Friday, May 28, 2010
Michael Allen
MTI Home Video is a company based in Miami, Florida that has released over a hundred titles in the last few years with a twenty-five year record of promoting film in the distribution business. MTI releases slightly under the radar, independent films like Warrior Angels, 13th Child and many, many more. One of this distribution company's latest releases is Creature of Darkness from Emmy Award nominee Mark Stouffer (Dog Gone), which was released on DVD April 13th, 2010. This science fiction geared production puts an eight foot tall alien human collector up against several annoying and unlikeable twenty-something adults in a climactic battle for supremacy of the campground! This film's many flaws are sometimes overlooked if one is able to laugh at human suffering and stupid choices.
Creature of Darkness can be summed up quite quickly; an alien creature dresses up as a fishmonger to capture unintelligent lifeforms, known as humans, via a vertebrate entangling weapon. This is the plot in a nutshell and while the film sets up a sequel, here is one vote that proper funding is acquired for the next.
The first thirty minutes of the film seem rushed with many, many errors unfolding early. A quick parsed down list of flaws include: continuity errors, sound editing problems, broken up pacing, unexplained character actions, unlikeable - often constantly screaming characters, and, honestly, the list goes on and on. However, if one sits back and lets the bizarre story unfold a subtle charm comes through as observed by the independent film review site Horror Society "[Creature of Darkness] is filled with both romantic and ‘gung-ho, we’re gonna get ‘em' dialogue of the toxic variety and some very bad CGI work...nonetheless proves charming" (Horror). As well, the cast is not very hard on the eyes and a few lines of dialogue late in the picture lighten a film that in no way should be taken seriously.
This B-movie, and that is what this is, is jammed packed with villainous protagonists who would rather fight each other than come up with a plan to combat the disappearance of 5+ friends. The soulful girl, bitchy - annoying she-devil, self-destructive gangbanger, conflicted hero, easy-go-lucky student, carefree daredevil and a few more hackneyed characters show a pattern of such dysfunction that viewers will soon be rooting for the alien to kill every last character! The film site Jo Blo sums up the characterizations nicely "each one of these characters is a complete moron (and/or) asshole" (Joblo). This point is repeated for effect. Constant screaming, bickering, and annoying dialogue will make one want to reach in to the screen for vengeance!
Yet, a few more positives grace the film including some good make-up effects, a loose story about facing your fears, and did this reviewer mention there is a vertebrate weapon (this is a first). But that about ends the pluses, with the film getting an A for effort and a C to a D for impact and execution. Joblo concludes the film well with "the title and the story seemed filled with promise." However, one too many stupid behaviours acted out by the characters and an apparently drunk film editor makes Creature of Darkness seem like a film set amongst a group of pyromaniacal mentally challenged kids, rather than a group of fun, or heroic adults.
Writing/story/plot: 4 (what there is a story?).
Action/interaction/characters: 4 (lines like: "I know this terrain. Let's be ingenious!" are completely laughable).
Editing/continuity/pacing: 3.4 (some big problems here in the first 30 minutes, some of the film is like watching a dubbed martial arts film).
Overall: 3.75 (Stouffer has taken camp to new levels while trying to make a somewhat serious B-Movie).
A review of Creature of Darkness at Horror Society:
Creature at Horror Society
At Joblo (funny review here):
Creature at Joblo
At your own risk. If you purchase this film, undoubtedly, you will experience a burst appendix:
Have a look at Creature of Darkness at MTI Home Video, which has one of the largest catalogues in the distribution business:
Creature at MTI Video
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Posted in: 2010,acting,cast,characters,creature,crew,horror,movie review,review,science fiction,story,thriller,writing
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