists, using human test subjects, perform UNGODLY experiments in order to bring back the "Fallen Angel", or less poetically, "The Devil". Some aspect of him anyway, using some ancient DNA from where he landed on his ass after God gave him the boot (I'm not making this up folks, it's in the movie!). Why the HELL would they want to do this, you ask? Beats the HELL out of me. I guess curiosity sometimes trumps good sense. Anyway, as might be expected, the human test subjects turn into horrible, toothsome monsters who see potato chips where they should see humans.

I actually liked this movie even though it was unoriginal, except for how the monsters are explained (the product of a fearless imagination, no doubt). As well, the acting, writing, and the general presentation was a bit amateurish. --But who cares? I thought it was suspenseful enough and the monsters ugly enough to hold my attention. I found myself rooting for the little horror film that could because I liked the people and the effort. Finally, if this movie were a meal, it would be fast-food. It's health benefits may be questionable, but it tastes good. So, again, who cares? Love, Boloxxxi.

Alright, first of all the movie was also known as "Alien vs Zombies". What was up with that? That title couldn't have been further from the truth. Okay, given there were some weird aliens in the movie, but zombies? Hardly qualified as zombies. They were mutants.

The movie cover, at least the one on the Danish DVD release, looks so much like an actual Alien movie cover, that it should be illegal. But of course, that is done to lure people in, to sucker people into buying it. Which I did, of course.

Let's get on to the movie. The storyline was actually good enough, though there were some obvious lacks here and there, and you also sat there after the movie ended with a thought like "why? why was this movie necessary?". There is a lot going on in the movie, but a lot of it actually doesn't come full circle, and just is left hanging there, hoping the audience will forget about it.

In this movie "The Dark Lurking" you will find a lot of cliché stereotypical macho he-men running around, all of which oddly enough, have really low voices. I guess having a rough, low voice makes you more manly? And you don't really get any real introduction to the people in the movie and why they are there in the first place. And also, what was up with the multitude of different accents being present in the movie? It just added to the confusion.

The acting was actually good enough, though the movie suffered from series of halting dialogue. At some points you just wanted to yank out hair at the root at some of the stuff people said.

What worked best for me in this movie was the dark and brooding environment. The scenery was fantastic and there was a good sense of claustrophobia in the movie. And also there was a lot of action throughout the movie. And the special effects worked quite nicely as well.

What didn't work for me was the alien lifeforms. Wow, that was so hilarious and so unimaginative. And you just got to love those oh-so-obviously-fake-plastic spikes that were protruding from its arm. And the "zombies" (as they want us to accept them as being), well they were somewhat of a lukewarm thrill. They were mutants, plain and simple. Mutated humans, not zombies! They had lots of blood splattered on them; nice! But they looked like something from a cheesy sci-fi movie gone bad.

Actually I was sitting and waiting for Bruce Campbell to just pop out of nowhere and start kicking butt!

In overall, this movie had some good elements, but it failed to punch through, and it ended up being a confusing, lukewarm experience that you would rather not have gone through.

Well, watching this movie isn't the greatest pleasure on earth, to put it mildly.

After the first half hour i began to regret the decision not to do something (anything!) else. The acting varied from terrible to mediocre. Although i have to say; Tonia Renee (as Lena) wasn't that bad. If the other actors were anywhere near her performance (which i would describe as adequate), then this movie could have been something worth watching.

Could have been. The story of 'The Dark Lurking' in a nutshell really. Or perhaps 'should have been' is what describes it best.

First, there should have been (done) proper casting. My first impression says it all: "did they cast the actors straight out of a local pub or what?". Poor doesn't begin to describe their performances. Especially Davyd Williams (as Canning) and Cassia Rosenstraus (as Jen) were absolutely horrifying. And not the good kind of horrifying. The kind one would expect to see in these sort of movies. No, this was horrifying as a synonym to terrible, abominable, dreadful, you name it. Overacting is the first term that springs to mind. Closely followed by: 'completely out of place', 'unrealistic' and 'plain stupid'.

Good thing it is a survival movie, meaning: people die. A blessing for the movie really.

The second 'there should have been' regards the choice of locations. Or the lack of it. How many times can you move around in freaking ventilation shafts and pretend it is a different one? Quite a lot, i know now. One or two rooms and a couple of meters of shaft, there's really not a lot more to see...

The third and final 'there should have been' is about the script. Which is weak. Especially the storytelling. The story is unfolded in about a minute time and doesn't explain too much. Far too little actually, even for an action flick/thriller. And maybe i missed it, but i never saw the aliens. Plenty of zombies around, but no aliens. Anyway, besides that; the overall quality of the script is (as i mentioned before) weak, bad even, although better actors would probably concealed most of it. Still, i expect much better for a million dollar budget movie.

Despite my previous critics, it wasn't all bad. It seemed like the movie makers came about halfway through to their senses (probably sobering up), making the movie more or less watchable. Not in the last part because of the 'removal' of the worst actors. The action was still kinda cliché, but acceptable and Tonia Renee definitely showed she deserves better. And the ending was - although not something i haven't seen before - quite surprising actually.

First part gets 1/10. Anything above that is just an insult for any self-respecting movie-maker out there. But the second part gets 5/10, because of a significant overall improvement. Still, the movie is substandard - to say the least - and is really nothing special. It's for most people one and an half hour of wasted time. I like post-apocalyptic movies, but i won't see this one again. Meaning to forget about it as soon as possible.

Verdict 3/10.

I wish I hadn't paid the on-demand fee for this one.

As my title states, the effects were decent for a low budget film.

The worst element, however, was the ridiculous dialogue, particularly from one of the rescuees who whined and complained about everything rather than showing any fear or nervousness which would be entirely natural given the circumstances. I only kept watching so that I could see her get her come uppance.

I agree with the other comments about it blending aspects of Aliens and Resident Evil. Unfortunately, since it is so obvious it only serves to highlight how much this film is lacking.

Skip it.

First when I saw it in the movie store I was like "Wow, a new Alien vs. (something random) movie, just have to see it". Then when I started it up and saw the really f***ed up filming I almost went to get my binoculars just so I could turn them around and be a bit further away from the screen. It's like the director wanted to catch every single drop of sweat that the actors left behind. To give you guys a slight idea on how close it was, it's the type of close you only let your girl get too.

That combined with awful acting, not one can say they did good on this movie, not really easy though when the camera is pushed right up in your face. Still no excuse.

I couldn't stand to watch more than 15 minutes, so if you don't want to waste as much time as I did, just don't watch it. If you do want to watch more than I did, embrace yourself, your eyes will start begging for mercy pretty quick.