The Darkening (1995)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The acting is mostly horrible. The lead is decent, though. The effects and editing are bad. The story is silly, with devil worshipers trying to "open the gate" to Hell and all that. The good guy is a psychic with knowledge of the occult and comes to fix the problem.So, if you look at it differently, there is a problem with a door and they call in the mystical locksmith. With a lot of mambo jumbo that none of us, non technical people, would understand, he fixes the door and everybody goes back happy.Am I joking? Not really. This movie is just as interesting as watching the locksmith fixing your front door and therefore I will stop here.

Since a movie has to be fairly interesting to keep me interested for several hours, I'll grant it a 7.So far, most of the comments I have heard about this movie have been negative. However, having seen it in light of a more recent movie, The Skeleton Key, which I liked, I see a key thing that these movies have in common - they both delve into areas of life that we tend to shy away from or ignore. I didn't think either of these movies were particularly scary, but I wouldn't watch these movies looking for a scare. I would watch these movies for their interesting portrayal of the dark arts of life. While traditional horror movies create their own monsters, make up crazy rules for which a person will die, or just prey on childhood fears and ghost stories, movies like this attempt to create a glimpse into a more real form of horror. Every day some people believe in these dark beliefs, practice these dark religions, and perform these terrible rituals - these are the very people we like to pretend do not exist. Movies like this force us to look at our world and see that there are dark things going on around us and actually hiding in our shadows. This is perhaps the "real" horror story that we should be embracing rather than the cheap chills, willies, and screams that Hollywood sells us.Secondly, I think the story of the "ghost chaser" serves as a warning of what it takes to fight the supernatural and the evil dark arts. One had better be prepared for all situations and be able to recognize evil from every angle, or else one could easily become a pawn of evil at the same time as one believes he is fighting it (e.g. see the last line of the movie - ask yourself what might have happened if he 'didn't know it'). Fighting dark evil is not for the feint of heart or the ill-prepared.Perhaps the script kept true to the story to a fault. Maybe there should have been some more cool special affects, more music-induced tension, more ghosts jumping out at you, or even more research into realistic satanic rituals. However, I think the director did pretty good with what he had to work with.7 out of 10. Thank you.

Unless you're the type, like my sister and I are, that likes to watch bad movies to laugh at, stay far away from this movie.To begin with, the acting is horrible. But, then again, how can you convincingly kiss a ghost? She's dead, get over it! My favorite part was Richard's demonic growl. Now that inspires fear (maybe for small children and those weak of heart, but even then...).Why hide the date of the film? To me, that seemed strange, to make it seem like a new movie, especially when the clothes and hairstyles are so dated.I gave this movie a 2/10 just because it made me laugh.

This film is finally coming out on DVD with awkwardly edited end credits to disguise how old it is. Despite its age no one has ever reviewed it or voted on it so it may have never really come out. (I'm writing this as of April 2005) A bed and breakfast is being haunted so the female owner has two guys come by to try to "de haunt" the place because no one will stay there. Jeff Rector is pretty good in the lead role of spiritualist one of his better performances. George Saunders is typically shallow.The special effects are a bit uneven in spots but hold up pretty well over all and are certainly a break for the twitching jump cutting approach to ghost stories currently in vogue.The transfer to video really dates the film more than any other elements other than maybe the music, but both of these elements lend a sort of vintage late night cable feel to the film that helps it.Maybe it's nothing great but it sure seems like a whole movie and is better than a recent groaner like Darkness.This is decent on all levels and worth a watch.