suite92
The Three Acts:The initial tableaux: The very beginning of the film is consists of archival footage of logging backed up with atonal, jump-out-of-your-skin music. Trees are ripped apart, with chunks of them turned to chips by automatic machinery. Tree trunks are dumped skinned (figuratively speaking) of their bark, separated from limbs and roots, on the ground for future pickup.Next we switch to a staged logging site with modern photography, no current tree destruction, and next to no sound. The site is closing down for the weekend; a winter storm is coming in. The foreman checks up on the last crew still on the (moderately) secure and closed site. This does not go well. The early splatter set my expectations going in the wrong direction for a moment. This is more of a suspenseful film.Delineation of conflicts: Near the town of Tanner, the logging company cuts down trees to produce lumber to sell. Creatures in that wooded area are forced to move to find a new habitat. In Maiden Woods, to the south of Tanner, the local animal owners would like their animals to be safe, while the new creatures in the woods are hungry. Hunters would like to shoot deer as usual, and wonder about the migration of animals.The local Sheriff, Paul Shields, his wife Susan, and their remaining son Adam are separated after the death of their other son, Tim. Everyone in town wants the sheriff to heal from this, but he is wallowing in it. Various religious themes are batted about with little consensus. Is the creature the devil, or some animal thought extinct? Does the Sheriff need to reconnect to the deity, or is he just lost in sorrow? Was the deputy from New York City 'meant' to have moved to the film's small town, or was this just a single workaholic man drifting through life?While dealing with his emotional issues, Paul has to help out the town, the horse owners, the hunters, and the Sheriff's department by figuring out what's going on.Resolution: The Sheriff, Deputy Saunders, the forest rangers, and local hunters get closer to understanding the threat to Maiden Woods. Is there a workable solution?
politehere
1. If you want to make a movie atmospheric, drain it of all color and if possible make it black and white! 2. If you want to make a horror movie, make a drama movie instead and talk about a monster whenever you get tired of Drama. 3. If you want your creature movie not to be confused with a werewolf film, put Godzilla's head on top of a wolf's body! 4. If you can't afford to create a convincing CGI creature, don't show it for 99% of the movie's run-time, make the lights go out whenever it attacks, only show its legs if you have to, and don't even show its corpse in full after it's been shot dead! 5. If you are depressed for whatever reason, try to deny at any cost the possibility of a real creature posing danger to the town even after seeing a track of weird footsteps disappear into thin air, claws on the walls, bodies on treetops, and shadows going about your house! 6. If you have reason to believe there might be something dangerous lurking in the dark, stop your car whenever you get the chance, step out of it and call out into the dark and of course don't take a gun with you! 7. If you are certain that some kind of deadly animal might hurt the townsfolk, don't ask for any help, play the hero, gather the whole town in the church and don't be armed with anything but a pistol and an AK 47!
bfp13108
I like scary movies. I like monster movies. I like "Alien" type movies. But this film is the poorest hodgepodge of all of these. Kevin Durand acts with his eyes....GREAT! But you never once believe he can protect a town as sheriff, or that he can even be a sheriff. Lukas Haas is totally unbelievable as a transplanted NYer, coming to this town after a murky (to say the least) shooting incident that happened in Manhattan. While I am on the subject of Luke, and it really doesn't even deserve an observation in this review, his possible new girlfriend in Bunkville doesn't even deserve a part (the actress, herself or in the script). The sheriff's wife and son are so generic that you have forgotten them 15 seconds after they appear on film. Finally, the monster. All CGI effects cast by the wayside, which in this case were JOKE...JOKE...JOKE. I felt like I was watching "Predator" filmed in Redding, CA. Some posts mention a surprising twist at the end. I have read so many "surprising twists at the end" on IMDb that the words have lost all meaning. I have no idea what the surprise twist was unless it was the movie ending a few minutes before the runtime which was GREAT! It's a stupid movie made by a stupid production group probably hoping to earn enough money to make next month's mortgage payment. THAT'S MY REVIEW!
ruma5
I watch a lot of monster,thriller,mystery, and sci-fi.. Dark was the night was really, really good. I screamed at times at my TV- Only movies that grab me can do that- There was a lot of suspense- I recognized the 2 lead actors - Lucas from "Witness" and Kevin from "Stargate Sg-1 - They were both fantastic!!! I really did not want the movie to end! I only have 1 complaint - the reason I gave it a 9 instead of 10--- DON'T READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THIS MOVIE!!!!!!! The ending! If they ended it after shooting the monster.. I would have loved it- We need a good monster movie with a HAPPY ENDING!!! But no- the director had to end it with many more monsters climbing on the church .. Why??? That's the only reason I gave it a 9 instead of 10- either way , it really is a great movie, a lot of fun!!
AD
