Alone in the Dark (2005)

Director:

Uwe Boll

Writers:

Elan Mastai (written by) &
Michael Roesch (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

28 January 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror

Tagline:

Evil awakens.

Plot:

Based on the video game, Alone in the Dark focuses on Edward Carnby, a detective of the paranormal, who slowly unravels a mysterious events with deadly results.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Demon | Darkness | Creature | Professor

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Christian Slater	...	Edward Carnby
Tara Reid	...	Aline Cedrac
Stephen Dorff	...	Cmdr. Richard Burke
Frank C. Turner	...	Sam Fischer
Matthew Walker	...	Prof. Lionel Hudgens
Will Sanderson	...	Agent Miles
Mark Acheson	...	Captain Chernick (as Mark Atcheson)
Darren Shahlavi	...	John Dillon
Karin Konoval	...	Sister Clara
Craig Bruhnanski	...	80's Sheriff (as Craig Brunanski)
Kwesi Ameyaw	...	Deputy Adams
Dustyn Arthurs	...	Young Edward
Catherine Lough Haggquist	...	Krash
Ed Anders	...	James Pinkerton
Brad Turner	...	Beat Cop
Michael P. Northey	...	Guard
Malcolm Scott	...	Delivery Guy
Ryan Drescher	...	Young Boy
Sean Campbell	...	First Mate
Sarah Deakins	...	Linda
Daniel Cudmore	...	Agent Barr
Françoise Yip	...	Agent Cheung
Ho-Sung Pak	...	Agent Marko
Mike Dopud	...	Agent Turner
Brendan Fletcher	...	Cabbie
Donna Lysell	...	Sarah Fischer
Ona Grauer	...	Agent Feenstra
John Fallon	...	Agent Yonek
Rebekah Postey	...	Sophie
Robert Bruce	...	Crewman Barnes
Dean Redman	...	Agent Richards
Antonio Maiurano	...	Agent Tony
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Ulmer	...	Patrolman #2 (uncredited)

Directed by
Uwe Boll

Writing credits
Elan Mastai		(written by) &
Michael Roesch		(written by) &
Peter Scheerer		(written by)

Produced by
Uwe Boll	....	executive producer
Bruno Bonnell	....	co-executive producer
Dan Clarke	....	line producer (as Daniel Clarke)
Frederic Demey	....	associate producer
Wolfgang Herold	....	executive producer
Harry Rubin	....	co-executive producer
Dan Sales	....	associate producer (as Daniel Sales)
Philip Selkirk	....	associate producer
Jonathan Shore	....	associate producer
Jörg Tittel	....	associate producer
Max Wanko	....	associate producer
Shawn Williamson	....	producer

Original Music by
Reinhard Besser
Oliver Lieb
Bernd Wendlandt
Peter Zweier

Cinematography by
Mathias Neumann

Film Editing by
Richard Schwadel

Casting by
Maureen Webb

Production Design by
Tink

Art Direction by
Peter Stratford

Set Decoration by
David Birdsall

Costume Design by
Maria Livingstone

Makeup Department
Honey Dawn Faircrest	....	assistant hair stylist (as Honey-Dawn Faircrest)
Kathy Howatt	....	first assistant makeup artist
Lise Kuhr	....	key makeup artist
Harlow MacFarlane	....	special makeup effects artist
J.P. Mass	....	special makeup effects artist
Tamar Ouziel	....	key makeup artist: second unit
Connie Parker	....	key makeup artist
Sanna Seppanen	....	hair stylist
Carole Simcox	....	day checker makeup artist
Bill Terezakis	....	special makeup effects designer
Maureen Terezakis	....	special makeup effects producer
Monique Venier	....	special makeup effects artist
Vince Yoshida	....	special makeup effects artist
Howard Lau	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)
Keith Lau	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Paul Lukaitis	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alexis Hinde	....	second assistant director
Sara Irvine	....	third assistant director
Bryan C. Knight	....	first assistant director
Robert Lee	....	second unit director
Kevin Leslie	....	first assistant director: second unit
Trevor McWhinney	....	third assistant director: reshoots
Ky Romanell	....	trainee assistant director
Richard Schwadel	....	second unit director

Art Department
David Dowling	....	property master
Troy Eirich	....	assistant property master
Wes Hamby	....	assistant property master
Jeremy Hanen	....	set dresser
Stefan Lochmann	....	storyboard artist
Daniel Scarcello	....	sculptor
Gary Young	....	sculptor
Chelsea Yusep	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Konrad Birnbaum	....	sound post assistant
Phillip Bürger	....	sound post assistant
Jose R. Castellon	....	adr recordist
William Conrad	....	sound editor
Jochen Engelke	....	sound editor
Jochen Engelke	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tobias Fleig	....	sound re-recording mixer
Wolfgang Herold	....	sound supervisor
Bob Holbrook	....	boom operator
Manuel Karakas	....	mix editor
Manuel Karakas	....	re-recording projectionist
Deni King	....	adr supervisor
Yumiko Konomi	....	sound editor
Annika Krieger	....	sound post assistant
Roland Platz	....	foley supervisor
Marco Raab	....	additional sound designer (as Ma Raab)
Peter Roigk	....	foley artist
Adam Sharpe	....	adr mixer
Max Wanko	....	dialogue editor
Max Wanko	....	supervising sound editor
Fritz A. Wollner	....	sound editor (as F.A. Wollner)

Special Effects by
Barry Hebein	....	lead metal fabricator
Ian Korver	....	special effects first assistant
Thierry Latremoille	....	lighting technical director
Vance Vegas Salvalaggio	....	special effects technician
John Sleep	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Michael Alkan	....	lighting technical director
Marcus Beiner	....	vfx system integration
Gilles Beloeil	....	lighting technical director
Ann-Marie Blommaert	....	visual effects coordinator
Jeff Bruneel	....	digital compositor: ToyBox
Maria Bückenhoff	....	visual effects artist
Kevin Chandoo	....	visual effects artist
Lester Chung	....	2D compositor (as Lester James Chung)
Dug Claxton	....	digital compositor
Gerrit Corsmeyer	....	visual effects artist
Phil Dakin	....	lighting/texture artist
Anthony De Chellis	....	character animator: ToyBox
Jeremy Dineen	....	senior visual effects animator: Toybox
Pete Dionne	....	3D artist: ToyBox
Andrew Edwards	....	Inferno artist
Christopher Elke	....	visual effects assistant producer
Daniel Fiegenschuh	....	visual effects artist
Jay Field	....	compositor
Helena Fischer	....	visual effects artist
John Fukushima	....	digital compositor
Brent Paul George	....	character animation director
Brent Paul George	....	digital character supervisor
Brent Paul George	....	lead creature technical director
Paul C. George	....	sequence supervisor
Ted Gervan	....	visual effects artist
Martin Gessner	....	visual effects producer
Peter Giliberti	....	lead animator
Mark Goldberg	....	digital effects artist
Adrian Graham	....	visual effects technical supervisor
Rob Gyorgy	....	editor / vfx artist
Bodo Keller	....	visual effects producer
Iris Krause-Mirus	....	visual effects artist
Filip Lange	....	visual effects artist
Francois Latremoille	....	visual effects
Chad Malbon	....	digital film producer
Simon Mayer	....	title artist
Ryan McDonald	....	render wrangler
Erik Nordby	....	digital compositor
Sean O'Hara	....	compositor
Doug Oddy	....	visual effects supervisor
Richard Oey	....	character animator
Sébastien Quessy	....	effects technical director
Jan Raimann	....	visual effects artist
Florent Revel	....	character animator
Tania Richard	....	matte artist
Thorsten Schell	....	visual effects artist
Christoph Schuhmacher	....	visual effects artist
Geoff D.E. Scott	....	visual effects supervisor
Michael Shapcotte	....	visual effects systems integrator: Toybox
Jason Snea	....	compositing supervisor
Martin Tardif	....	lighting technical director
Joel Tong	....	digital compositor
Max Wanko	....	visual effects supervisor
Fiona Campbell Westgate	....	visual effects producer
Wendy Whaley	....	digital compositor
Sarah Wormsbecher	....	visual effects coordinator: Toybox
Benjamin J. Wylie	....	3D animator
Philippe Zerounian	....	character animator
Lars Zimmermann	....	visual effects artist
Bojan Zoric	....	creature concept designer
Bojan Zoric	....	digital matte painter
Nick Perks	....	3D animator: research and development (uncredited)
Anna Terekhova	....	digital film assistant (uncredited)

Stunts
Ed Anders	....	stunt coordinator
Shawn Beaton	....	utility stunts
Jason Calder	....	stunt performer
Dave Campbell	....	stunts
Mike Carpenter	....	stunt double
Douglas Chapman	....	stunts
Laura Lee Connery	....	stunt double: Tara Reid
Mike Crestejo	....	stunt coordinator
Kylie Furneaux	....	stunts
Christopher Gordon	....	stunt double: Christian Slater-Carnby
Andrea Kinsky	....	stunts
Scott Leva	....	stunt coordinator: action wire coordinator
Rick Moore	....	stunt double
Gerald Paetz	....	stunt driver
Raymond Sammel	....	stunt performer
Darryl Scheelar	....	stunt performer
Sharon Simms	....	stunt performer
Kimani Ray Smith	....	stunts
Sylvesta Stuart	....	stunt performer
Brad Turner	....	stunts
Owen Walstrom	....	stunt coordinator
Claire Webb	....	stunt double
Darren E. Scott	....	stunts (uncredited)
Monte Thompson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Brian Tonomura	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mark Cohen	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Mark Cohen	....	first assistant camera
Jesse Deacon	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Ryan Epp	....	video technician
Chris Helcermanas-Benge	....	still photographer
Carol Macdonald	....	second assistant camera
Brad Smith	....	b dolly grip
Jason Weir	....	lighting technician
Steven J. Winslow	....	camera technician: Wescam camera
Darek Wyszynski	....	first assistant camera: second unit

Animation Department
Frédéric Côté	....	animator
Pedram Goshtasbpour	....	senior animator
Zachary V. Lowe	....	animator
Danny Testani	....	animator

Casting Department
Frederic Robinson	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Patti Bishop	....	assistant costume designer
Audrey Wong	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Rhonda Blewett	....	telecine assistant
Massimo Gubinelli	....	color grader
Gary Lam	....	first assistant editor
Warren Mazutinec	....	first assistant editor
Daniela Szentgrothy	....	assistant post-production supervisor

Music Department
Wolfgang Herold	....	executive soundtrack producer
Wolfgang Herold	....	music supervisor
Walter Christian Mair	....	composer: additional music
Hugo Sanchez	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Clif Kosterman	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Evan Allen	....	production assistant
Mariam Arthur	....	assistant: Mr. Sales
Lawren Bancroft-Wilson	....	office production assistant
Ron Blecker	....	military advisor
Vitomir Bogdanovic	....	production assistant
Madeleine Brettschneider	....	accountant
Hsun-Wei David Chang	....	assistant to producers
Byron Drinkle	....	playback coordinator
Karyn Edwards	....	legal counsel
Henry Eshelman	....	publicist
Alexander Glua	....	production assistant
Matthias Herold	....	legal
Elle House	....	miscellaneous crew
Anne Jacobsen	....	production accountant
Hanno Kaempf	....	legal counsel
Micah Kelpin	....	assistant: Mr. Williamson
Jennifer Lewis	....	trainee assistant location manager
Terry Mackay	....	location manager
Sheri Mayervich	....	assistant location manager
Robert Milicevic	....	security
W. Robert Millar	....	assistant location manager
Samantha Morris	....	assistant: Mr. Williamson
Sue Pidhorney	....	assistant: Mr. Slater
Lane Price	....	body double
Mary Quinn	....	assistant: Mr. Hegyes
Pascual Romero	....	publicity and promotions
Brendan Rooney	....	assistant production coordinator
Joey Setter	....	production coordinator
Misha Skoric	....	assistant: Mr. Dorff
Suzanne E. Smith	....	payroll accountant (as Suzanne Clements)
Tracy D. Smith	....	script development
Caden St. Clair	....	additional voice
Ryan Steacy	....	armorer
Sasha Tong	....	assistant: Ms. Reid
Dan Lee West	....	unit manager: reshoot

Thanks
Avery Zands	....	thanks
Jan Zands	....	thanks
Monika Zands	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• AITD Productions
• Boll Kino Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG (as Boll KG Productions)
• Herold Productions (in association with)
• Brightlight Pictures (and)
• Infogrames Entertainment

Distributors

• Concorde Filmverleih (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Lions Gate Films (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Lizard Cinema Trade (2005) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Mediafilm (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Prisvídeo (2005) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• America Video Film (2008) (Argentina) (all media)
• America Video (2008) (Argentina) (all media)
• Argentina Video Home (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (director's cut)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD) (HD-DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Eagle Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Flashstar Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Flashstar Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (VHS)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2004) (Thailand) (all media)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2004) (Vietnam) (all media)
• KNM Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD) (unrated director's cut)
• Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Tien (2007) (Netherlands) (TV)

Special Effects

• Toybox (visual effects)
• upstart! Animation (visual effects: Germany)
• Ministry of Motion (MOM) (character animation) (uncredited)

Other Companies

• Herold Studios  sound post-production
• Line 21 Media Services Ltd.  combined dialogue, continuity & spotting list
• Marshall/Plumb Research Associates  script research
• Nuclear Blast  soundtrack
• William F. White International  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language

Runtime:

USA:96 min | Argentina:96 min

Country:

Canada | Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:14A | Germany:16 | Philippines:R-13 | USA:R | Australia:MA | Germany:18 (director's cut) | UK:18 | Taiwan:R-12 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:M18 | New Zealand:R16 | Finland:K-15 | Spain:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | South Korea:15 (cable rating)

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Company:

AITD Productions

Trivia:

The ending was different in the original script, but Uwe Boll felt it should be ambiguous.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When the agent is showing Edward pictures of people that have disappeared he says that there are only 3 pictures, but, he is actually showing him 4 people.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Prof. Lionel Hudgens:[narrating] In 1967, mine workers discovered the first remnants of a long lost Native American civilization - The Abkani. The Abkani believed that there are two worlds on this planet, a world of light and a world of darkness. 10,000 years ago the Abkani opened a gate between these worlds...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Echelon Conspiracy/Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li/Crossing Over (#1.1)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Ghost

Well . . . it's not predictable

I usually start by relaying the premise of the film, but before anyone makes any hasty judgments about my review, let me preface it by saying that I'm someone who likes most films (just check my other reviews). Alone in the Dark is a film by director Uwe Boll, whose film right before this one was House of the Dead (2003). Like Alone in the Dark, it was also a film adaptation of a video game. Almost everyone hated it. Well, I loved it. I even gave it a 10 out of 10! My point in stating this (which will surely turn some readers off immediately) is that if even I hated Alone in the Dark, there must be something wrong with it.

The Premise: Who am I kidding? Attempting to state a premise for this film is about as easy as trying to balance the United States' budget, but here it goes anyway. Some archaeologists discovered evidence of some lost American Indian tribe. The Indian tribe apparently had discovered some means of broaching the "second world", which was evil in nature. The bad stuff wiped them out, but not before they could lock the door to the evil world and throw away the key. Later, some scientist/government researcher who had been experimenting with the paranormal, and specifically this tribe, decided to experiment on some kids, to try to produce some kind of hybrid with the second world. (Believe it or not--everything up to this point and then some is told to us in a written prologue to the film--it's just white text scrolling across a black screen with a voice-over also reading it to us). Then, there was something about the kids being in an orphanage, but the government takes them back out, and then a bunch of people are searching for archaeological relics, and there are super humans roaming around, and a bunch of military people are called in and on and on.

In fact, the exposition never really stops. It's like a neverending backstory from hell. There are enough ideas here to fill at least 10 films, maybe 25. But not one of them is presented in a coherent way to create one good film. In addition to the mystical lost Indian tribe and the superhumans, we also get monsters that resemble a cross between Alien and a werewolf, worms that invade your body and turn into snake-like aliens, tunneling worms underground, zombies, Starship Trooper-like wars, evil scientists, underground lairs, gold mines, spooky warehouses, impalements, big mostly unused museums, government conspiracies, golden trunks pulled out of the sea, nuns, explosions, complex backstabbing plots, a very ambiguous romance, car chases, home invasions, kitchen sinks . . . wait, I can't remember if that last one was in the film. Even more amazingly (amusingly?), in Fangoria #240, producer Shawn Williamson was quoted as saying, "We're spending much more time on story, being very meticulous about that". Tara Reid called Alone in the Dark "a smarter film".

Let me not mislead anyone. A lot of that stuff above might sound yummy to the potential audience for this film, but the problem is that nothing has the slightest connection to anything else. I usually had no idea what any setting's relation was to any other setting, why we were there, or what anyone was doing (at least when each scene began). It's just a random mishmash of settings and clichés, as if director Uwe Boll had 250 unrelated ideas in a hat and pulled them out like lottery numbers. Then when he was done, he and editor Richard Schwadel decided to cut the film by using dice, then reassembled it by throwing the I Ching. Sometimes the film plays like an extended director's reel (which is a combination of short, varied, unrelated scenes that directors circulate to try to get work), but perhaps that's being too generous. I'm not sure Boll would get work if this were his reel.

Just as I tend to at least like most films, I tend to like most actors and most performances. It's very rare that I say that a performance was bad. Well, Tara Reid was bad here--and I'm someone who usually likes Reid. I don't know what happened. For a large percentage of the film, they just move her around the set like a prop. They might as well have just bought a blow-up doll. That would have saved them money that they could have used for some cgi ghosts and vampires in castle and graveyard settings. Maybe they chose to move her around like a pretty piece of driftwood after they saw the dailies of her mumbling nonsense dialogue in a monotone that's usually reserved for entertaining mother-in-laws.

And speaking of that dialogue, a lot of Alone in the Dark plays like a Godzilla film without Godzilla. By that, I mean that it's a lot of pseudo-scientific gobbledy-gook. At least in Godzilla films, there's a campiness to it, because they know how ridiculous it is, and there's a big payoff in that we get to see Godzilla destroy downtown and battle a giant gnat with radioactive death beams shooting from its eyes or something.

Just what Stephen Dorff and Christian Slater are doing here, besides overacting and filing lawsuits against their agents, is difficult to say. I can't say that I thought anyone in the film had a decent performance, although maybe Slater at least saw the cigar. I think that's unprecedented for me.

Still, I didn't give this film a 1. There was some competent cinematography, even if Boll and Schwadel made mincemeat out of it, and the hard rock tunes over the end credits were good. Heck, even the novelette prologue wasn't so bad. I actually thought the film had promise at that point. But this may just be the worst film I've ever seen with a budget of 20 million or more.