The Darkroom (2006)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Thanks for the memories!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

People are voting emotionally.

I really enjoyed this film, it kept me thinking and i thought the friendship between the man and boy was done really well, it could have been over played and misconstrued... but the innocence and genuine nature of the relationship was very clever. A lot of these films that involve flashbacks and dream scenes make no sense and try and show too much, however this film keep it interesting and help my interest till the end. SPOILER COMING: the beast and the dreams made the film quite edgy, and the twist i thought was going to be a sixth sense moment, but then it wasn't so I was pleasantly surprised. A good film and id quite happily buy it.

This one has a pretty good plot but it didn't appeal to me at all. It starts out with a young kid being discovered with blood all over his hands, and he spends the next 15 years in a mental institution, because he has no memory of what happened or who he is. Along comes a researcher with an experimental drug that might unlock the now adult guy's mind and help him. The movie then leads us on a journey as the guy escapes the hospital and makes friends with a young kid and gets involved in his life. The kids alcoholic Mom "Lucy Lawless" is remarried to a jerk, and things get a little unsettling as the kid and his new friend decide to follow his step-dad to see what he is developing in his darkroom, and where he goes at night. There is a pretty good dose of blood and gore towards the end when everything is revealed, and story wise, the movie is not that bad. Not my cup of tea, but I can see how some fans might enjoy this movie.

The Darkroom starts in a hospital where an amnesia suffer (Reed Diamond) has spent the last 15 years, he was found wandering on a forest road covered in mud & blood & nobody has any idea who he is least of all himself. However a Dr. Allen (Ellie Cornall) who works for a private company has developed a new drug designed to help people remember & it's currently going through clinical trials & this guy has been chosen as a human Guinea pig, Dr. Allen administers the drug & the man has violent convulsions. When he recovers he claims not to remember anything & is taken back to his room, however on the way another patient attacks some members of staff & in the confusion he manages to escape the hospital. Once outside in L.A. he befriends a young boy named Stanley (Shawn Pyform), the more time he spends around Stanley the more he remembers as if Stanley was once part of his life all those years ago...Co-written & directed by Michael Hurst I actually thought The Darkroom was a pretty decent time waster, sure it ain't going to make anyone's top ten best films anytime soon but it's perfectly watchable in it's own right. The script by Hurst & producer Mark A. Altman which takes itself extremely seriously is basically one long build up to it's twist ending & not much more, I have to say I thought the ending was pretty good as it wasn't too over-the-top or silly & is pretty cool. I personally didn't see it coming until late in the film & I don't think it's twist which is too predictable either. I'm sure if you sit down & pick the film apart then you could probably find all sorts of plot holes but as an immediate out the blue twist I thought it worked very well. However, the film is maybe a touch on the slow side & the impatient among you may not last the ride, several things aren't exactly explained clearly & it tries too hard at the end to tie everything up together & give itself a feel good happy ending. I thought the character's were good as was the dialogue without being outstanding, I thought it was something just that bit different & overall I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked The Darkroom, I also thought the mystery elements were pretty engaging & they at least kept me watching.Director Hurst does alright, the film doesn't have much style but it's well made at least. I'm not really sure who the target audience for The Darkroom is as it's not really a horror film, I would struggle to call it a thriller as well so I'm not sure. This is a hard one to categorise as it has elements of both. This contains quite a few gory blood spurting slit throats which are quite graphic although they occur mostly during dream sequences & there's also a mud monster thing as well that turns up every so often. The special effects are fine with the slit throats looking particularly good & I'm pleased to report I didn't notice any awful CGI computer effects.Technically the film is good & a hell of a lot better made than many recent straight-to-video low budget horror themed junk out there, it's well made throughout with decent production values & it actually looks like a proper film. The acting is OK, Xena: Warrior Princess (1995 - 2001) star Lucy Lawless is the only recognisable cast member as far as I was concerned.The Darkroom is a good attempt at a psychological horror film with a twist & in that regard it's a watchable effort, it's nothing that will change your life but you could do a lot worse that's for sure.

Dark Room features an excellent cast, that hit all the right notes. Reed Diamond, Shawn Pyfrom, Lucy Lawless and Greg Grunberg of Heroes fame should be commended on a job well done. I did have one major issue with this film, however they made up for it in the end, with a very satisfying, and surprisingly happy ending. I definitely agree with the previous reviewer, that this is not really a horror movie. I was expecting something along the lines of Hostel, or other recent examples in the extreme horror revival, looking at the cover, but you certainly do not get that here. Other then some bloody trippy flashback moments, this is really more a mystery/thriller/drama about a man trying to recover his identity. The issue I speak of is what I was gearing up to slam this movie for, and thats the cop out ending. I won't reveal it here, but it's a classic example of recent genre features overdoing the twist, at expense of the majority of the film, leading up to it. It worked in the past with efforts like Sixth Sense, but it's becoming quite tiresome now. However Dark Room doesn't end on that note, and goes on to deliver a satisfying ending, that came full circle, and overall left me satisfied. I love extreme horror, but I'll judge this for what it truly is, a slightly above average mystery/thriller, with an A list cast, of extraordinary actors'.