DigitalRevenantX7 PLOT OUTLINE: In a zombie-infested future, a group of survivors are trying to make their way out of the hospital they have been using as a shelter before they become trapped. Meanwhile a group of "hunters", ex-military assassins on a mission to eliminate any zombies they encounter, converge on the hospital.Against the Dark is a direct-to-video action / horror film that is notable for a number of reasons. First, it is the first true horror film that 90s' action icon Steven Seagal has ever made (not counting his third film, MARKED FOR DEATH, which was borderline-genre material). The other reason is that the film has a novelty premise that is quite genius in its simplicity – take Seagal & pit him against zombies.Unlike many action film fanatics, I'm not really that much of a fan of Seagal. I do enjoy some of his films, most notably UNDER SIEGE, but I have to admit that Seagal, while an undeniable screen presence, is not really a good actor. He has only one expression (narrowing his eyes to show just how deadly serious he is), mumbles his lines in a whisper-quiet voice that forces you to turn on the subtitles in order to understand what the hell he is saying, goes through his films with a self-righteousness that proves to be quite irritating & is a massive fan of using ultra-violence to take down his enemies (along with a tendency towards breaking people's limbs).That said, the very same qualities that tend to drag down Seagal's action films (especially the ultra-violence) would work really well in a horror film. That was the reason I chose to rent the DVD for the review (I'm also planning to review as many of Seagal's films as I can).Well, to be honest, not only is Against the Dark a disappointing horror film, it is also one of Seagal's worst films (the single worst being ATTACK FORCE). The main reason for this is the fact that Seagal is not the star of the show. Sure, he is top-billed in the credits, but the actor only appears in the film for a maximum of ten minutes. Instead, it is up to the supporting cast to carry the film on their shoulders. Tanoai Reed, the cousin of wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, becomes the de facto star of the film, managing to take down numerous zombies & making it look easy. The other actors are surprisingly good, inhibiting their roles with a competence that is almost enough to elevate the film above the run of mediocre zombie films that have invaded the video store since the early 2000s.What stops it from rising above the tide is the routine script that the film has been stuck with. Seagal does tend to write the scripts for half his films, but left this one for someone else – I wonder what would have happened if Seagal wrote this script. The zombies are another weakness – one character refers to them as vampires while they are surprisingly easy to destroy, not to mention the fact that they don't pose much of an intellectual threat, instead being the usual stock horror villains for the genre – gone are the Romero shamblers, the Fulci gutmunchers & the Snyder speedsters.Moving back to Seagal, the actor spends the few minutes he's in swinging his sword in the direction of the zombies while wearing his trademark long leather coat (the same coat that he has worn in numerous other DTV actioners – probably due to the fact that he has put on some weight & doesn't want his fans to notice, an exercise in futility since his weight has been the talk of action fans for the past few years). Seagal also has the indignity of having his voice dubbed over. Veteran actor Keith David appears in the film as a military commander who desperately tries to prevent his superiors from bombing the hospital that the cast are in.The only people who would have a great time with this film will be the gore hounds. There are a number of scenes where the gore nearly drowns the screen.

ManBehindTheMask63 This is a pretty cool straight-to-video action/horror flick that happens to co-star Steven Seagal. I say co-star because he really isn't in it that much. But when you do see him he is kicking butt. Seagal looks thinner and there are some pretty cool one liners. Very over-the-top. The special effects were surprisingly good and top notch. Basically a group of survivors are hiding out in an abandoned hospital from the zombie/vampires. Seagal leads a group known as "hunters" and they team up with the survivors inside. The acting is decent and the gore is plenty. Seagal really isn't the star of the flick. The black sidekick does most of the butt kicking but you do get a lot of sword action from Seagal. A huge step up from Killswitch. Urban Justice and Pistol Whipped are both good films from Seagal's straight-to-video era.

Scarecrow-88 Vampirism caused by a virus, ala 28 DAYS LATER, inside a city and the military must "sterlize" certain sectors so that the infected human creatures won't break containment. Human hunters, led by Steven Seagal, move through sectors "cleaning" buildings and streets of the carnivorous vampires. Inside a hospital are human survivors looking for medicine and food, soon finding themselves trapped and needing to find an exit before military aircraft bomb their location. Armed with a shotgun and kitana sword, Seagal(name Tao in the movie), along with three others(Tanoai Reed, playing Tagart gets lots of action) get plenty of vermin to massacre while the rest of the cast just try to escape and withstand an onslaught of vampires popping up time and again as they move down darkened corridors and through dreary rooms, never knowing what lies in wait. Lots of bloodshed, flesheating, guts, and hacked limbs. The vampires are a lot like zombies in that their bites infect victims, and they have voracious appetites for human flesh. Linden Ashby is Cross, trying desperately to convince Lt. Waters(Keith David; THE THING/THEY LIVE)to not send that air strike without confirmation that the hunters(and any survivors they might find)are safe from the sectors assigned for bombing. Not one original idea to be had here.

Anthony Pittore III (Shattered_Wake) Ah, Steven Seagal. The ponytail that marked a generation of cheesy action flicks. . . these days, he's mostly just a mockery of himself. But, he's back. . . and he's kicking some zombie/vampire/creature ass. With a friggin' sword! Honestly, other than Blade, when's the last time we've seen a serious modern action hero with a sword? Pure genius. Most of the film is just wandering aimlessly around a hospital/research facility and slicing & dicing the zombie vamps. That's about it. There's supposedly a couple of time limits to fake 'suspense,' one being they have to reach some door before the generator dies (that's why they take so many breaks for food & rest. . . when all they have to do is go down a few flights of stairs) and the other being the military (of which Seagal and his black-clad posse are a part) is preparing to "sterilize" in the morning.Throughout the film, you get a whole lot of poorly choreographed fight sequences where most hits land at least three inches from the target. The zombie/vampire (seriously, I have no idea what they are. . . they're pretty obviously dead, but also go down when they get kicked in the nards) effects aren't too bad, nor are the overall gore effects. The acting is pretty bad and even the British actors' British accents aren't believable.There are tons of hilarious one-liners, but my favourite is when Seagal finally gives his name. Fifty (that's 5-0) minutes in (seriously, it took that long), Seagal meets the annoying little girl (?) and, after aggressively asking her if she's been attacked, concludes the conversation with "I'm Tao." This is followed by some of the most epically misplaced guitar riffs I've ever heard. Classic.Overall, the movie is unbelievably stupid, but even more fun(ny) than it is dumb. I'm sure that it will live down (at least with me) as one of the best drinking-game movies in history.Final Verdict: 4/10, just because it's so damn fun -AP3-