Steve Carver I stumbled across this obscure Welsh gem in a cinema in Reykjavík, Iceland, the year it was released. Basically it's similar in many ways to the infamous The Wicker Man (1973), though I much preferred Darklands, not least because of the black metal aesthetic and the excellent industrial music of Test Dept., whose album Gododdin has had a profound and lasting impact on me.

nickthegun WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS (Like it matters…..)This film tried so hard to be ‘The Wicker Man for the Millenium' and failed on so many levels. I must admit, I watched it while I was fairly caned on very late night T.V, but it was still stupid. Craig Fairbrass (who you will recognise as Dan from eastenders or that annoying British ‘Heavy' from cliff hanger) is atrocious as the be mulleted reporter who gets up to the kind of things only American Reporters (in films) seem to get up to. And he only works for a local welsh paper………This is basically The Wicker Man lite. Everything screams ‘made for t.v', the (bad) gore and violence, the spectacularly unsexy sex scenes and the casting of the welsh as either tramps or occultists.The most annoying thing about this piece of poo, though, is the ending. Basically, it transpires that Dan from eastenders whole life has been pre-ordained. He was a special baby and he must also make special babies. These special babies get sacrificed every so often to a pretty non specific deity. WHY? What do these people get out of it? What is the reason for this elaborate pantomime? There is never any reason for these human sacrifices other than that they just seemed to feel like it. So why all the ‘First full moon of the new equinox' type jive? There is no point. I felt so cheated. As the film finished I thought ‘is that it?' Why the hell did they mess about for days on end? Why did they need him to be at the right place at the right time, if there was not going to be any sort of ‘supernatural' reward. They were just like a load of bloodthirsty masons. Utter…well I cant say the word, so fill in the blanks……..Utter ______

ependleton I saw this movie at The Newport Beach International Film Festival 1997 and can't believe that it has not yet been distributed in the US! (If as a result of reading this comment. a US distributor acquires Darklands, I want a 10% commission because if Blair Witch is anything to go by, with good marketing, this movie could make a mint - hell why don't I just set up my own label and distribute it through Amazon!).Darklands is a seriously weird and subversive movie which unlike Blair Witch, succeeds in delivering a number of shocks - not to mention the ending, which quite literally had my jaw on the theater floor. If you like alternative, offbeat, cult movies > then Darklands is a must

wjr-3 Set in recession hit Port Talbot, Darklands has local reporter Fraser Truick (Craig Fairbrass) digging through murky pagan goings-on as local churches are desocrated by slaughtered pigs and what-have-you... It's obviously the work of some dark force and not the local RSPCA, reckons Truick, who finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a druidic conspiracy. Fairbrass' Truick completely anglicised to the point of having a cockney accent, is a perfect metaphor for Celtic cultural angst, and his pedigree and fate as sacrificial victim is poetic. Darkland's villains - especially local politician David Keller - are well portrayed as they are menacing. Richard's central message is also unusual, attacking the Celtic renaissance for being intolerant. (Unless of course he's implying all anglicised Welshman should be ritually slaughtered. You never know). In the world of British film-making, it's an impressive achievement. Julian Richards is definately a name to watch out for.