I Will Follow You Into the Dark

In the last moments of this movie i was thinking: "the only thing that could save this film is if it was a troll, a huge joke..."

but it wasn't. Someone seriously thought that this would sell. I don't know if the budget for this film was spent on Barton (the Only recognizable name on the credits) or if this was a troll, and the "Gotch-a" is at the end of the credits and i left too early. either way, whether or not the movie was a joke- it was bad... ...now, One could rant on and on about what was wrong with this movie, but i'll summarize; -It was too dark, you could not see anything but a beam of light coming from a flashlight 30% of the movie. -the acting was horrible. acting is easier said than done, i realize that, but if you aren't good at acting, then why are you in the film? and such... save some money, skip this film, see The Fog....or better yet. save some sanity...don't see either...

It was easy to get into this. It wasn't so easy to get out. This started pretty well and it seemed well paced, well acted and nicely scripted. Then, however, it added a sappy romantic angle that leaves lots of questions, but few answers. Then, it just stopped. (Trying not to spoil it...) Overall, this was all anticipation with no payoff. The abrupt ending seemed to be about a 180 degree turn from what was generally happening. It had its moments. It was ultimately unsatisfying.

I usually try to avoid movies where the writer and director are the same person. There's a reason for this - and this film is a prime example. You NEED that second opinion - there are long, boring scenes that no competent director would have left intact. The basic story could have been done better, but there was so little development other than artsy montages. The production values were actually pretty good, but the story was weak and the plot incoherent. I think the scenes were not chronological - but it was not obvious if they were flashbacks, dreams, or what. The acting wasn't bad either, but without character development I just didn't care about these people.

I can honestly say my expectations were set too high for this film. I was expecting a supernatural love story and instead I got a big mess of a film, with a plot so vague I hardly know what to make of it.

The film starts off promising with a present to past reflection leading up to the current events. No doubt this tactic was to keep the audiences' attention to the end of this film. I feel without it all interest would have been lost, because there is nothing within the first 20 minutes to indicate anything supernatural about this film otherwise. That said, there isn't too much of anything ghostly until the last 40 minutes or so of this film.

The love story isn't strong enough either to make an impact on the viewer. The love story never really develops and the main story focuses more on the main protagonist dealing with some eerie events which begin to plague this young woman following a eulogy challenging anything supernatural to prove to her there is something beyond death. These events are what lead her to find refuge and love with a man she basically just bumped in to.

Into the Dark has a few things going for it, a talented cast, and a successful atmospheric tone. The only weakness is the screenplay itself; it is much too ambiguous for my liking and there is never a clear explanation for anything. Excluding our lead, all of the other characters are underdeveloped and certain events occur to all of them that just leave you scratching your head asking "what was the point of that? ".

I recommend this film only to those who are willing to ignore a weak screenplay, and are looking for a mindless supernatural romance film. Into the Dark runs roughly 110 minutes, and does have a bit of everything, but the film just can't seem to keep it's focus on any one thing.

This was really A Tale of Two films. The first half was intriguing and engrossing. And I wanted to rated highly. I am a Mischa Barton fan. The second half of film just fell apart into total ridiculousness.