Darkness Rising Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Darkness Rising Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson December 5, 2017

One wonders why characters in horror cinema continue to roam into derelict houses that are suspected to be cursed or haunted even if they share a past history with it or have heard the legend over a campfire? Intimate curiosity into its web of mystery, I suppose. This is the familiar setup of Austin Reading's Darkness Rising in which the trio of Madison (Tara Holt), fiancé Jake (Bryce Johnson), and Madison's cousin Izzy (Katrina Law) approach an abandoned house scheduled for demolition. This is also the site of a grisly murder some twenty-five years prior where Kate (Heather Mazur), Madison's neurotic mother, killed her youngest daughter and injured Madison. The twenty-something adults proceed with some caution but are undeterred with how secure the front door has been padlocked and attempt to barge in. After much trouble, they get in and while much of the main floor is barren, Madison's childhood possessions remain in her old bedroom. She uncovers her prized Peter Panda and a menagerie of stuffed animals. It's unclear what Madison intends to find but she replays a rather spooky voicemail from father Daniel (Myk Watford), whose been confined to a mental institute, about what really happened and the reasons behind Kate's delirium and insanity. It's apropos that one of the production companies behind this film is Bump in the Night, which begins transpiring throughout the house's walls. Invisible creatures wander through the walls and infest one of the toilets. When Madison replays her dad's message, she discovers that the wording is different than the original. Wouldn't she know by this point that an entity has hacked into her phone?

This old abode is condemned and destined for demolition so why break in you three?

Tara Holt, Katrina Law, and Bryce Johnson all look right for their respective roles but they've been given such banal dialogue that they say redundant lines, utter outlandish cries for help, and make totally imbecilic choices. Why would Madison and Jake use the former's same smartphone to call the police when they know it's already been tampered? Or why does Jake provoke the spirits by dismantling the main part of the house after they've been forced to close the door due to a demonic German Shepherd? Vikram Weet's script isn't about unraveling the mysteries of Madison's mom and what possessed her. Why is this movie called Darkness Rising? It doesn't signify anything about the film's themes or message so I take it as a salute to Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness (1992). Ted Raimi, Sam's brother, makes a cameo in Darkness Rising's prologue and coda.

The opening of the film takes place likely during the fifties with Raimi (who sports a fedora) venturing through the woods with his pig-tailed daughter. The prologue is by far the best section but there's a disconnect between it and the present-day scenes. Did Raimi and his little girl previously occupy the same home that Madison's family later moved into? Director Austin Reading seems to want to make a link with maternal possession in both time capsules but their relationship is murky.

Darkness Rising blatantly rips off Ghostbusters (1984), Poltergeist (1982), Wolfen (1981), and parts of The Hidden (1987). Reading's film has no original statements or contributions to make so it shouldn't be considered a successor to any of these eighties genre classics. Reading and Weet also seem all too-aware of recent haunted house hits like The Conjuring 2 and Annabelle: Creation. When the eyes of a doll underneath the bed begin to bleed, one knows that this will have an effect on other people and objects in the house.

Darkness Rising Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Scream Factory/IFC Midnight has released Darkness Rising as a Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack. The movie is presented in its native ratio of 1.78:1 on this MPEG-4 AVC-encdoded BD-25. Authoring and compression is merely okay and not up to Scream's usually high standards. The main feature has been given an average video bitrate of 29494 kbps while the disc's total bitrate clocks in at 35.71 Mbps. The prologue's color palette has been desaturated and the grayscale/muted tones really pop out for the sequence in which screenshot #s 8-10 are captured. That forest scene is set during the day but the remainder takes place exclusively at night, including flashbacks to Madison's parents. Here cinematographer Adam Biggs uses distorted lenses (e.g., see # 7). The ironically titled firm Wildfire Finishing did post-production work on the colors from the digital intermediate but the time-lapse photography montage (see #20) appears unconvincing and unfinished. It's like Reading and his colorist Aaron Peak tried to overlay CGI/animation with stock shots but the two don't mesh well. Detail is generally fine (notice the perspiration on Jake's forehead in #6) but clarity is lacking even when there is fill light. When characters use a flashlight to navigate their way (such as in #15), macro-blocking and chroma noise hover over black portions of the image. This is the transfer's most glaring weakness. My video score is 3.75.

Darkness Rising Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Darkness Rising Blu-ray contains a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound track (2418 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downversion (1690 kbps, 24-bit). Balance is excellent throughout but there's discrete separation on the surrounds only for the jump-scares and f/x modulating in the house. I was able to make out most of the dialogue but it sounded muddled from time to time so I kept my volume relatively high.

Scream has supplied optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

Darkness Rising Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1:56, 1080p) - IFC Midnight's official theatrical trailer for Darkness Rising is presented in 1.78:1 with DTS-HD MA sound.

• Previews - three trailers for other catalog titles that load before the main menu.

Darkness Rising Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Darkness Rising is not enjoyable fare for horror fans and contains some laughably bad scenes. IFC Midnight had difficulty promoting this and couldn't offer any critical appraisal as there's none present on the product covers. The Blu-ray boasts only slightly above average video and audio presentations. Extras are non-existent. If you haven't seen it, I can't recommend a purchase but if you like the trailer, you'll know where it's headed and may want to rent it first. You might want to check out the recent haunted house thriller Abattoir (2016) instead. (It features a supporting turn by Lin Shaye, Robert's sister.)