July 31, 2015

VOD Review: Dark Was the Night (2015)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2251281/
Kevin Durand has quietly been one of the best character actors in Hollywood for years.

He might be most famous for playing Martin Keamy in LOST, or maybe even his role as one of the crazy Tremor Brothers in Smokin' Aces, but he's been showing up in great movies and TV Shows for the last 15 years, and killing it every time.

Now, he's finally getting to carry a movie all on his own, and that makes us happy. In all honesty, if not for him, we would have probably waited for a while to check this one out.

There's something in the woods surrounding the small town of Maiden Woods, and it's been creeping into town at night scaring people, and disemboweling animals and such. Maybe it's hungry. Or maybe it's just mad. Either way, it's clearly not happy about something. Being chased from its home in the deep forest by a logging company might have something to do with it.

IN SMALL TOWNS, FOOTPRINTS DRAW A CROWD.
Sheriff Paul Shields tries his best to keep the peace in Maiden Woods, but it isn't easy. He's still trying to come to terms with the recent death of his son, and his marriage is imploding because he's been so distant, but he tries. Damn it man, he tries! Lucky for him he's got himself a fancy new Deputy from the big city to help him hold things together.

THE BACKWATER VERSION OF STARSKY & HUTCH.
As strange occurrences, disappearances, and sightings begin to increase around town, in both frequency and severity, the two of them try desperately to find the cause of the town's ills before it's too late. *It's a monster, by the way. A real life monster.

EVEN IN THE DARK, YOU CAN EASILY IDENTIFY LUKAS HAAS BY THOSE EARS.
Dark Was the Night established a bleak sense of foreboding early on that kept us engaged throughout. We liked it's characters, and although the plot moves slowly (and seemed repetitive at times), it was still an intense ride that we're glad we took.

There's nothing terribly original about the this movie, but it's well-made and handles its subject matter with just the right amount of Horror and impending doom. Surprisingly, this is as much the story of a man in pain as it is a town in mortal danger from unseen forces, and the human element of the film is every bit as compelling as its Horror aspects. In fact, it just might be that human element that made this one feel above average. 

The real draw of this movie is Kevin Durand. The guy is a great actor who has played some fantastic supporting characters throughout his career, and it's about time that he finally got to shine in a leading role. Even if it is in a smaller movie. He plays the hero exceptionally well, as evidenced by him being the best part of FX's The Strain, but here he's the main focus, and he pulls it off perfectly. Lukas Haas was pretty solid as the Deputy too, and Nick Damici was as awesome as he always is, even if his role in this one was relatively small.

FEELINGS. SO MANY FEELINGS.
As much as we enjoyed Dark Was the Night, we have to say that it was fairly slow and uneventful until the last 20 minutes or so. The movie seemed to follow a pattern of -something creepy happening, people wondering what was happening/talking about what was happening, something creepy happening- to the point where it felt familiar. Instead of a slow-building sense of rising action, the plot of the movie played out more like waves, rising and falling in a predictable rhythm.

Again, we really enjoyed the movie despite its slower pace, but just know that it doesn't offer a lot of solid action until towards the end.

We're also not sure why so much of the movie was cast in a somber hue of blue (or maybe it was cyan), but it felt distracting at times.

BUTTERNUT STARED OUT INTO THE QUIET BLUE HAZE THAT LAY OVER EVERYTHING, WONDERING WHAT LIFE WOULD BE LIKE IN A MOVIE THAT WAS COLORED NORMALLY.
Faults and all, we found Dark Was the Night to be a solidly engaging movie, that was well-made and featured some strong acting... which is why in its final moments, we were so taken way aback by the final twist; not the really twist itself (which didn't really come as much of a surprise to us), but the way in which it was handled, and that typical, horrible, lazy final shot.

Had the movie not ended the way that it did, we could have forgiven its slow pace and lack of incident, but as it stands that horrible final shot made us drop our opinion by a almost whole letter grade.

THAT ENDING WAS FOR THE BIRDS.
There's a bit of carnage and bloodshed to be had here, but overall, it's not really a gory movie at all.

NIBBLES FROZE IN PLACE, VOWING THAT THE NEXT IDIOT WHO TOUCHED HIM WHILE GETTING THEMSELVES A COFFEE, WOULD FEEL HIS FURRY WRATH.
Nope.

There are creatures in them thar woods. Also, Kevin Durand needs to headline more movies, because the dude makes for a hell of a leading man.

SAME GOES FOR NICK DAMICI.
Quiet, moody, and intense, Dark Was the Night is a solid Creature Feature that is hampered only by its lame final seconds. The color grading was a bit odd too, but not the biggest deal. If nothing else, this movie is worth seeing just to watch Kevin Durand do his quiet, brooding thing to maximum effect. 

Dark Was the Night was hardly a perfect movie, but it was perfectly enjoyable for what it was.

C+

Dark Was the Night is available now on VOD.

http://amzn.to/1fvng4T

Sabina Gadecki and Bianca Kajlich are in this.

What's New on VOD for the Week Ending 7/31?

http://thehorrorclub.blogspot.com/p/vod.html
As we get ready to embrace August and all of its hot, humid days, July is sending us off with a batch of notable VOD releases; one of which was great, one of which looks really solid, and one of which is Unfriended.

*Click the pics to check out the trailers or rent the movies.

http://amzn.to/1OSw1Cl
Extinction: Nine years after an infection turns most of the humanity into rabid creatures, Patrick, Jack and Lu, a nine-year-old girl, survive in seeming peace and calm in the forgotten snow-covered town of Harmony. We nonetheless sense that something terrible happened between Patrick and Jack because a deep hate keeps them apart. When the infected appear again, Patrick and Jack will have to leave behind all rancor to protect the one being who means more to them than anything else.

We're usually suckers for a good Zombie/Infected story, especially when the trailer looks as good as the one for Extinction does. Throw in an isolated, snowy setting, and the acting tandem of Jeffrey Dovovan & Matthew Fox, and we're all sorts of hyped to see this one. 

http://amzn.to/1gt3sjF
Unfriended: While video chatting one night, six high school friends receive a Skype message from a classmate who killed herself exactly one year ago. At first they think it's a prank, but when the girl starts revealing the friends' darkest secrets, they realize they are dealing with something out of this world, something that wants them dead.

We saw it, we didn't like it all that much, but that doesn't mean that it's not wildly popular with its intended audience. If Unfriended had come out while we were in High School, we probably would have eaten it up. As it stands though, this movie just didn't do a damn thing for us.

You should really be the judge for yourself though. 

Read our review of Unfriended HERE.

http://amzn.to/1DeSQi7
White God: Thirteen-year-old Lili fights to protect her dog Hagen. She is devastated when her father eventually sets Hagen free on the streets. Still innocently believing love can conquer any difficulty, Lili sets out to find her dog and save him.

We haven't had a chance to write up our review of White God yet (we just saw it last night), but I can tell you that we really liked it. It wasn't as glorious as we had hoped it would be, but it was a great story about a girl and the love she has for her dog... it's also about a bunch of pissed-off dogs who are tired of being treated like garbage by humans, and how they take their revenge.

In some ways, White God is a deep and emotional experience that has a lot to say about how some people treat animals. Have no fear though, there's plenty of blood and carnage to go around too.

White God is definitely worth a rent.

http://thehorrorclub.blogspot.com/p/vod.html

July 30, 2015

ICYMI: The Blu-ray & DVD Releases of July!

July is about to bid us farewell, and give way too the hot days of August, and yet here we are feeling like Summer has only just begun. With the Fall right around the corner, and October only two short months away now, it's time to get ourselves in gear to celebrate another Halloween season... and that means stocking up on movies to binge-watch during our 31 favorite days of the year.

The point is, there's always a good reason to buy the Movies & TV Shows that we love, and at this time of year, even more so. 

The Must Own Movie Releases of July: Contamination, Maggie, The Town that Dreaded Sundown (DVD), Ex Machina, It Follows, I, Madman, What We Do in the Shadows, Burying the Ex, and White God.

The Must Own TV Shows for June: House of Cards, Bitten, and MTS3K XXXIII (DVD)

So if you missed any of the great titles that July brought us, click below to order them now, and here's looking towards an even better August!

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