7 Nights Of Darkness (2011)

I love this movie so much

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I love the horror sub genre of found footage but have often been very disappointed with the results. Most are completely overacted with cheap scares (Bell Witch Haunting), a weak plot and unbelievable characters. Not expecting much of a film I never heard of, I was surprised by what a decent film it was. For a low budget, the scares were there -- and not just the cheap jump-out-at-you kind. I found it much better than Grave Encounters. A few of the characters did overact but fortunately, one of them goes quiet early on. And the cryptic ending gives the viewer something to think about when it is over....make sure you keep watching past the credits or you will miss it!6/10 for a horror movie -- not bad.

I'm afraid I will have to disagree with the majority of good reviews this film has gotten. It's an interesting piece which tries, but falls short in numerous ways. I think reviewers are being perhaps too kind.A 'found footage' film is very simple to do. It's also very easy and requires little to no effort, unless your vision is to create the next big Cloverfield. These kinds of films are no longer original, due to their unfortunate simplicity and all the best kinds of interpretations are rare and few these days. They are now all too common due to the simple fact that anyone can make them: a home movie with the family can be done in as little as fifty dollars minimum and shot around the local smalltown venue over the course of a week, and edited on an iMac or Windows Movie Maker. I would know because I've been involved in one long ago in high school.No one takes an effort to make them shine or stand out, and that's a shame, as it hinders this particular genre. Certainly some do try, but in the end you're given a film that is no mere 'Paranormal Activity' effort and comes off as simply someone's hand-me-down 'Ghost Hunters'/'Ghost Adventures' lackluster effort shot on a weekend. It's because of this that I look down upon the genre as a whole because, despite what it is, nobody takes advantage of the medium well enough to make it shine above all other competitors on the market... George Romero's "Diary of the Dead" is a particularly good film in that regard.But what to say of "7 Nights of Darkness"? Allen Kellog weaves a story of contestants in a reality show who are to spend several nights in a supposedly 'haunted' asylum. We are told that no one survives but the footage of their exploits was found, thus concreting what's to be expected of us and thankfully, at least the director is honest in that regard. With the beginning and ending secure, we now must sit through the remainder of it to see how these individuals fair up. Nothing is said of the reality show itself, though I suspect there'd be no reason to, though it would have been nice as to know more about where they are spending the seven nights in question.For a film budget of an estimated $5,000, I can't still help but feel a bit slighted and cheated out of this experience. It's an honest and decent effort, sure, but I have my reservations. The location in question doesn't look like it's been around the block, or anything that would be deemed spooky. For all it's intended scariness I can't shake the feeling that a troupe of college students filmed this on their campus for a few weeks at certain times of the day as part of a school assignment. I can't really feel any regard to the characters, or actors, and it falls into the category of sameness. The location to which they are staying in run from bathrooms, kitchens, hallways and other familiar rooms - if it's not a college campus, it's likely just assorted office buildings from people they knew within the area. This ruins the mood of attempted horror: what's to be scary about in a school's hallway with the lights off? Scare-wise, it's nothing we haven't seen before but on a smaller scale. I'm certain this is where most of the money went. Someone here noted the rather painful overacting, seemingly improvised acting from everyone, and I'm inclined to agree. It's for this reason I'm not a big fan of shows like Ghost Hunters/Adventures or anything else, when everyone is limited to "Dude", "What the f*ck", "What the hell", and all variants of such.I'll give everyone credit for trying, but I'm afraid I have seen better.

You know the drill: several adults decide to stay in a supposedly haunted asylum for seven nights with major prize money at stake for those who remain inside the building and perform tasks left in envelopes. The first night there's excitement and the anticipation of gaining a big payday and having a little fun with each other in the process. One among the group is a firm believer in the paranormal, even hoping for spirits, beckoning them to show up. She is alone as the others just want to follow the tasks as written without extra fanfare, hoping to get through the week relatively unscathed and safe from any possible boogeymen. But this is a found footage film that tells us right at the start that no one makes it out to win the money, so we know where this story will lead to and how it will end. Derivative of the likes of The Blair Witch Project and the onryo Ju-on/Ringu movies, 7 Seven Nights of Darkness knows what audience it wants to please and tries hard. I reward bonus points to the effort and there were some genuine jolts I must admit. What I appreciate from a no-budget film like this is that we anticipate what will eventually happen next, and yet when it comes the heart still skips after beating a bit speedily, with a nice gasp before moving to the following build up suspense sequence. The acting is not the film's strong suit. The cast tries to emote, attempting to show unbridled, crap-in-the-pants fear, with curse words sputtering out, documented interviews explaining their worsening emotional states as the week strains by, the ghosts appearing and causing mischief more and more each night. I have to say, though, that I was often laughing my ass off, especially early when the ghostly hi-jinks shook the cynical, smug team members out of their comfort and joy, rattling that emotional cage. I was also laughing at the cast's overreactions to the events as they transpire. Sometimes the acting is a bit overwrought, and overboard. I get it. They are trying to convey the situation as it unfolds as any of us might react when ghost girls skip across a room from afar, one of the team members fall under a type of possession and never recovers, people vanish for whatever reason, noises thump and thud like precursors to a major cataclysm, and soon no escape route seems available as "they're everywhere". Because the ability to make a movie is as easy as has ever been, and that the found footage genre allows hungry horror filmmakers the chance to live their dream, 7 Days of Darkness is possible. The ending of this film really mines Blair Witch Project (the lovely Meredith Kochan runs towards the cries of Tom Sperry, Jr, finding all the team facing the wall, eerily reminiscent to Michael in the room as Heather is following behind as both had heard Josh achingly calling out; the twist involves Meredith seeing someone as if looking in the mirror, with the moment quite surreal) and Ringu (a ghoul can be seen crawling on all fours up the stairs, not to mention, there are numerous spirits that favor Onryo girls throughout the film), so it isn't like 7 Nights of Darkness invents the wheel…far from it. Like the slasher films in the 80s, found footage has found a prime chunk of real estate in the horror market. Netflix is vast nirvana for found footage and horror fans are willing to give filmmakers a chance. So even the most average found footage (or other genre in horror for that matter) flick can provide a bit of entertainment, no matter how familiar and mediocre. I would say there are at least three moments in 7 Nights of Darkness that might make it worth sitting through the obnoxious performances and lack of originality. The use of darkness and a bit of grain in the photography benefit the film immensely. The jolt comes from when the camera turns around as characters holding it go into panic mode spotting ghouls or figures faint but noticeable just for a second or two; this sets in your mind the distinct acceptance that the specters are among them, soon to make their presence felt. My favorite scene has one of the ghouls giggling as she photographs two of the team members sleeping; I just thought this was rather neat. This film also does a swell job of establishing that no room, no matter how locked, is safe from the intrusion of the dead. Probably the most painful aspect of the film, besides some rough-around-the-edges performances, is the seemingly improvised dialogue; it really made me cringe at times. Some of the girly screaming over ridiculous stuff (maggots on pizza, a bouncing bucket, a cabinet noise because one of the team moved it slightly) also really, really got on my nerves. I say that as a warning: to get to the good stuff, there's plenty of bad to wade through.

While this movie is not original in its concept or story it still provides many decent scares. I see a lot of people criticizing the acting but I thought these people did a great job of playing everyday people who sign up for a reality show. Maybe I have not seen a lot of reality shows but it does not seem to me that you have to be a Shakespearean thespian to get on one. So the actors do a great job coming off as real people to me.This film really does not bring anything fresh to the idea of shaky cam/ insane asylum horror stories. Many things in the movie I have seen before. However, even though many of the scares are not fresh and are predictable, the ways in which the cast and crew pull these moments off is more then satisfactory. There are many goose bump creating scares. I have seen a lot of horror movies and grew up on horror movies. And while I am not scared after the movie I was very creeped out during the movie. If you watch this movie expecting it to be game changing and a brand new concept then you are going to be disappointed. If you are expecting this to be a movie which is non stop horror and quick pacing then you will be disappointed. This is a slow build movie that does a great job raising the fear level before leading to a memorable climax.I gave this movie a 10 because I watched it with the intent of being scared and creeped out. And it did that successfully. Maybe it is just me but it seems horror movies now of days do not rely on scares anymore as much as they do gore. I would recommend this movie to anyone that wanted to see a movie that was actually creepy and who appreciates a good scare.