The Darkest Hour (2005) Horror Slasher

 Darkest Hour (2005) - I have too say I wrote some really terrific stuff on this film but this damn blogger and my touch pad highlighted everything and deleted then auto saved leaving me with part of the word "and" nd. Swearing can only do so much to relieve the frustration and in the end if I am going to write about this film I will have to try to dredge the thoughts back up and repeat them. Still i felt I was so in the mood to talk about this low budget first feature by Dan Zachary that finding that groove again is going to be hard.
  Not a lot can be expected from a low budget first horror feature and I have to say this one is a bit on the cliche side. Ben Traimer (Todd Hann) is making a movie, a Slasher and is having a murder mystery weekend at a local campground to promote it. there is something about this location being the actual site of a slashing adding to the sensationalist tone of the event.
  Early in the film we get to see the actual killer in action, a reaper dressed robed character with a skull face and a scythe, as he stalks a couple rednecks going down a rough dirt road in their truck. The scene plays out in expected fashion, ugly people acting mean and stupid coming across a body in the road. Then the music and the stalking by the killer all cliche and as expected. So cliche in fact that at the end of the scene the woman runs down the dirt track being chased by the Reaper Killer and instead of running into the trees and bushes on either side of the road, runs down the path chased by the killer driving the truck. On top of that she falls down in the road. (A part of me thought maybe this was satire but another part fear it is not.)

  Then we start getting introduced in a minimalist way to the characters. The women apparently chosen to be attractive, Ben's  ex-girlfriend Lauren (Lee Tomaschefski), and current fling Stacey (Tamara Pender) as well as participants Lisa (Angie Zachary, any relation? and I have a personal weakness of brunettes with raspy voices.)  and Rosemary (Patricia Nudd) finishing with the sexy goth Therese (Tristan Risk @littlemissrick) who also has her first IMDB credit in this film and later went on to play the wonderful role of Beatress Johnson in the Soska Sister's American Mary (2012), and last year appeared in my friend Izzy Lee's Innsmouth (2015) (It may be presumptuous to call her my friend but I think she is great), a real up and coming feminist film maker who is sure to make waves. Preetty standard for low budget horror. Then the men who are pretty much dogs trying to get laid. Really not my favorite variety of character.
  It does not matter in the end though, there are a lot of characters but the plot is driven by story and not character. A flaw in most schools of screenwriting but not in the Slasher sub-genre where a minimal  introduction and basic personality conflict is all that is needed before slicing and dicing. The characters are introduced and somewhat pair off with some being successful at sex and other not. Surrounding this though is the story. A murder mystery weekend hosted by Dreighton Sawyer  (Benjamin Gutknecht) a face painted fiend setting the participant up for a weekend "Who wants to host a murder". except little does he know that because the real life killer from the area was never caught that actual death is just around the corner. Sure the story is known and shared by the participants but belief is a tough thing in a low budget horror flick.
  There are parts of this film that are promising like early in the film there is a kill. A strobe effect where the girl is attacked and a knife is seen and we know that it her end. Well done but the timing is sort of off. Instead of building the fear with strobe, the movie spend 20 or so seconds. It would have been so much better to draw this kind of scene out. Instead of lots of this we get a lot of daytime scenes with a large cast who explain to us all the different serial killer stories from twentieth century America.  This stuff is really filler until the real killing gets starting and mostly accomplishes that role playing games should only be done with friends and when everyone is willing to fully participate.
  Once night comes and the slasher starts slashing we get a lot of what you would expect, in any one of the multitude of Friday the 13th movies. The stalking the stabbing the He is right behind you and you don't see it, moments. Then there is the woman crawling and screaming for help as she is being murdered, I was never much of a slasher fan and it may be the misogynistic stereotypes that really turn me against it. I get the psychology of the final girl but there is so much running and screaming by women in these movies. I much prefer the always capable always strong heroine like  the character Erin (Sharni Vinson) in Simon Barrett's & Adam Wingard's You're Next (2011) . Unfortunately even when there is a final girl in this film it is a trope of the guys trying to protect the women and it is just so Slasher. failing at it and we always seem to get so much running and screaming and falling while being chased
  Even with all this criticism I have to say there is a part of the horror me that really does not mind the attempt. It did not work particularly well but there is always a place where the slasher movie even if sub ar has a part in my consciousness.
 As with every film this year I am doing an experiment where I will follow a lot of the people involved with the films I see this year to see my Twitter account grow.  Then see where it sits at the end of the year. I am hoping that some of the people involved follow me back @Soresport like recent  Actor, Director, Producer @davidheavener did this week. He is the first and I really appreciate it.

The ABC's of Death 2 (2014) Horror Anthology

ABC's of Death 2 (2014) - Mood so much of movie reviewing relies on writing a snapshot of not only the film but of the writers mood during the viewing. Should we put some information up front, today "I sat in horrible traffic so this review may reflect my frustration"? Then we each have our structural biases, I for one grew up watching monster movies and to this day I love a good monster movie. On the other hand I never relished slasher movies and prefer a good Giallo to a slasher any day of the week. Sure we often watch a film at least a couple times before writing and that must even out some of the emotional bias. At least it gives a blend of the biases from the two viewings. We can further mitigate the effects of mood by focusing on structure. Are the characters well defined? Act the acts clear and with the proper transaction? Is the acting believable? Does the music help or hinder the viewers ability to lose himself in the film? Ultimately its about how well did the picture take you into the world and hold you there while the story was being told. It means that a film, not recognized as great movie, can be an enjoyable experience that allows the viewer to forget that traffic jam and be somewhere else for a couple hours. Allows the emotional roller-coaster that is a horror movies to wash through and entertain.
   Its difficult to review anthologies without multiple watches of the film the imagery goes by fast in a lot of cases and there are so many different ideas. Sure some of the 26 pieces are memorable and others forgettable but so much depends on the mood at the time of watching that the degree can change from one viewing to the next. So thinking about my mood which was pretty good, I think it is easiest to describe which of the sections caught my attention and held it until they are done. Without first looking up who wrote and directed each section Let me give my impression of the ones I was struck by, A, G, I, K, M, O, S, V, W, X, and Y. That is half and there was some ideas in others I liked. Like T where actress @LittleMissRisk  Tristan Risk as a tentacled monster getting her revenge on the misogynistic film crew exploiting her for their own pleasure. Written and Directed by the Twisted Sisters themselves Jen and Sylvia Soska. But it was one note although a decent note. Also B where the piece did not particularly hold me but the effect of the torn apart body was really good.
 A - Amateur Directed by E.L.Katz and written by David Chirchirillo has this cool how an assassin imagines a job going to go and then the reality of how it actually goes, with a nice twist in the end.
G - Grandad Directed and Written by Jim Hosking was a creepily funny relationship between a Grandfather and his unappreciative grandson.
I - Invisible written and directed by Erik Matti I was caught by the complete sets, even though the story itself feels a bit too familiar. The lengths greed drive people. This one looked really good and the effects were great.
K- Knell Written and Directed by Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper Wonderfully effective in its mood, true horror pacing with the turn of everyone staring back from their windows wonderfully frightful. If only they had not gone for the less than effective special effect in the sky.
M - Masticate Written and directed by Robert Boocheck, although almost not on the list, the juxtaposition between the music and images on the screen really worked well.
O - Ochlocracy (Mob Rule) Written and directed by Hajime Ohata. After the walking dead take over the world there are people who did not turn who must be held responsible for there crimes. Well done and amusing.
S - Split - Written and Directed by Juan Martinez Moreno great use of technology in the story and split screen filming make for a nasty little revenge tail.
V - Vacation Directed by Jerome Sable, co-written with Nicholas Musurca was a shocking and wonderfully violent little tale of why you should choose your friends wisely.
W - Wish Directed by Stephen Kostanski and written by Jeremy Gillespie it is a fantasy piece done like a kids commercial for a action figure play set but when the playing kids are transported into the play set things suddenly don't see so childish.
X - Xylophone Written and Directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, A baby sitter takes up music driven by a little girl who just has to keep pounding on that damn xylophone. Gruesome and effective it may be predictable but so satisfying.
Y -  Youth written and directed by Soichi Umezawa A complete story is a short is always refreshing, as well as the mix of fantasy and reality for the young woman in the story.
  Overall I think this collection is a step up from the first although both have their high points. Soresport Movies can certainly recommend this one for what it is an anthology of shorts. You know what you are getting into so have at it.