From the Dark

June 17, 2015

From the Dark

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Below is what I wrote for my IMDb account, for which I will certainly expound upon later.

A couple is driving through the country when they get lost as their phone’s GPS is “constantly recalculating”. The wrong turn leads to the car getting stuck in the mud. At the beginning of the film before we meet the couple, a farmer is attacked by a vampire who had been buried in the earth with a stake in its heart as he was digging a hole. Pulling the stake out because his shovel had struck it, the farmer unknowingly releases the vampire from its “sleep”. The vampire then does what is expected of it…it bites the farmer. The couple soon encounters the farmer, then the vampire.

“From the Dark” doesn’t reinvent the wheel here, as the simplistic plot doesn’t task the viewer. Instead this is about creeping you out and developing a dread over time. It keeps things small-scale in terms of storytelling but the superb photography and moody lensing of the location (particularly during the nighttime) itself really are what I think this film will bring in terms of appeal to a horror audience. The Irish countryside in the film is scary in the film because even though it is so rural, spacious, and dreary, it is yet on the outskirts of civilization, off the beaten path, and rather isolated. Turning onto a road that places him and/or her out of touch with any nearby city where technology is important, and a car stuck in the mud, the couple is then placed in a difficult situation regarding finding help. Help in the hopes that they can get off the wrong road and on the right one. Instead, the potential help is wounded by a vampire which will eventually turn him into a feral creature of the night.

The camera ingeniously uses a method that keeps the vampire elusive from a total detail for us. It is developed as a type of specter, a figure that is very dangerous but not distinct or elaborate for us to see in complete form. The sound design is booming when need-be and vivid to depict the snarl and movements of the creature. Its ferocity is emphasized as are its actions when after the couple. The lighting is dutifully stunning to capture the surroundings and place. This a very competent and efficient little horror show.

What might be held against it is the minute plotting. This wasn’t developed to necessarily confront you with something that has you dwelling on the details of its plot. “From the Dark” is more about getting a reaction, a jolt, a mounting gulp in your throat, and to envelope you with its visual presentation. I think it succeeds as a bit of chiller theater, a film that keeps things simple and lean. It is damned good looking, quite attractive aesthetically. I’d like to see this director offer the horror genre future projects. He has some real talent. Perhaps Conor McMahon will give us something in the future that is cerebral to go along with his visual skills behind the camera.