The Darkroom (2006) User Reviews

Surprisingly decent low budget horror mystery.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 24 May 2007]

The Darkroom starts in a hospital where an amnesia suffer (Reed Diamond) has spent the last 15 years, he was found wandering on a forest road covered in mud & blood & nobody has any idea who he is least of all himself. However a Dr. Allen (Ellie Cornall) who works for a private company has developed a new drug designed to help people remember & it's currently going through clinical trials & this guy has been chosen as a human Guinea pig, Dr. Allen administers the drug & the man has violent convulsions. When he recovers he claims not to remember anything & is taken back to his room, however on the way another patient attacks some members of staff & in the confusion he manages to escape the hospital. Once outside in L.A. he befriends a young boy named Stanley (Shawn Pyform), the more time he spends around Stanley the more he remembers as if Stanley was once part of his life all those years ago...

Co-written & directed by Michael Hurst I actually thought The Darkroom was a pretty decent time waster, sure it ain't going to make anyone's top ten best films anytime soon but it's perfectly watchable in it's own right. The script by Hurst & producer Mark A. Altman which takes itself extremely seriously is basically one long build up to it's twist ending & not much more, I have to say I thought the ending was pretty good as it wasn't too over-the-top or silly & is pretty cool. I personally didn't see it coming until late in the film & I don't think it's twist which is too predictable either. I'm sure if you sit down & pick the film apart then you could probably find all sorts of plot holes but as an immediate out the blue twist I thought it worked very well. However, the film is maybe a touch on the slow side & the impatient among you may not last the ride, several things aren't exactly explained clearly & it tries too hard at the end to tie everything up together & give itself a feel good happy ending. I thought the character's were good as was the dialogue without being outstanding, I thought it was something just that bit different & overall I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked The Darkroom, I also thought the mystery elements were pretty engaging & they at least kept me watching.

Director Hurst does alright, the film doesn't have much style but it's well made at least. I'm not really sure who the target audience for The Darkroom is as it's not really a horror film, I would struggle to call it a thriller as well so I'm not sure. This is a hard one to categorise as it has elements of both. This contains quite a few gory blood spurting slit throats which are quite graphic although they occur mostly during dream sequences & there's also a mud monster thing as well that turns up every so often. The special effects are fine with the slit throats looking particularly good & I'm pleased to report I didn't notice any awful CGI computer effects.

Technically the film is good & a hell of a lot better made than many recent straight-to-video low budget horror themed junk out there, it's well made throughout with decent production values & it actually looks like a proper film. The acting is OK, Xena: Warrior Princess (1995 - 2001) star Lucy Lawless is the only recognisable cast member as far as I was concerned.

The Darkroom is a good attempt at a psychological horror film with a twist & in that regard it's a watchable effort, it's nothing that will change your life but you could do a lot worse that's for sure.

The Darkroom

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 31 December 2009]

An amnesiac wants to uncover his identity and an experimental drug, Mioxidil, might provide the details he needs to recover who he is..the question is whether or not he'll regret such a decision when the answers he seeks come to fruition. Fragmented images are all he currently has, but as he "ventures out into the real world", can this John Doe reawaken memories and what exactly will become of him? John Doe meets a nice young man named Stan who offers a hand of friendship. Stan is often bullied by two punk skateboarders and witnesses the ongoing strife between his mom and stepfather with John Doe an outsider to the events..or is he?

You know, it's not like this movie is badly performed or made, it's just that this kind of thriller has been brought to us multiple times before. Two alternating stories seem unrelated for the exception that Stan and John Doe meet seemingly by chance, only to have a lot more in common than they think. Stan has the step father with a dark room where he stores his photographs and doesn't allow either his step son or wife in there, not to mention he wanders off at ungodly hours, acting suspiciously, often quite defensive when anyone questions his reasons for doing so. And, the movie goes out of it's way to cast a nefarious eye on Bob(Greg Grunberg, an effective creep), pointing out a dead body being found, reported murders in the newspaper. We see how both Stan and John Joe's missions converge as they discover where Bob goes during the day(..and night)and the tragic result of a particular missing person important to the plot, mentioned sparingly throughout for an intended purpose.

Interesting how both Stan and John Doe(..played by Reed Diamond as a haunted and disoriented man needing closure in order to find solace and peace)are concurrently seeking answers to buried secrets which reveal themselves little by little as they search together.

Lucy Lawless, in a bit of interesting casting, portrays Stan's mother, Cheryl, an unsatisfied alcoholic wife desiring emotional fulfillment, affection, and attention from Bob who seems disinterested in her sexually, causing her to become a miserable wreck, despite the fact that she is a very attractive woman just wanting some kind of loving investment, not knowing the kind of monster he really is. I don't think Bob's "after hours"(..or hours where he is supposed to be working, masquerading around the fact that he was fired, using this time committing unsavory, to say the least, acts)activities will surprise anyone watching this movie, and I figure the "twist" will be realized by more aware viewers who have seen their share of these kinds of films. Ellie Cornell, of Halloween 4 fame, has a small role as a pharmaceutical doctor wanting to use Mioxidil on John Doe to see if the drug works, with a goal to help other amnesiacs wanting to discover their identities. The most grisly scenes contain the giant black monster with sharp claws slicing the throats of women brought to life through visions which pop up in John Doe's mind from time to time. Many viewers might be reminded of The Sixth Sense while watching this movie in how the outside world treats John Doe.

Proof I'll watch Reed Diamond in just about anything

[movieman_kev · 4/10 · 6 March 2009]

Reed Diamond plays a man suffering from amnesia who's been in a mental asylum for over a decade after he was found wondering the back roads with blood on his hands. The doctors want to test out an experimental new drug that'll return his lost memories if it works. But when the drugs give him hallucinations of a demon, he chooses to escape instead. While outside he befriends a young boy whose stepfather (Greg Grunberg) mistreats his mother, won't let her near the darkroom in his basement & acts suspicious in general.

While the general 'mystery' of the film is a tad easy to identify way before it's revealed, I found Mr. Diamond's acting to be enthralling enough to keep my attention throughout. (In the interest of full disclosure, I've been a huge fan of his since Homicide and his brief, but extremely pivotal, role in The Shield up through Journeyman & Dollhouse) Not a great film nor a good one, but serviceable enough. Although I did like it better than the previous films that I've seen from Director/writer Michael Hurst (Room 6, Pumkinhead 4, Mansquito)

Eye Candy: one fleeting pair of boobs in a hallucination

My Grade: C-

Good idea, poorly executed

[paulswm · 2/10 · 10 March 2007]

The story idea is excellent. Unfortunately, the execution lets it down.

The movie lacks pace, for one thing. It should be an exciting ride, but it is slow and more than a little boring.

I think the problem's mainly in the screenplay and editing. There aren't enough obstacles and reversals to ratchet up suspense, and there are scenes which don't really move the story along very effectively.

The producers should have seen this in the screenplay and insisted upon a major rewrite. Unfortunately, when the producer is also the writer and the director, this evidently ain't gonna happen.

Much of the acting seems kind of flat, and that is down to the director - all the actors have been quite competent in other projects.

It's a shame, because with better writing, editing and direction, this could have been a really good thriller.

Decent, Not What I Would Call 'Horror' Though

[slopi_serv · 7/10 · 3 January 2007]

Aside from the main character's visions of monsters and gore, I would have to say this is a thriller. Pretty original plot concept and good acting as well.

The story follows a man who is offered an experimental drug in hopes that he can remember why he was found on the side of the road covered in blood. The movie then leads you into his journey of finding these memories.

Nice twist at the end, though I have a feeling most people will know what that twist is about 10 minutes before it happens, but it doesn't distract from the effect.

Overall it's original, I like the concept, the actors were well suited and nothing really seemed out of place. A couple goofs here and there due to shoddy editing possibly, again, nothing that really distracts from the quality of the story. I rate this a 7/10. I give it 7 instead of 6 because of the lack of recognizable actors and how well the roles were played.

Typical Michael Hurst....awful

[moonfog_sof2 · 1/10 · 22 January 2007]

That might be a bit harsh for me saying that, but sadly so far in his directing career its true. Just have a look at what he as done so far. They barely make it past the 3 star mark.

Why did I watch this movie? 2 reasons. Lucy Lawless and Heroes star Greg Grunberg. Lucy was outstanding in this movie, her performance carries the whole movie. I do hope she gets a "blockbuster" and breaks into the bigger league of actors, she clearly has the skills. Greg was not so impressive, typical TV acting style.

The movie is oddly categorized as a horror. The only "horror" is short flashbacks, and they last a max of 2-5 seconds with a little blood in them. I personally would call this more a "drama/thriller".

But no matter how interesting the story actually is, bad directing, editing and acting (appart from Lucy) destroys it. You get no real connection to the actors, something which is very important in a story like this one. You just sit there watching feeling nothing. Its like watching a bad TV soap....actually I think the TV soap would be more interesting.

My advice: Stay away from this movie...or better yet just stay away from anything Michael Hurst is involved with.

Good Mystery Thriller W/ Great Cast

[danthewrestlingmanorigin · 7/10 · 3 January 2007]

Dark Room features an excellent cast, that hit all the right notes. Reed Diamond, Shawn Pyfrom, Lucy Lawless and Greg Grunberg of Heroes fame should be commended on a job well done. I did have one major issue with this film, however they made up for it in the end, with a very satisfying, and surprisingly happy ending. I definitely agree with the previous reviewer, that this is not really a horror movie. I was expecting something along the lines of Hostel, or other recent examples in the extreme horror revival, looking at the cover, but you certainly do not get that here. Other then some bloody trippy flashback moments, this is really more a mystery/thriller/drama about a man trying to recover his identity. The issue I speak of is what I was gearing up to slam this movie for, and thats the cop out ending. I won't reveal it here, but it's a classic example of recent genre features overdoing the twist, at expense of the majority of the film, leading up to it. It worked in the past with efforts like Sixth Sense, but it's becoming quite tiresome now. However Dark Room doesn't end on that note, and goes on to deliver a satisfying ending, that came full circle, and overall left me satisfied. I love extreme horror, but I'll judge this for what it truly is, a slightly above average mystery/thriller, with an A list cast, of extraordinary actors'.

Not too great, but probably has an audience

[Indyrod · 5/10 · 19 December 2008]

This one has a pretty good plot but it didn't appeal to me at all. It starts out with a young kid being discovered with blood all over his hands, and he spends the next 15 years in a mental institution, because he has no memory of what happened or who he is. Along comes a researcher with an experimental drug that might unlock the now adult guy's mind and help him. The movie then leads us on a journey as the guy escapes the hospital and makes friends with a young kid and gets involved in his life. The kids alcoholic Mom "Lucy Lawless" is remarried to a jerk, and things get a little unsettling as the kid and his new friend decide to follow his step-dad to see what he is developing in his darkroom, and where he goes at night. There is a pretty good dose of blood and gore towards the end when everything is revealed, and story wise, the movie is not that bad. Not my cup of tea, but I can see how some fans might enjoy this movie.

not bad actually.....

[U_KNOW · 7/10 · 20 July 2008]

I watched this movie not expecting anything too good since i had never heard of it before, but after viewing it i wasn't disappointed. The plot is easy to follow and the mostly unknown actors execute pretty well. I was majorly impressed by lucy lawless's performance expanding out of her usual role as the "badass, don't need a man to get crap done" type and taking on a more vulnerable character that shows indeed she is one of the most underrated actresses out there. The movie kind of does seem to slow down a little bit and if you have seen enough of these types of movies, the twist shouldn't come as a shocker. So if you have a free night and nothing to watch, check this out. You might actually like it.

Nothing else to do? Don't watch this movie

[learagent · 1/10 · 31 March 2007]

This was such a waste of time. Danger: If you watch it you will be tempted to tear your DVD out of the wall and heave it thru the window.

An amateur production: terrible, repetitive, vacuous dialog; paper-thin plot line; wooden performances; Lucy Lawless was pathetically hackneyed.

Seriously flawed story, completely unbelievable characters. The two worst concepts in film and t.v. are: (1) the evil twin, (2) amnesia. There are no twins.

The plot "twist"? Outrageously simplistic and obvious - like watching a train coming down the track in the middle of the day on the prairies. It doesn't even resolve properly. The evil is not punished for the original crime.

Please, please, please - don't watch this even if its free and your only other choice is to go to a synagogue.

Incredible acting by Lucy Lawless and a nice twist too.

[priestesscharis · 10/10 · 11 January 2007]

I am not generally a "horror" fan. I admit, I watched this film so I could see Lucy Lawless's role as Cheryl, the alcoholic Mother of Stanley and the wife of Bob. Her portrayal of this once strong, confident and beautiful woman is devastating. She captures her spirit and pain seemingly effortlessly. Lucy has shown her unending range with this film, and I wish she had more scenes. Her character simply fascinated me, and would love to see a sequel for this one. I would have loved to see this character developed more, but I understand that the film is about the murders, and not Cheryl.

I have watched this thing half a dozen times in five days. I guess I am addicted. I suppose I should mention the other cast, Reed Diamond (mental patient), Greg Grunberg (Bob), and Shawn Pyfrom (Stanley) were all very well cast. I watched the commentary, and it seems they had quite the time finding these actors for these roles. I won't give away what they said, but it was a miracle this movie was made at all. The story is very good, and plays out well. I do not want to give it away, so I won't. Nice twist at the end. They did a good job of not quite letting you know what was going to happen.

One of the only things that I would have done was make this film longer. At 84 minutes, it seems too short. That would also have aloud more Cheryl development. All in all, an EXCELLENT movie! Michael Hurst (writer/director) ended up with a good film for all the hell it was to get made. Charis.xX 2006

Maybe not a Hitchcock, but at least a Demme . . .

[charlytully · 7/10 · 26 January 2009]

The people who have ripped this movie so far are the brain-dead sort who only rent flicks by genre, and then get all p----d off if a film deviates one jot from their preconceived least-common-denominator concept of that classification that has been drilled into their little pea-brains by FANGORIA or some other source of pubescent wisdom. The problem is that in their rush to share their ignorance with fellow know-nothings, folks of this ilk are often the first to comment here at IMDb, poisoning the well for fine "genre-benders" such as DARKROOM during those crucial first weeks and months on the rental spaces, before titles are steeply discounted or disappear altogether due to lack of appreciation by the general public for their true nature. It would be tempting to attribute comments by the likes of "moonfog_sof2" and "learagent" as part of "dirty tricks" campaigns on behalf of rival film distributors, but 1)most movie companies are not that savvy about the business world, and 2)clowns like the two mentioned above usually seem sincere in their hyperbole-filled wrong-headedness. If you recognize a friend with these annoying tendencies, please gently twist their arms to include some clear-cut disclaimer in their movie "summary" lines (such as "Haters listen up:" or "To my fellow dimwits:").

Even people who have seen a representative sampling of more than one hundred movies in their lifetime (including at least 10 of IMDb's 100 most popular of all-time) are unlikely to see DARKROOM's twist coming any earlier than they guessed the turn in CRYING GAME or SIXTH SENSE. Clairvoyant people who say they ALWAYS see twists coming probably should refrain from movie-watching, and certainly not bad-mouth passable flicks with ratings of "1" or "2" out of 10 and exaggerated carping to those of us that don't have their gifts of ennui and negativity.

A parade of no-good pathetic zeroes

[the_wolf_imdb · 2/10 · 3 November 2015]

What a waste of time! So there we go. Pathetic mental patient goes nowhere. Then he meets another zero good for nothing boy that goes to nowhere. Then we meet his good for nothing alcoholic mother that has abusive friend that happens to be an pervert and possibly serial murderer. They all are on their road to nowhere.

And the "heroes" manage to do nothing. Not a f*cking thing.

No one is saved, even friends.

In the end... nothing is gonna be okay. The mother? Probably the same drunk. The son? Still a weakling. The man? Still a good-for-nothing zero.

What a epic victory for no one...

Not all that spectacular and pretty unremarkable

[slayrrr666 · 5/10 · 8 June 2010]

"The Darkroom" is an utterly uninteresting drama-thriller with little to like about it.

**SPOILERS**

Stuck in a mental institution, Richard Dawson, (Reed Diamond) manages to escape and heads off into the world, meeting young Stan, (Shawn Pyfrom) along the way and becoming friends. Still struggling with his memories and a series of visions involving a strange demon that he has been seeing for awhile, their friendship develops as he escapes from his troubled home-life involving Cheryl, (Lucy Lawless) and Bob, (Greg Grunberg) taking their marital problems out on him. Becoming convinced something is going on after getting clues to they're strange behavior, inside his secretive dark-room they find his deadly secret that puts them all in trouble and forces them to deal with the deadly consequences before more of his friends are harmed.

The Good News: There was a few parts here that worked. Mainly, if the segment featured a demon-attack of some kind, it worked well, which includes him freaking-out from the drugs and hallucinating the demon emerging from the muddy-pit with its clawed hand and the ensuing fight with the security guards that enables his escape. Others include the attack at the homeless park, where the tied-up victim is stalked by the demon, is attacked and then turns to him, before having a great reveal later on with the discovery sequence. The cabin sequences are really enjoyable as well, with the tied-up friend being discovered followed by an incredibly chilling sequence where the killer toys with them for an excruciatingly-long time, and it's immensely effective because of that. With several ensuing brawls, a couple of fine stalking scenes within the area as well as a couple gory murders and the genesis for a series of his earlier dream sequences, it's the film's unquestioned highlight. Those dreams are usually nice, accomplished by a series of flash-edits featuring something clearly horror-based with a short-but-still-clearly-defined vision of what's going on. Witnessing several appear to be tied up with invisible chains as they bleed profusely from slit throats, to quick shots of the demon emerging from a muddy pit and blood-covered gardening tools and chains, these are all quite enjoyable and definitely manage to set-up the film's premise quite nicely and giving a few effective shock jolts from time-to-time. There's even an effective solo sequence where he becomes the victim he usually observes, chained up in the same manner by chains moving through the air by an invisible force, stalked by the demon and then attacked, getting a bit more blood in here but also offering up a pretty decent scene. The last plus in here is the film's nudity, nicely provided by a superb shower scene from an unlikely source that is really worthwhile due to how provides it, and a little sleazier one from captive women in photographs. These here are the film's good points.

The Bad News: There was a lot of problems with this one. One of the biggest faults here is the fact that the family home-life depicted wasn't interesting at all. Another one in a long-line of films to think depicting having a married couple quarreling is thrilling entertainment, these scenes just keep popping up for no reason other than to give an excuse as to why he's not around them all the time, and by the time they're on their third fight in as many days, it's old news and not worth exploring anymore. This goes hand-in-hand with the other big problem, that hardly any of this could be horror if it wasn't dealing with the demon. These guys becoming friends and their misadventures around town are just agonizing and endless, provide very little horror and interest, and in a horror film, to be left wanting about it when it isn't doesn't really endear itself too highly. That is the biggest issue, as it deals with a murderous demon and frightening visions, but it hardly ever feels like true-horror because it's too busy focusing on other useless areas that don't offer up anything all that interesting. Even more troublesome is that the central plot line manages to force up several rather immense plot holes due to how it's carried out, and is perhaps the biggest problem with this one. The fact that the film shows us the events in question weren't that far from home, to think no one would find him in the amount of time elapsed is laughable, and how it goes on just doesn't make any sense at all. Even more is the interactions while they're together, as it's painfully evident that he's a figment-of-the-imagination, yet despite some acting as though he is, other times he's not and appears to be there, despite the logical conclusion that it's all cyclical as to him visiting himself when he's younger and interacting with him. That whole part is a mess and is never really sorted out at all. The thing with the demons-constantly-appearing is also never explained, as there's nothing given as to why they show up, what they are or what they mean. They just disappear at the end, which is where the film shows its last flaw. The ending here is just way too laughable and clichéd to really do much and it results in eye-rolling, not a feeling that should be expected when it gets to that part. These here are the film's problems.

The Final Verdict: Despite having enough good stuff to really make it worthwhile, the fact that it overall just isn't all enough to overcome them is the real problem here. Really only recommended for those who are fans of the cast or enjoy these kinds of mind-trip films, while those that don't should heed caution.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence and Nudity

Not bad, a little different

[auctionmaster · 6/10 · 6 January 2020]

I actually kind of liked this, not epic but I liked it b/c its a little different. And yeah it's low budget of course, but that's ok. I found this b/c of Greg Grunberg after I watched Big Spider, I thought that movie was pretty funny actually (purposely stupid haha) so I figured I'd see what else he did. It is odd seeing him act in a different range though. Also of course Lucy Lawless, she's beautiful obviously, and great actress, I didn't even recognize her right away surprisingly b/c she normally has different hair. Well I just watched Ash vs Evil Dead and she is older in there too.

Anyways, for what this is, it's not bad. A little slow, and a little weird, but it makes sense later. Again the actors did a great job in my opinion. We even get to see the Jump to Conclusions guy briefly from Office Space haha.

I'd say check it out if you are bored and have nothing else to watch, you might like it. And like others have said, it's not a horror movie really, no. I did watch it twice in a row, so that must mean something. I kinda skipped through it right away (b/c of some of the bad reviews on here), so I watched it fully the second time to see what I missed. I'd say 5 or 6 out of 10 seems fair. Not excellent, but you gotta give them a little credit. That's just my opinion.

Well done

[gpeltz · 8/10 · 5 January 2014]

I had not heard of this one before, and was pleasantly surprised. There are horror elements, and blood and gore, but more important, the story is involving. The Actors credible, and the exposition pulled me right in. A good story of a man with amnesia, fighting off his own private monsters, and given a test medication to help him remember his bloody secret.

It seems that many movies today seek out a "twist" in the plot to surprise the audience. I can honestly say that I did not see this one coming, until it was finally revealed. The plot device led to a satisfying conclusion.

I gave the film an eight out of ten, Professional all the way, from acting, editing, production, and direction. It worked, and I liked it.

Very good!

[christosyr · 8/10 · 16 December 2019]

Remind me the old good horror films! Is worth it watch it!

very original

[danterahni_857 · 8/10 · 8 June 2011]

I really enjoyed this film, it kept me thinking and i thought the friendship between the man and boy was done really well, it could have been over played and misconstrued... but the innocence and genuine nature of the relationship was very clever. A lot of these films that involve flashbacks and dream scenes make no sense and try and show too much, however this film keep it interesting and help my interest till the end. SPOILER COMING: the beast and the dreams made the film quite edgy, and the twist i thought was going to be a sixth sense moment, but then it wasn't so I was pleasantly surprised. A good film and id quite happily buy it.

Where Does Bob Go At Night?...

[azathothpwiggins · 16 June 2022]

A man (Reed Diamond) in a mental institution, who's been suffering from amnesia for 15 years, is given an experimental drug to restore his memory. When things go awry, the man escapes, leading to a journey into the unknown.

Enter Stanley (Shawn Pyfrom), a boy whom the man helps to uncover the terrifying truth behind his stepfather Bob's (Greg Grunberg) secret life.

Meanwhile, a bizarre mud monster haunts the man's nightmares, and even his waking hours. How could this be connected with Stanley's situation?

THE DARKROOM is a rather disturbing horror film with a healthy dose of mystery tossed in. All of the characters are solid with a special shout out to Lucy Lawless, who plays against type as Stanley's abused, alcoholic mum...