A Darker Reality (2008)

Director:

Chris Kazmier

Writer:

Sxv'leithan Essex (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A group of women find themselves captive to a depraved psychopath whose blood-lust and insanity knows no bounds. Time is running out as Ghost's sick experiments begin to leave the girls tortured beyond recognition.

Cast

Daniel Baldwin	...	The Ghost
James C. Burns	...	Alex 'Cold Steel' Belasco
Sunny Doench	...	Jesse Metcalfe
Alisha Seaton	...	Carey Andrews
Alma Grey	...	Becca (as Alma Saraci)
Grasie Mercedes	...	Karen
Warren Draper	...	Det. Tom Hamilton
Jonathan Oldham	...	Quail
Arthur Bullock	...	Newt
Laila Dagher	...	Kim
Anne Girard	...	Amber
Heather Howe	...	Gina (as Heather Kirkland Howe)
Jake Hutson	...	Jack
Kane Jacobs	...	Dad
Scout Raskin	...	Sharon (as Jessica Raskin)
Pete Moby	...	Dead Man
John Murray	...	Dr. Chase
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Doff	...	Prison Guard
Shahe Koulloukian	...	Prison Guard
Nicole Oring	...	Vanessa

Directed by
Chris Kazmier

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sxv'leithan Essex		writer

Produced by
Jeffrey Allard	....	producer
Daniel Baldwin	....	executive producer
Christopher Hutson	....	producer
William Langlois	....	associate producer
Julie Newsome	....	executive producer
Gregg von Thaden	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Chris Kazmier

Cinematography by
Joel Tallbut

Film Editing by
Edward Christoph

Casting by
Heidi Hutson

Production Design by
Sxv'leithan Essex

Art Direction by
Matthew De Cuffa

Makeup Department
Gage Hubbard	....	key makeup artist
Gage Hubbard	....	special makeup effects artist

Art Department
Kevin Bean	....	assistant art director
Kiel Gookin	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Bastien Benkhelil	....	foley artist
Romain Bigorgne	....	foley mixer
Mark Gouldy	....	boom operator
Mark Gouldy	....	sound mixer
Mike Gouldy	....	boom operator

Camera and Electrical Department
Benjamin J. Adams	....	key grip
Matt Gulley	....	additional camera operator
Robin Mallard	....	gaffer
Joel Tallbut	....	camera operator

Other crew
Jay Costelo	....	production assistant
Brieana Davison	....	production assistant
Catherine Hewson	....	production assistant (as Manu Toigo)
Rachel Moore	....	intern
Alison Nagler	....	production assistant
Rebecca Newsome	....	assistant: Mr. Allard

Production Companies

• Indie Entertainment

Distributors

• Lionsgate (2012) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Indie Entertainment

Movie Connections:

References The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Powerful and creepy; harrowing stuff

A few years ago Chris Kazmier and Christopher Hutson put out a film called "Dark Reality." It was a very different type of film; mostly improvised, it dealt with several women who had been captured by a lunatic and imprisoned. It focused almost entirely on the women in captivity. Strong stuff that was difficult to watch -- the IMDb page now claims the cast and crew thought it was "a joke," but if you watch the film and see what the actresses put themselves through, it's no joke.

Now a few years later, Kazmier is back with an expansion of the original film called "A Darker Reality." Caught it on VOD recently in advance of its DVD release. The film takes the original premise and expands it. It shows us the actual psycho (played by Daniel Baldwin -- no spoilers there, that's his entire character) and shows the police attempts to find and capture him and save the women.

Let's get the problems out of the way first -- the police stuff is bad. Pretty much "Movie/TV Police 101" -- gruff detective gets a partner he doesn't want, etc. But much of the movie focuses on the trapped women and the narrative of an escaped survivor, and holy crap, it is harrowing. You really feel the utter helplessness of these women and it's legitimately disturbing. And somehow, having Daniel Baldwin as the psycho makes it even a little creepier.

It's not perfect and there are things that stretch credibility even in this type of film (for example, the psycho manages to have an absurd amount of victims in one area) and while the ending is a punch in the gut, it's a little confusing. And as you can tell from this review, it is definitely not for everyone. But it is very well done, and I am definitely looking forward to purchasing this film when it comes out on DVD so hopefully get some "Behind the scenes" things.