Passed the Door of Darkness

I don't believe that I have ever left a review here before, but having just watched this film, and reading some of the reviews, I felt like I needed to chime in. I have to say that I was actually intrigued for the entire running time. Yes it's something of a slow-burn pot boiler, but it never seemed "slow". The pacing kept me interested in what was coming and how it was going to unfold. It kept me guessing but I was never confused as to what was going on.

As for the acting, I thought that most everybody gave excellent showings. I'm not sure where the negative reviews on performances are coming from, but everyone, especially Mark Colson, did a great job. The lead, Matthew Prater, was OK. He was at his best when doing scenes that required him to let loose and get angry, which come to think of it, was most of the time. Kathryn Avery Hansen as detective MacCasey's daughter also shined bright in this piece. James M. Connor as Stephens--again, top notch.

I have this on one of those 20 horror film collections and, while a number of the movies in there are abysmal, this one was something of standout for me. Sure it's low budget, sure the print is a little dark in some places and the audio is a bit low at times, but there is nonetheless some great talent in both storytelling and performance here. Also, the death scenes are pretty darn well edited and look quite real. If you like crime thrillers, I definitely think that Passed The Door Of Darkness is worth a viewing.

The premise of this movie sounded pretty good. In fact, I'm going to quote the TV guide information:

"Brutal serial 'chiller'. A crazed psychopath leads detectives on a trail of blood-curdling death as he turns normally stable citizens into killers in the most gruesome fashions imaginable." Now what does that sound like? Does it sound like this murderer has the ability to turn people crazy, homicidal even? Well that's what I expected, but no. This is one in a long line of movies trying to cash in on the success of Saw with a killer who has a message to deliver to his victims, except this killer's MO is to put people in "traps" that will kill them when their family members open the door, suspecting nothing wrong.

Maybe that doesn't sound so bad. I mean with so many people trying to cash in on Saw the laws of averages suggest some have to have some talent.

Too bad the killer doesn't have too much to do with this movie. All I can say without spoiling things is that the older detective has some unrelated issues, and that's what the second half of the movie ends up focusing on.

I disagree with the prior posting of bad on this movie.If you were not paying attention then you most likely would not enjoy the movie,although it would be pretty hard not to be interested at all in this movie PASSED THE DOOR OF DARKNESS,it contained one of the most well thought out mysteries of all,MURDER SUICIDES, the pain of life and LOVE and each persons way of dealing with personal demons in their life. This movie is a lesson we should all take notice of, for it has far reaching arms that touch all of us in life.And if all you do is watch a movie to judge it then you should not be watching any movie at all for they all are written by people with a message,miss the message and pay the consequence,of not knowing more to life than you know!!!

Of the three movies I have seen from Night Light Films, "Passed the Door of Darkness" is without doubt the best. The screenplay this time around tries to be a little thoughtful, dealing with some serious themes. Some of the acting by the no-name cast is also pretty decent. And the movie does display some seriously messy corpses here and there. However, all of that is not enough to save the movie. Like other Night Light productions, the movie is seriously cheap, ranging from tacky sets to inadequate lighting (why doesn't anyone turn on a light in this movie?) The so-called twist ending will no doubt be guessed by most viewers long before it happens. However, the biggest problem with the movie is that it's way too long and drawn out. While it doesn't get to the point of being seriously boring, viewers will repeatedly be telling the movie to simply get on with it - that is, if they don't turn off this Night Light long before it ends.

This movie is, hands down, one of the worst I've seen in a long time. The script is nothing but terrible, clichéd lines, the acting is atrocious, and many of the stylistic touches are annoying (especially certain scenes where the characters' lines are echoed, as if the director didn't trust us to remember the important ones). I feel bad for the people who worked on this film, because they probably thought it would turn out really moody and suspenseful. Instead, I found myself laughing at the lame "twist ending" and nearly dozing off at certain points. What a waste of time. I almost never comment on this site, but this movie was just so bad that I had to come here and warn others about it.