Darkness Waits (2020) User Reviews

Really wanted to like this but....

[rosecalifornia · 3/10 · 8 July 2020]

Living in California I get how it is making a movie low budget or no budget. And I really wanted to like a husband and wife team starting from the bottom.

And since this is IMDB - there is no reason for me to do a summary.

Unsure if the actors were paid or did this for free screen time but all the acting it totally flat, and I mean totally stiff and flat. The dialogue, script, flat, slow.

The older gentleman at the town meeting - you will love this guy because he is clearly not acting, just being casual and himself...very funny! And clearly wearing him own clothing, which was great - the others wearing ill fitting jackets and shirts.

The only one that seemed even remotely comfortable acting was the young woman in the opening screen wearing shorts and heels. I think she will be able to find more work as long as she finds similar type of character parts.

Why three stars instead of one? The cinematographer actually - gasp - filmed normally! No shaky- cam! That alone deserves 3 stars.

Exceptionally poor acting, but nice cinematography

[spirlinw · 2/10 · 15 September 2020]

The acting in this film was among the worst I've ever seen. It was almost cartoonishly flat and uninterested, and in fact it was so bad at the beginning that I thought for a second it was one of those "fake documentary" movies where the cast acts as though they're badly reading off a script while filming an in-universe documentary, then showcases their real acting talent in the supposed behind-the-scenes dialogue. But no, apparently it wasn't intentional. Dialogue wasn't great either, but it probably could have worked if the actors weren't as bad.

However, I second the other review praising the cinematography. Nothing fancy but it was well done and a vast improvement over the usual shaking, jerky cams in found footage-related films. Hoping more films in this wheelhouse take this approach going forward.

Really Bad Low Budget Movie, bad acting and bad directing.

[jkwong-66990 · 2/10 · 20 January 2021]

The cover is really tempting but when you start watching it you know it's a bad low budget movie. The director takes too long wasting film on scenes that are less important. The actors are really amateur that you can tell they are reading from a script. The killer is not even frightening or mysterious, not to mention the special effects are poorly done that does not even create the scare that will make you jump out of your seat. I'm not a movie director or editor but a lot of the important scenes that could make it interesting was deleted or not put in. For example, when some people got killed they did not show how they got killed but only showed the dead bodies. It's one of those movies that the first few minutes of watching and you start getting bored to watch the rest. I try to give it till the end but just couldn't continue to finish the whole movie. I've see low budget movies that are made really good, but this is really poorly done.

Dumbness Waits

[tmccull52 · 1/10 · 25 March 2023]

The movie opens with one of the most overused tropes in the history of horror movies: a group of 20-somethings head out to the woods to get as high or as drunk as possible, as quickly as possible. In this case, three hippie chicks head out to "Dead Woman's Hollow" in their vintage VW micro bus, and drop tabs of acid.

We are also treated to another grossly overused trope: another group of 20-somethings decides to venture forth to "Dead Woman's Hollow" to investigate a series of mysterious, violent, unsolved murders. They're going to a place that they've never been to before, where other people have died, and they bring absolutely nothing to protect themselves with.

As if these overused plot devices aren't enough, the "investigative team" consists of the same cardboard cut-out characters... the determined, hard-bitten leader, the dumb jock who has to go or his grades will suffer and he won't be able to play his chosen sport, the saucy harlot who can't wait to get naked and spread 'em for pretty much anybody with a pulse, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda.

To this recipe, throw in a cast who can't act, a terrible soundtrack and score, and a non-existent budget. What could go wrong, right?

I'll tell you what could go wrong; "Darkness Waits", that's what.

A rather fine indie follow-up that has quite a lot to like

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 2 April 2023]

Investigating a local legend, a group of paranormal researchers heads out to a spot in the wilderness looking into reports of ghost sightings in the woods, but when they realize they've come upon a psychotic killer rumored to be responsible for other murders they band together with the police to survive.

There was a lot to like with this one. One of the finer aspects of this one is the rather intriguing setup that provides this one with a nice connection to the previous film while staying a solid singular entity. Taking the events of the first one as a singular point with the killer still being on the loose in the same area of the woods but now bringing in the paranormal research team looking into him but being completely unaware of that previous rampage, their exploits in trying to uncover the supernatural only to stumble into the realistic is a great ploy that manages to bring about some rather interesting connections here when used in conjunction with the investigation into the events on the outskirts of their trip into the woods. As the police officers are looking into the trail of bodies left behind while the team conducts their search, this all comes together rather well for a solid enough storyline at play here. As well, there's also some fun here with the confrontations in the woods where these various beings are interconnected throughout the middle part of the film. With the initial attacks focusing on the killer stalking and confronting the team of students in the woods where he can use a few intriguing tactics to offer some solid suspense with how he sets up the situation before taking them out, which lets both the stalking over the walkie-talkie or coming across the tongue-less victim in the woods. There's also the series of low-budget shootouts here that take place throughout the woods, at the lake where the recovered bodies are found, or at the cabin where they encounter the individual thought to be the killer, but the course of events turns this into a bit more energetic fare than normal which ends everything a fine note. These factors manage to make this one quite likable for what it is. There isn't much wrong here, but it does have some issues. Among the biggest factors here is the wholly disjointed storyline about the killer left in the area as a mythic being that's credited for a series of rampages in the area for a far greater time than what should be the case. Stated to be responsible for a crime-spree in the location dating back for a century, and for sure blamed for a crime spree in the area nearly forty years earlier which make perfect sense, the whole idea of him also being the culprit for the original series of massacres would indicate a supernatural presence which is perfectly fine. However, the whole thing being said as a legitimate flesh and blood human is a bit harder to justify which makes this part of the film rather confusing and underwhelming. As well, much like the original, there's also cases where the low budget gets brought on display which isn't as obvious as the original or as detrimental as the previous issue but still holds it down slightly.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Brief Nudity.