Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Deep in the Darkness Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 24, 2015

Two old horror entries, each by rather august authors, might be seen as progenitors for the middling Deep in the Darkness, even though neither is particularly well remembered today. Both of these older pieces, one a play, one a novel, dealt with a stranger matriculating into a supposedly homespun little village, only to find out things weren’t so warm and cozy as initially thought. Ira Levin, the mastermind behind such classics as Rosemary's Baby and The Boys From Brazil, had one of his few career failures with his flop play Dr. Cook’s Garden, a thriller which posited a young doctor returning to the quaint Vermont village of his youth only to discover his elderly mentor, the titular Dr. Cook, had been “weeding out” various villagers a la Dr. Kevorkian. Thomas Tryon, the erstwhile actor who became a horror celebrity of sorts when his novel The Other became a huge bestseller, followed up that tale of dueling twins with Harvest Home, a disturbing story of a man who moves his family to an isolated village where the townsfolk make no huge secret of following ancient pagan customs. Interestingly, both of these properties became made for television fare with pretty iconic stars—Dr. Cook’s Garden featured Bing Crosby in the title role, while Harvest Home offered Bette Davis in a supporting role. Deep in the Darkness takes certain elements from each of these forbears, but then ends up doing little more than offering a few scattered scares. Evidently it was a made for television film which inspired the original novel which served as the source material for this Chiller film, with author MIchael Laimo went on record saying the seemingly unrelated Don't Be Afraid of the Dark provided a spark that provided Laimo with the outlines of his story. Deep in the Darkness deals with an idealistic young doctor named Michael Cayle (Sean Patrick Thomas) who moves his urban family to the remote village of Ashborough, where the town’s former doctor (supposedly) succumbed to a bite from a rabid dog. The sylvan wonders of Ashborough hide a deadly secret, though (of course), and soon Dr. Cayle is fighting for his own survival.

Deep in the Darkness begins at the end, so to speak, with Michael and his daughter Jess (Athena Grant) retreating from some unseen horror, both bloody and bruised. They manage to make it back to what is evidently their home, only to be interrupted by the violent screaming of Michael’s wife Cristine (Kristen Bush). At that cliché ridden point, the film simply segues whole hog back to Michael’s introduction to Ashborough, when (in a development which isn’t explicitly detailed) he comes to the town looking to buy the practice of that aforementioned unfortunate rabies victim. Initially at least it seems that his decision to get his family out of Manhattan will be greeted favorably at least by Cristine, though Jess doesn’t seem quite as enthused. In fact when the family finally gets to Ashborough, Jess greets the sight of their new home with a violent bout of vomiting.

There are of course hints that things are not “normal” in Ashborough, but Deep in the Darkness might have played with things more intelligently by dealing a bit more ambivalently with the fact that Michael is black, while the entire town is Caucasian (the fact that Michael’s wife is white and his child is obviously mixed race also doesn’t play materially into the plot, when perhaps some fitting—if distasteful—misdirection could have been utilized to forestall some of the narrative stumbles). Instead of playing on a misunderstanding that Michael’s race has something to do with his treatment (something that is mentioned in passing but never artfully developed), the film simply plops the main conceit of the plot right down in a long and kind of silly monologue delivered by elderly neighbor Phil Deighton (Dean Stockwell).

It turns out Ashborough has been in a pact of sorts with a mutant offshoot race called the Isolates, a kind of quasi-Aborigine species that lives in caves surrounding the village. In return for a semi-peaceful coexistence, the villagers of Ashborough have been making regular animal (yeah, right) sacrifices to the monsters for untold decades, as evidenced by a freshly bloody altar Phil takes Michael to on a forest hike one day. Michael is encouraged to follow the village’s tradition, but he’s a rationalist, of course, meaning he won’t be dragging any scapegoats to the stone slab anytime soon. And any horror fan knows what that means.

Deep in the Darkness has a few isolated (sorry, no pun intended) scares along the way, but it’s so rote and simply recycles any number of hoary tropes that it can never really work up much momentum. Even the final denouement, which reveals that Michael is part of a much larger conspiracy, is exactly the same sort of “reveal” Tryon exploited in Harvest Home decades ago. Performances are generally quite good for this sort of entertainment, but Deep in the Darkness simply approaches its material too literally and too unimaginatively to ever really go bump in the night.

Deep in the Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Deep in the Darkness is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Shot digitally with the Arri Alexa, Deep in the Darkness actually defies its title quite a bit of the time with several brightly and naturally lit outdoor and/or daytime sequences that offer excellent sharpness and clarity, as well as a well delineated palette and abundant detail. Occasionally highlights are just slightly clipped (see screenshot 1), but generally contrast is consistent, helping to give this presentation a solid, natural appearance. The dark sequences feature the typical slightly murky look, and some sequences (notably when one of the mutants attacks Cristine and Jess in a car) are lightly dusted with noise. As also tends to be the norm these days, several sequences have been variously color graded, including some choices which minimize detail and fine detail.

Deep in the Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Deep in the Darkness offers both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 as well as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix. The 5.1 significantly opens up effects like the scratchy, pitter patter of "little feet" when the Isolates come a-callin' (or when Michael "visits" them in one of their caves), but perhaps surprisingly there isn't a bunch of bombastic LFE on display. Dialogue is cleanly presented and well prioritized. The at times hackneyed music is well splayed throughout the surround channels.

Deep in the Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080i; 1:38)


• TV Spots (1080i; 00:56)


• Meet the Makers (1080i; 2:30) is actually a series of very short Chiller bumpers.

Deep in the Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Deep in the Darkness could have neatly played upon the idea that an outsider with some obvious differences isn't treated very well when he gets to a new town, but instead this outing is so literal, including a "let's just stop here and explain everything" expository monologue by Dean Stockwell that there's no suspense at all about what's going on. Performances are quite good and there are some interesting directorial choices by Colin Theys. Horror aficionados looking for a decent time killer may want to consider a rental. For those considering a purchase, technical merits are generally strong, but the supplemental package is pretty meager.