In the 1950s, aspiring actress Scarlett May is brutally murdered. Years later (2006), the crew of "Pirate Wench" is being slaughtered. What is the connection between these two events? Is there one? "Dark Reel" is a surprisingly good film, with a great ensemble cast and featuring the best work I've ever seen out of Tiffany Shepis. I love Shepis in pretty much everything she does, but I really think this one goes above and beyond her normal duties. Along with her, there's also decent performances from Edward Furlong (who is not aging well), Lance Henriksen (also some of his best work in years), Rena Riffel and Tony Todd.
I found the stand-out performance to be from Jake Grace, who plays the onion-loving pirate Rhett Johnson. I don't know if I'm familiar with any of his other work, but I loved him here. More pirate action, more onions, please! The special effects were good -- quite good -- when it comes to the blood and guts. Some of it didn't look all that real, but some effects -- such as a sword through the back -- were impressive. Everyone really came together on this film.
Not really sure what to say about this one. It's just really good. I can't critique it, because there's not much to critique, just a a solid horror story from beginning to end with plenty of mystery mixed in (good luck guessing the killer -- I changed my mind multiple times). Hopefully we see more things of this quality from this cast and crew. Oh, and "Gnome Killer 2"? Funniest movie I've ever seen!
