*full disclosure: a screener of this film was provided by Phase 4 Films.
Director: Chris Kazmier.
Writer: Sxv'leithan Essex.
A six month streak of not having to turn a movie off early has been broken by Phase 4 Films' A Darker Reality. This reviewer wanted to turn this film off at the twenty minute mark, but an obligation kept this critic watching until about the one hour point. The film did not improve. Starring Daniel Baldwin, A Darker Reality is a reimaging of Chris Kazmier's earlier film Dark Reality (2006). This product was finished in 2008; unsurprisingly, this follow-up waited three years before finding a release date. And this reviewer hopes that Kazmier gives up on this atorcious series or finds money to improve his filmmaking style. Full of bad acting, zero musical selections, dark sets and tortuous scenes, A Darker Reality gets a place on 28DLA's Worst Films of 2011.
The story breaks down as follows. A serial killer, named the Ghost (Baldwin), has a misogynist streak a mile wide and he takes his sexual frustrations out on the women in his area. Eighty-five women are missing to date. And nobody has caught him? The unbelievability continues as Det. Belasco (James C. Burns) and Dr. Metcalfe (Sunny Doenich) bumble their way to the killer's hideout. Meanwhile, tortuous scene after tortuous scene offers women in varying states of meaningless humiliation. Then this reviewer ended his misery with the stop button.
This film releases on DVD January 10th and this is coincidentally a day that you are not going to want to buy this film. As well, the tagline for A Darker Reality is "there are fates worse than death." One of those fates is having to watch this crappy movie. The three primary characters have some acting experience and Baldwin's performance is the only highlight of this film. He intimidates and outclasses many of the minor characters. Some actresses look visibly shocked by his dialogue. However, Kazmier's approach to music is uncreative and barely worth mentioning. The minor characters could not act their way out of a paper bag and the film stock makes the film look poor overall. Also Kazmier uses jumpcuts between scenes and this is not a help to the viewer. Where were the transitions and the story's continuity? The writing is nothing spectacular as you have seen this style of show on "Law & Order," but the production values are much lower here. This is dirty horror filmmaking and this reviewer's excitement for some interesting and valued entertainment were diminished quickly.
Horror and thriller fans need to skip this film at all costs. The cohesion of this film is disjointed, the graphic violence is pointless, prose from the Ghost is awkward and the motivations of the killer are not explored. Likely made for under a $100K, A Darker Reality has few redeeming qualities and this film is disturbingly bad. Thanks goes out to Phase Four Films for offering an early review of this film, but this reviewer should have known better and skipped this awful title.
Overall: 3 out of 10 (this film does not meet the bare requirements of filmmaking including writing, use of light and directing techniques).
More on this film's story can be found at the Phase 4 Films' website:
A Darker Reality at Phase 4 Films
*this DVD release comes with the following extras: deleted scenes and Phase 4 Films' horror trailers.
**skip this film and watch another release from Phase 4 Films titled The Open Door, which was given an 8 out of 10 here on 28DLA.
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