Dark Reel (2008)

good back-story, and good acting

Absolutely Fantastic

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I know Dark Reel has been getting some negative reviews but I think some of them are a little harsh. I know it has it's faults but it is still a solid film that does give some nice scenes and good acting. Edward Furlong plays Adam Waltz, a horror movie buff who has been dumped by his girlfriend who he followed from Virginia to Los Angeles. He wins a contest, the prize being a walk-on role in Pirate Wench, a schlocky movie being made by Connor Pritchett the head of the studio played by Lance Henriksen. Things become complicated by several murders on set which throws the film into disarray and soon Adam's role become larger and larger as the cast becomes smaller.Tony Todd as Detective Shields and his partner, Detective LaRule played by Rena Riffel are both good in their roles, but it is Lance Henriksen who really carries it. Tiffany Shepis as the lead actress, Cassie Blue is great. She shows some real personality in a role that could easily have become just another paycheck part. Edward Furlong is likable but could have been a little stronger in the role of a horror movie fan who finds himself in a real-life horror movie complete with ghosts and murders galore.Alexandra Holden as Scarlett May, the 1950's actress that is murdered at the very beginning of the movie and who comes back via her image on film stock is quite good.Jeffrey Vincent Parise as Derek Deeds the rude director and Jake Grace as the onion eating lead actor Rhett Johnson are a lot of fun to watch.Emmanuel Xuereb as Harris Briggs, the head of the creative department is very good and rather overshadows Edward Furlong.The film is not without its faults. I liked the musical score and the premise of the story, a murdered actress comes back to try and warn Adam about the murders that are being committed. The Opening scenes with Scarlett May being dismembered in front of the movie cameras is also one of the best opening scenes in any horror movie. But the movie drags a little and at times, the characters could be annoying. Still not a bad film if you have nothing else to do.

The first scene of the film grabs your attention; a man with no name who looks like a throw back from the 40's enters a bar and makes small talk with a damsel in distress. He worms his way into her heart and into his warehouse where he is directing her into her grave. The rest of the film is forced especially the acting except for the actor, Jeffrey Vincent Parise, who adds some life to this dead dud. Edward Furlong looks like he has been on a bender and needs to take a time out. Their is too much talking and not enough killing. I mean, come on, this is a horror film not a soap opera! Honestly, there is nothing to recall about this film. I did use the fast forward button a lot. Don't waste your time and effort.

Thats Really A big big big flop. Acting is really awful you will feel like you are watching a comedy music is bad the killer looks so funny will make you laugh you will regret 2 hours of your life you wasted watching this movie like what i feel now that i'm wasting 10 minutes writing this post :) the only good scene in the movie is the first one this scene makes you feel like you are going to watch an amazing movie the movie depends on two bloody scenes and thats it. the funny thing is the scene when the producer was talking with an actor and he said "We are making money here who gives a s!!t about performance" it was like he is talking really about the movie it self :)

If you are really looking for that classic horror slash comedy movie that you grew up watching with a group of friends in the theaters, this may be one of those movies. It's about time someone made a movie like this, it brought back some good memories. I was expecting cheesy acting, bad editing, and choppy sound but none of those things ever happened. I have to admit that originally I had no desire to watch "Dark Reel". The only reason that I even watched the movie was because my wife was pregnant and for some reason she had to watch it because of the title. To my surprise it was actually very good. No matter how hard I tried not to like it I still got sucked in. Now I'm looking for director Josh Eisenstadt's next movie.