5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
When Nick Di Santo learns that his father is not only alive but can possibly reveal the origin of his son's dark gift, he sets out on a trip that takes him to an abandoned mansion he thought only existed in his childhood imagination.
Starring: Luke Kleintank, Lesley-Anne Down, Tobin Bell, Zack Ward, Alex McKennaHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 27% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
When even the title of a film seems like a tired retread, there’s probably not much hope for the actual content of
the outing, and that turns out to be the case with Dark House. Most horror fans will of course know about the
iconic 1932 The Old Dark House, but there are lesser known movies bearing the exact same title, including two
which were released in 2009. Ironically, this Dark House was evidently originally going to be called
Haunted, certainly one of the more generic titles available and yet another indication of how cliché ridden this
enterprise turns out to be. How many films have you seen where a young person has something mysterious in their
past which their parent or guardian is attempting to keep shielded from them? But then that parent or guardian dies
and a mysterious inheritance is bestowed on the kid, which in many cases leads him (or her in rare cases) to journey
back to the site of their origin, ostensibly to solve this pressing mystery, but which ends up leading them directly to a
spooky old mansion. Well, that’s more or less the exact plot of Dark House, so however many films you’ve seen
with this premise, it’s time to add one more. Add in some supernatural hoo-hah (that’s a technical term, thank you very
much), including some none too subtle references to Biblical demons of yore, and the whole thing is about as trite and
predictable as they come. Why former British glamour queen Lesley-Anne Down would want to be associated with
something this lo-fi is anyone’s guess, but perhaps former glamour queens can’t be that choosy about roles when they
reach a certain age. At least she is spared the indignity of appearing much beyond an exalted cameo in the film’s
opening moments.
Down is in fact the parent of hero Nick Di Santo (Luke Kleintank) and has been institutionalized for
most of her adult life as the film opens. Nick (whose none too subtle surname is waiting there for you armchair
etymologists) goes to visit her after not having seen her for years, and she attempts to tell him something about the
father he never knew. When Nick touches his mother in a fit of rage, he’s suddenly beset with visions of an apocalyptic
fire, and we’re introduced to the supposed “innovation” in this film: Nick is specially gifted, able to see how various
people are going to die when he touches them. (Evidently writers Charles Agron and Victor Salva are hoping viewers
won’t remember any number of similar conceits in various previous outings, including a well remembered episode of
The Twilight Zone starring future Bewitched Darrin, Dick York.) Needless to say, Mom does indeed soon
perish in a horrifying conflagration, but at least she leaves Nick some tantalizing clues about his parentage, and so the
supposedly exciting quest begins.
Dark House is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Flatiron Films and Cinedigm with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Quite a bit of this film plays out in the very dark confines of the titular mansion, and probably by design there is a murky, low contrast appearance that depletes the image of much fine detail or even shadow detail. Some of the more brightly lit sequences reveal nice, accurate looking color and reasonable levels of fine detail. Aside from a couple of fairly grotesque effects, colors are often quite muted, however; this tendency only makes the pops of gruesome red in some of the bloodier moments all the more vivid, however.
Dark House's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix provides the expected jolts from LFE accompanying jump cuts, and has some moments of excellent immersion, including a nice sequence when a bunch of axe wielding demons chase the heroes through the woods around the house. There's nice ambience in the ominous boom of Nick's father's voice as well. But generally speaking, this is a pretty talky horror film, and quite a bit of the sonic action here is limited to the front channels. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is rather wide, all things considered.
You've seen just about everything in Dark House before in more effective films. This outing is like a paint by numbers approach toward horror, and unfortunately the portrait it offers ends up looking like a tired Xerox copy of a not very inspired original. Stick with The Old Dark House if you're looking for a film with "dark house" in its title.
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