Left In Darkness (2006)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The lovely, voluptuous Monica Keena stars as a date rape victim, the drug used killing her. She is trapped in a sort of limbo, a sanctuary whose light is dimming, her Celia needing to find the door into heaven. Donovan(David Anders)has been a kind of guardian angel for Celia, keeping her from harm..that is until now where she has to avoid "soul eaters" which have secured her grandfather's soul since his life before death had been less than satisfactory for heaven. Celia spends most of the film running from the darkness and the creatures which desire to feast on her soul. Donovan's motives, which seem just, may not be what they seem. Donovan wishes for her to enter a room which may not be access to heaven, but instead somewhere as dark as damnation itself. Tim Thomerson has a nice role as Celia's grandfather, who she must save while staying one step ahead of the soul eaters out to get her. Celia also seeks to find a way out of her predicament so she can join her mother and grandmother in the afterlife. In the movie, Celia receives pointers on how to successfully attain her desired goal, through ambiguous means from her loved ones. We see that her father(a drunk who left Celia behind) and a childhood friend(a volleyball player), however, weren't so lucky. Director Steven R Monroe keeps his movie moving at an exhausting pace, creating, and maintaining, a disorienting and nightmarish atmosphere where poor Keena must go wherever sanctuary resides, barely able to catch a breath for any long periods due to the darkness which manifests and attempts to engulf her. The beautiful Jessica Stroup(HOMECOMING)is Keena's best friend, Justine, who she must keep safe from the same fate as she suffered. Monroe shrouds the character of Donovan with enough mystery and doubt that we aren't ever completely sure of his real reasons for helping Celia. Monroe shoots Celia's journey after death(and, actually, before she is killed)in a discombobulated fashion to convey how confounding her situation really is..how does one face such a terrifying scenario as not only having to accept that you're dead, but keep from being consumed by evil which comes at you from all angles? Keena's role is demanding physically because she's constantly running about to and fro, and she must show the emotional upheaval as well. Kudos to her in a tour-de-force performance.

On the twentieth-first birthday of Celia (Monica Keena), her friend Justine (Jessica Stroup) invites her to go to a party in a fraternity. Celia is still grieving the death of her beloved grandfather Joe (Tim Thomerson), who has recently died, and blames herself for the death of her mother in her delivery. In the party, she is drugged and gang raped; then she has an OD and dies alone in a bathroom. Out of the blue, she finds alone in the fraternity house and she is lured and attacked by Joe. However, her guardian angel Donovan (David Anders), who saved her life when she was a girl, explains the rules to keep the protection of her sanctuary and survive the massive attack of soul eaters. Sooner Celia finds that she is in a sort of purgatory and distrusts Donovan; further, she does not know who is telling the truth and how to reach Heaven. "Left in the Darkness" has an interesting and original premise but there are to many rules to be followed in the purgatory where the lead actress spends two hours trying to discover who is really helping her and finding the way to the paradise. Monica Keena and David Anders have good performances in the lead roles. I have recently seen a movie with Jessica Stroup, but unfortunately her character has a minor but important participation. This film was released in Brazil directly on DVD by Flashstar Distributor and deserves to be watched at least once. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Terror na Escuridão" ("Terror in the Darkness")

Family tragedy seems to be affect the young people often. For Celia(Monica Keena) losing a loved one seems to have taken its toll on her. When she was born, her mother died. Then she has the friend who saved her from a on-coming car when she was young. On her 21st birthday, she goes to a fraternity party where she is drugged, raped, and killed. Talk about having a hard life. She ends up being the next family tragedy, and no close relative to tell the news. Only her "friend" Donovan(David Anders) tells her who to avoid, and who to trust. Donovan was her guardian angel throughout her life, until she learns he's not the trusting person he claims to be. She does find the guy who drugged and raped her, before she died. And he gets his just desserts after he commits suicide. Seems like the only family member who was at peace was her mother. The only person in the family who could be saved was her grandfather, Joe(Tim Thomerson). He was always around Celia until his death, and knowing who Donovan worked for, made her think for herself. I guess she knew what it takes to be a guardian angel. I know that Celia will definitely earn her wings. This horror is intriguing, and some form of biblical matter was mentioned. It was worth the watch. 3 out of 5 stars!

A girl (Monica Keena) is murdered on her 21. birthday and stucked between the real life and the afterlife.I normally like movies about afterlife. But nothing works in this movie. The script was awful, the acting was worse than anything I've ever seen. You can watch Monica Keena in her worst performance. Putting her as the leading character was maybe the biggest mistake of the producer (shooting this movie is the 2. mistake). I could't stand her laughter and actually I was relieved when she died.The only thing good in that movie was David Anders. He did his best even with the hokey dialogue in the script.Summary, don't waste your time and money, go watch Silent Hill or rent the DVD of Darkness.