Dark Circles (2013)

Alex and Penny are sick of the hectic city life and decide a move out to the country to raise their newborn child. But they don't expect the horrors threatening their relationship and family.

Director:

Paul Soter

Writer:

Paul Soter

Stars:

Brett Beoubay, Jamie Bernstein, Ashley Braud

Cast

Credited cast:
Brett Beoubay	...	EMT
Jamie Bernstein	...	Himself - Musician
Ashley Braud	...	Reporter (voice)
Philippe Brenninkmeyer	...	Michael
Rebecca Collins	...	Bar patron
Jenn Foreman	...	Nancy (as Jennifer Foreman)
Andrea Frankle	...	Johanna
Anthony Michael Frederick	...	Mover
Derrick Freeman	...	Frontman
Pell James	...	Penny
Arabella Landrum	...	Tanner
Ever Eloise Landrum	...	Tanner
Grace LaRocca	...	Bar Patron
Michael Patrick Rogers	...	Construction Worker (as Michael Rogers)
Johnathon Schaech	...	Alex

Storyline

Haunted house film about a pair of sleep deprived parents who begin to experience disturbing visions after moving from the city to a country estate. Alex and Penny have just become parents of a baby boy when they decide that the city is no place to raise a child. Relocating to a farmhouse, the couple finds their relationship deteriorating due to the demands of caring for a newborn, including a lack of sleep. When Alex and Penny begin seeing a mysterious woman around the house, they at first dismiss the sightings as hallucinations brought on by sleep deprivation. But as the visions appear more often, the parents are forced to consider that evils are at work in their home. By the time the truth about their new home is revealed, their tenuous grip on sanity has already begun to slip.

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Plot Keywords:

haunted house | after dark | ghost | haunting | specter | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and bloody images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 May 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Círculos siniestros

Filming Locations:

Louisiana, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

After Dark Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie the babysitter is watching is another Afterdark Horrorfest movie, Perkins' 14.

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Soundtracks

War Torn Town
Written and Performed by Kristin Diable

User Reviews

Better entry into the 'After Dark Originals' library.

Starring an unknown cast, 'Dark Circles' treads familiar grounds, with a family moving away to the rural side of the USA in order to escape the hectic life in the city. From it's chilling 5 minute opening up to its eventual climax, 'Dark Circles' presents itself as a good start to this years run of 'After Dark Originals'. With the aforementioned opening 5 minutes effectively setting the tone for what's to come, I got the feeling that this could very well be a good horror movie.

With a movie like this, and a plot that has been used countless upon countless times it's quite hard to be original and I think the director (first time feature director Paul Soter) decided to sidestep that by just trying to give us as many creepy moments as possible. For the largest part he succeeds by giving us a rundown of the common and not so common tactics to scare us. Loud sounds, a point of view camera, shapes in the distance drawing near, and a very ominous soundtrack consisting of the same 4 tone piano medley all work together to give us the unsettling vibe that is so highly sought after in these types of movies.

What makes a movie great though, is its story.dark-circles-3 And while it sets out promising, with the main leads openly discussing the disturbing things they are witnessing, ultimately it degrades itself by falling back into the old habits of horror. They start to distrust one another (which only serves as a cheap setup to give us some more scary scenes) and the plot moves from one angle to the complete opposite without any clear given reason as to why.

It didn't manage to make me dislike the movie all together, but it took away from the experience I was having up until 50 minutes into its 86 minute total. The final resolve made me think of 'High Tension' a French horror movie which had an ending that totally ruined all that came before it.

While 'Dark Circles' doesn't tread the same grounds as that one, nor did it have as much impact as 'High Tension' had, its ending makes you wonder about the logic that's being used here.

Can a ghost be killed by a knife? Will it come back? What about the people who die over the course of the movie? and what about the marriage that was under huge pressure up until 2 minutes before the end of the movie? Ultimately, 'Dark Circles' is one of those movies that entertains, but doesn't manage to rear its head amongst the better horror movies. Being a virgin in this genre could benefit your experience as a viewer, but as a seasoned vet it's a case of been there, done that.

To summarize: some genuinely creepy scenes, an effective soundtrack, decent acting and a very well shot movie make this one of the better entries into the 'After Dark Originals' library. But that doesn't mean it's great.