Dark Was the Night (2014)

Thanks for the memories!

Brilliant and touching

Blistering performances.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The Three Acts:The initial tableaux: The very beginning of the film is consists of archival footage of logging backed up with atonal, jump-out-of-your-skin music. Trees are ripped apart, with chunks of them turned to chips by automatic machinery. Tree trunks are dumped skinned (figuratively speaking) of their bark, separated from limbs and roots, on the ground for future pickup.Next we switch to a staged logging site with modern photography, no current tree destruction, and next to no sound. The site is closing down for the weekend; a winter storm is coming in. The foreman checks up on the last crew still on the (moderately) secure and closed site. This does not go well. The early splatter set my expectations going in the wrong direction for a moment. This is more of a suspenseful film.Delineation of conflicts: Near the town of Tanner, the logging company cuts down trees to produce lumber to sell. Creatures in that wooded area are forced to move to find a new habitat. In Maiden Woods, to the south of Tanner, the local animal owners would like their animals to be safe, while the new creatures in the woods are hungry. Hunters would like to shoot deer as usual, and wonder about the migration of animals.The local Sheriff, Paul Shields, his wife Susan, and their remaining son Adam are separated after the death of their other son, Tim. Everyone in town wants the sheriff to heal from this, but he is wallowing in it. Various religious themes are batted about with little consensus. Is the creature the devil, or some animal thought extinct? Does the Sheriff need to reconnect to the deity, or is he just lost in sorrow? Was the deputy from New York City 'meant' to have moved to the film's small town, or was this just a single workaholic man drifting through life?While dealing with his emotional issues, Paul has to help out the town, the horse owners, the hunters, and the Sheriff's department by figuring out what's going on.Resolution: The Sheriff, Deputy Saunders, the forest rangers, and local hunters get closer to understanding the threat to Maiden Woods. Is there a workable solution?

I like scary movies. I like monster movies. I like "Alien" type movies. But this film is the poorest hodgepodge of all of these. Kevin Durand acts with his eyes....GREAT! But you never once believe he can protect a town as sheriff, or that he can even be a sheriff. Lukas Haas is totally unbelievable as a transplanted NYer, coming to this town after a murky (to say the least) shooting incident that happened in Manhattan. While I am on the subject of Luke, and it really doesn't even deserve an observation in this review, his possible new girlfriend in Bunkville doesn't even deserve a part (the actress, herself or in the script). The sheriff's wife and son are so generic that you have forgotten them 15 seconds after they appear on film. Finally, the monster. All CGI effects cast by the wayside, which in this case were JOKE...JOKE...JOKE. I felt like I was watching "Predator" filmed in Redding, CA. Some posts mention a surprising twist at the end. I have read so many "surprising twists at the end" on IMDb that the words have lost all meaning. I have no idea what the surprise twist was unless it was the movie ending a few minutes before the runtime which was GREAT! It's a stupid movie made by a stupid production group probably hoping to earn enough money to make next month's mortgage payment. THAT'S MY REVIEW!

I really enjoyed this movie it wasn't the same old rubbish involving some annoying kids who go out into the woods & get killed one by one. This was well written & well-acted with depth to the characters involved. The story line keeps you intrigued as to what is going to happen next & whether the Sheriff (Kevin Durand) will come through his hardship & face his demons in more ways than one. The pain of losing a child was etched all over the sheriff's face. The heartache of not only losing his child but then blaming himself & retreating from the people who love him was well portrayed. Yes there could have been more of the creature in this film but it didn't take much away from the film. It is not a slasher blood & gore kind of horror it is a leave it to your imagination kind of film which keeps you hooked right to the end. The ending was a bit predictable but still the film held up well to any good horror I have seen over the last few years. Good to see Kevin Durand have a good lead role I have only ever seen him in the Strain & for all it is a bit B movieish at times he plays a good part in that show & this proves he is a good actor & can deliver. A good Movie that keeps you in suspense from start to finish. 7 out of 10 for me.

This is the type of movie that you will see once and then forget about it within the week. Nothing special at all about it. It could have been much better if you didn't have to wait until the last two minutes of the movie to see the actual creature / monster. Not that it is a real bad movie or so, but it's just not good enough to watch a second time in the future. The whole movie you hope that you will see the monster and that hell will break loose. But none of this happens and you wonder why. The actors were okay without being sublime or so. If you have absolutely nothing else to watch then it's okay to watch Dark was the night, otherwise just skip it and watch something way better.