Looking for revenge for past incestuous experiences, a slasher invades a lonely farmhouse.Looking for revenge for past incestuous experiences, a slasher invades a lonely farmhouse.Looking for revenge for past incestuous experiences, a slasher invades a lonely farmhouse.
Jeff Arbaugh
- Steve
- (as Jeffrey Alan Arbaugh)
Shannon Absher
- Alice
- (as Shannon B. Absher)
- Directors
- Terrence O'Hara
- Nico Mastorakis(opening credits) (uncredited)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe back cover of the various DVD and VHS releases as well as the film's trailer reveal the identity of the killer, thus spoiling any tension to be developed upon viewing.
- GoofsWhen Norm returned home he stood in the doorway to the kitchen wondering where Alice was when the killer attacked, however there was nowhere for the killer to hide along that wall without ever being seen. The position of the couch made it impossible for the killer to have ever been in that location.
Featured review
Warning: this film contains graphic mullet fondling.
Produced by Nico Mastorakis, of Island of Death infamy, but directed by Terrence O'Hara, Darkroom is an obscure late-'80s horror that owes a debt to the Italian giallo genre in in its opening scenes, but which descends more and more into tired American slasher territory as the plot progresses.
The giallo elements are evident in the opening double murder, in which an unseen photographer, who has been spying on a married couple with his high-powered lens, dons yellow rain coat and rubber gloves before picking up a hatchet to kill his subjects. The maniac then sets his sights on the family of pretty teen Janet (Jill Pierce), who has gone to visit her folk at their remote farmhouse. One by one, the family members are picked off, leaving Janet and her mulleted boyfriend Steve (Jeff Arbaugh) to try and stay alive until help arrives.
With pedestrian direction, a weak script featuring dreadful dialogue and obvious red herrings, and most of the deaths occurring off-screen, Darkroom is, for the most part, predictable trash, O'Hara even seeing fit to throw in a gratuitous shower scene (for which I am grateful - it helped to alleviate the tedium). Admittedly, I was impressed by the number of family members who fall victim to the killer, and surprised by the film's flirtation with the taboo subject of incest (although, thinking about Mastorakis's debut movie, I shouldn't have been), but the majority of the film is so by-the-numbers that it all proves rather mundane.
4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for the creative opening credits, which were apparently the work of Mastorakis.
The giallo elements are evident in the opening double murder, in which an unseen photographer, who has been spying on a married couple with his high-powered lens, dons yellow rain coat and rubber gloves before picking up a hatchet to kill his subjects. The maniac then sets his sights on the family of pretty teen Janet (Jill Pierce), who has gone to visit her folk at their remote farmhouse. One by one, the family members are picked off, leaving Janet and her mulleted boyfriend Steve (Jeff Arbaugh) to try and stay alive until help arrives.
With pedestrian direction, a weak script featuring dreadful dialogue and obvious red herrings, and most of the deaths occurring off-screen, Darkroom is, for the most part, predictable trash, O'Hara even seeing fit to throw in a gratuitous shower scene (for which I am grateful - it helped to alleviate the tedium). Admittedly, I was impressed by the number of family members who fall victim to the killer, and surprised by the film's flirtation with the taboo subject of incest (although, thinking about Mastorakis's debut movie, I shouldn't have been), but the majority of the film is so by-the-numbers that it all proves rather mundane.
4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for the creative opening credits, which were apparently the work of Mastorakis.
helpful•91
- BA_Harrison
- Sep 1, 2018
- How long is Darkroom?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $500,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 25 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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