Darkest Days (2005) User Reviews

Good review

[jsmcbrine · 7/10 · 30 June 2006]

I was fortunate enough to attend the very first screening of this film and, although I entered the theater with a predetermined apathy to "indie" films, I was pleasantly surprised. What I saw wasn't the typical locally-produced flick about some guy and his pals' misadventures regarding the lead's romantic failures captured on a shaky hand-cam (like so many independents' offerings I've endured before), instead I was treated to an exciting take on the traditional good vs. evil story. I immediately appreciated not only the balance of action and character development between the main character and his angelic guides, the attention to technical detail, but most of all feeling like I was watching a "real" movie rather than some student film.

The movie excels in breaking out of the "homemade" mold and utilizing talented new actors, an original score and soundtrack, and an appealing art design. Most of all, it succeeds in refreshing your idea of angels fighting demons in a style with enough reality to ground the fantasy while retaining all the interest and fun.

I recommend this movie to those who, like I was before being entertained by this film, reserved judgment of anything that wasn't mainstream or backed by a well-known studio.

Not good

[fred-467 · 1/10 · 8 April 2006]

This had to be perhaps the worst movie I have ever seen. It was a complete waste of the money that we paid to see it in New York. The acting was poor, the script was abysmal, and the quality was atrocious. The only saving grace was the performance by the character of "strange man", the role was cast correctly, and was acted well. It is truly unfortunate, but the story could be done well by professionals. This film is the specific reason that more than one person should be involved in a film. One person involved, makes the judgement poor, and this film is less than poor.

Sorry guys, NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!

When's the sequel?

[burningmona · 8/10 · 17 March 2006]

I'm biased on this movie...but when I saw it for the first time at the Magnolia over a year ago, I was impressed... and that was the rough cut...really rough. Props must go to Chris Bodziony for his role as Dante! You actually can feel for his character and the torment he's going through...and that's just because of some killer acting on Bodz's part. THis movie need to hurry up and get to DVD!!!!!! The directing was solid, and I think that the love and help of many people went into making this movie so cool on like 0 budget. We shall see how well it does...but if you ever run across it...watch it.

Thanks for making a solid movie "sweetcheeks"

Pete

Enjoyed the movie-comments but no real spoilers

[jan_lennartsen · 9/10 · 26 June 2007]

As one of the first people to see the movie at the NYIFF showing in LA, I have to admit I liked the film a lot.

The movie began with an very interesting use of credits via some particularly good line drawings accompanied by unusually apt music, which makes me think the director had originally been from a music or commercial background, this is however speculation on my part.

The beginning seemed to have a slight sound synchronization problem in some of the initial scenes, I daresay that was fixed in subsequent edits of the work. The usage of whited-out space for the dream/flashback sequences was an interesting take and probably more admirable for effort than in final effect. I do wonder how they found anyone to tell them how to pronounce the orc-like language which I believe was to represent Sanskrit, as that had been a dead language longer than the Mayan one done by Gibson in Apocalypto, which this effort reminds me of to a degree...though I cannot say why. Same sort of underlying religiosity vibe perhaps? My personal favorite was the actor playing the corrupted detective, the acting overall was quite good for those who are clearly at the beginning of their careers, the priest was also excellent. I am afraid I do not recognize who an earlier poster said was the "strange man" but no doubt I felt he did equally well with the rest. The lady detective did well but there was a longish scene with her doing reports and a wineglass that I felt should have been cut. The martial arts scenes were an unusual aspect too, it appeared like they were done in the traditional style before wires became so prevalent, which I much prefer to the new variants.

All in all a worthwhile thing to watch if you like the supernatural thriller genre without too much gore. Best, JL