I was reluctant to see this after reading some not so glowing reviews. Also the ratings r pretty low.
Saw lil bit on tv channel n got enticed into seeing this on a dvd.
The cinematography and the acting were the factors that convinced me to sit thru the entire film otherwise it's a very slow film n the horror element is almost nada. The monster is not given enuff screen presence, the kills r almost zero but the mountain trekking part transports us with the brothers.
The poster of the demon with the horns is also missing in the film but the lair of the creature n the mountain plateau is creepy.
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greggyde30 April 2017It's a Wendigo, a native superstitious creature, they sense what makes of a person, good & bad, if your a good spirited person but decide to shoot it to kill you'll most likely die, if your like the older brother well he would have died anyway,
If the younger brother had not shot at what he thought was a buck (deer) he more than likely would have not been captured by the Wendigo, But because he decided to prove to his older brother he was a mans man, He probably would have been left alone but still haunted by the creature till he left the area.
I feel there was much more to be told in the story but the director ran out of time & had to finish leaving us with a bland ending, There is a much better telling of this kind of movie actually titled Wendigo (2001)
Hope this helps. -
S_Soma8 March 2017SUMMARY
Craftsmanship (cinematography, acting, sound, music, etc.): 4/5
Story: 1/5
Total: 5/10
On the positive side, the fundamental workmanship of DEVIL IN THE DARK is very professional. The movie looks polished, the acting is believable for the most part, and the music and sound work well together to create a solid basis for a decently scary flick.
On the negative side, while all the ingredients are definitely there for a reasonably good story, they're all just left on the counter as it were. The complete structure of the story is never put together. While I always tick the IMDb review submission checkbox that says "may contain spoilers" as a basic safety precaution (because the folks at IMDb make it clear that if you DON'T and your review happens to contain a spoiler or two, you can kiss your IMDb account goodbye), it's actually a little difficult to write a spoiler because there are very few places in the story where I fully understand the meaning of what is going on and why. So it's difficult to reveal what I don't know.
As examples
I'm not really sure about the nature of the antagonist being(s). I don't even know for sure if there's one or more of them. Utterly nothing about it/them is ever explained: not what it/they are, not where it/they came from, any objectives and so on. Short of a freeze-frame, we don't even really get a good look at them as the movie takes pains not to show them to us. For all I can tell the entity/monster is nothing more than a crazy person in a suit with big deer antlers glued on.
I THINK there is a supernatural element to the goings-on, but I don't KNOW this. I more or less extrapolate this strictly from a couple of situations where the protagonist's eyes go all-black (the traditional visual effect for supernatural possession ) and they become enthralled.
There are deer antlers practically everywhere that has anything to do with the entity/creature/whatever. What's that all about?
The entity/creature/whatever appears to be in the habit of kidnapping people. For what reason?
One of the two main protagonists is clearly dead just before the end of the picture. And then, during the last half second of the last scene, he isn't. Huh?
What are the crows all about? What's with all the crows? Do they have some relationship to the entity/creature/whatever?
And the list goes on. Essentially, almost no answers about anything are given. Even questions regarding mundane interpersonal family issues are left unanswered. Did the father do something bad?
In the professional reviews of DEVIL IN THE DARK, much is made about the brotherly conflict between the two main protagonists; this is not surprising since the bulk of the movie is mostly devoted to depicting their interpersonal conflict in scene after scene. Certainly the movie portrays the two brothers as having practically nothing in common across the board right down to a variation of the "dad liked you best" fraternal resentment. The professional reviewers drone on and on about the conflict between the two brothers. Interestingly, in my opinion, the origin of this conflict is one of the few things clearly explained in the movie, and yet none of the professional reviewers even mention it.
Years ago, the younger brother, while only a little older than a toddler, had an absolutely terrifying brush with the entity/creature/whatever, all alone in the dark, dark woods, barely escaping the clutches of the thing at the last second, a fact none of the rest of the family are aware. Given that being out in the woods and hunting and suchlike was practically the theme of the family, it would certainly be no surprise that the younger brother would not be able to fit into that context from that point forward. Why does no one mention this?
My big hope for this movie is that it's the first part of a two-part set. If a sequel were made, all of these issues could be dealt with and all of the questions could be appropriately answered. If this were to happen then this first movie, instead of coming off as a sort of half-baked mess in which literally nothing is explained or resolved, could then be viewed in a far more positive light. -
shadowtree13 January 2021The description of this came across well to me since I am an outdoorsy person and enjoy a good bump-in-the-woods flick. Two brothers have grown up to be very different people, but once their father passes away they decide to take a hunting trip to honor him and spread his ashes... and along the way a demon shows up.
With the first scene, we see that Adam encountered a demon when he was much younger. This is referenced frequently, so we can figure it's the same one then and now. However, between the first few moments of tension and the last half hour or so, most of the dialogue is about the brothers fighting. Clint is his father's son, rugged and enjoys typically manly endeavors (he is also rough in his worldview, since he believes his brother might be gay for not enjoying hunting and uses language some may find offensive). Meanwhile, Adam is more intellectual and has refined tastes.
One of the plot issues in the film is that Adam is the one who asked to visit his brother, but he shows up late to dinner and after the meal he spends the remainder of the evening drinking with his buddies in the village. I think the movie would have made more sense if the two were closer and Adam showed more enthusiasm for the trip.
They expect to be out for 6 days in an area called The Plateau. They get pretty close by using an ATV, but Clint says they need to hike the final section. Near the end, Clint leaves his brother to return to his truck, retrieves the ATV, and drives back to the cave. But when Adam begs to hop on the ATV and leave, Clint says it's already out of gas. So that whole chain doesn't make much sense.
Another plot issue is that, despite reflecting back on times with their dad, and his apparent death, the point about them spreading his ashes is forgotten. In fact, I can't think of hearing them mention doing that through the whole film.
At various times, they hear noises in the woods, but it's not scary whatsoever. The occurrences don't build into anything until that last half hour or so.
From an outdoors/survival standpoint, there are clearly some problems. As an experienced outdoorsman, why doesn't Clint possess a rescue beacon of some sort so he doesn't need to rely on cell service? Why doesn't Clint bring along more gas for the ATV? How was Clint able to climb that large, steep rock wall - and, more importantly, get back down - in the dark aided only by headlamp? Why does Clint say it's going to be "very cold" but there's no snow or even frost?
Although, after all of that, I found it better than many movies in its class thanks to decent acting, pretty good scenery/settings, and well-shot videography. I also enjoyed the final couple of scenes. I wish they had done more with the creepy antler cave; the writer and producer could have extended that into more of an unwitting descent into this forbidden zone. And there were plenty of specific points on which some more clarity, or plain common sense, should have been applied. But it wasn't all bad and did contain some entertaining aspects. -
kaefab9 March 2017Before i rent a movie or watch it on the internet i like to read reviews, what i notice in the past few months is that a lot of people post fake reviews, your read the review and think wow this movie does look good, sometimes the fake reviews come a lot earlier then the real people that have seen the movie and fool people into either buying or renting the movie.
This movie is like a real boring drama between 2 brothers with a touch of supernatural here and there. Glad i rented this part of a 3 movie bundle and ended up paying 6$ of the whole bungle. But still don't believe the great reviews this movie is receiving been done a lot before and better. -
shibu-mathews16 July 2018The plot has too many unfinished plots. Even the ending is a unfinished story. Seems it was a movie made with lots of if's and the producer ran out of funds midway.
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I found some people saying this is is a boring movie but I found it quite the opposite. It's a different kind of horror and thriller - much more of a thriller than horror.
This movie focus a lot on the relationship of the two brothers because they are opposites, complete opposites to each other!
Nobody ever talks about the sound mixing but it is quite good - plus, the musics chosen are really good in my humble opinion.
The end, well, that's the part that gave me more chills and made angry at the same time, to be honest! -
In British Columbia, Adam (Robin Dunne) visits his estranged brother Clint (Dan Payne) to reconnect their relationship after fifteen years apart from each other. Clint has always been the favorite of their father Glen (Daniel Cudmore) and Adam feels grief and sorrow. The plan to go in a hunting party along the weekend to hunt deer and supersede their problems. When they stumble upon a cave surrounded by deer antlers, they flee from the spot. But they are chased and stalked by a supernatural creature. Will they escape alive from the being?
"Devil in the Dark" is a promising little film that begins as a drama switching to horror, but maybe with lack of budget to be completed. The cinematography and location are wonderful and the acting is good. But there are many subplots without explanation or conclusion. For example, Clint is the manager of a lumberyard and needs to fire four workers and what? When Clint and Adam were children, Adam went missing from his father Glen and Clint in the woods. What happened? What is the creature in the cave? What happened in the cave? My vote is four.
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This is a strange little flick that got me completely. The story looked not that promising, two brothers estranged because one was dad's favorite and the other one was the sissy, are going for a hunting hike deep into the woods.
Once in the woods this flick goes deep into characterisation and just when you think, okay no we know their backstory things slowly change into a supernatural flick.
It's not a big production which shows due the fact that it doesn't have any notable effects or even a spot of red stuff. What this flick do has is a good score, good acting and an all over atmosphere that creates slowly the creeps. Maybe you will be reminded of Blair Witch due the antlers hanging in trees and the night scene's full of weird noises but in fact this isn't a found footage.
I liked it a lot and clocking in under 90 minutes do adds towards the fact that it never is a boring flick even as it's mostly about the two brothers starting to know each other again. Nice surprise to start the year with.
Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5 -
P3n-E-W1s319 March 2017Nice poster shame about the film... well, shame about the story actually.
This is NOT a horror story, nor is it a thriller. Basically, this is a drama about two brothers and their relationship in relation to their father and his death. These two brothers, Clint, played admirably by Dan Payne, and Adam, nicely acted by Robin Dunne, are two very different people with different interests and lives. Though in an effort to build some kind of connection between them Adam asks his brother to go on a camping trip with him. Clint turns it into a hunting trip. Adam agrees though he doesn't like hunting.
Adam suffers from a reoccurring nightmare where he's a kid lost in the woods. He finds himself in a strange clearing of dead trees that are decorated with stags antlers. There's something in the woods with him though he never gets to see what it is.
Imagine his horror when on the hunting trip with his brother they find themselves in the very same dead tree clearing.
It takes half of the film to get to this point. Up until then, we see the brothers arguing with each other, remembering past times, reconciling over other things. Even though the actors do a good job with their characters it's the story, written by Carey Dickson, that makes them unbelievable. It's not until the second half of the film that we're told it was Adams idea to come see his brother; if this is the case then why does he arrive late to dinner, wasting time driving around the town, and leave quickly afterwards to spend time with his old drinking buddies getting drunk. This doesn't ring true and there are plenty of other places in the script that feel the same way.
The director, Tim Brown, doesn't bring anything to the film. Instead of creating an atmosphere of unease and terror in Adam's dreams or when the brothers are troubled in the woods, he just gives the audience a bland rendition of the story.
The big letdown of the film is the reveal of the woodland monster. If you're a horror fan you'll know instantly where you've seen the naked blind albino humanoid form before - in a better more terrifyingly atmospheric movie, is where. On the heels of that is the "twist" at the climax. It's been done before and better - you just know it's coming. It's meant to leave you with a chill. It just left me sighing and shaking my head.
There are some good elements in the film which should have been built upon. The dead tree clearing. The stag's antlers. The antler tunnel. With these alone, a good writer should be able to form a story to chill the bones.
If you like horror films or thrillers then stay away from this movie, you won't get anything out of it. Though if you like dramas with moaning brothers in them... I still wouldn't recommend it. -
tattoopig8 March 2017Two brothers go into the woods on a hunting trip to repair their fractured relationship, only to find that they are not the only ones hunting! The star of this film is the scenery - the most beautiful forests and mountains and valleys, all filmed from the air. But as the characters get closer to danger, this all changes and the landscape becomes dry, denuded and barren.
There is a lot of time spent on the relationship of the two lead characters, but this is not at all boring because it is so realistic and the acting so strong. For me, the relationship between the brothers is a metaphor for our broken relationship with Nature; the creature, Nature itself getting payback for the damage inflicted by us.
There is a great twist ending to the film, which is always a favorite trope for me (I am an 80's "kid", when twists were mandatory!)...
I highly recommend this film and will be adding it to my collection. -
s327616911 March 2017Devil in the Dark's an interesting little film.
Its actually not an easy one to review either. You can see a lot of familiar tropes on offer here.There are elements reminiscent of The Omen, The Descent, Blair Witch (without the annoying shaky camera thing or a witch), films like Snow Beast (for those of us who remember 70's horror) and no doubt others you can think of.
All of this takes place in a wilderness setting, offering lots of atmosphere, with some genuinely creepy, nighttime scares. What is particularly praiseworthy about this film, is how the stark outdoorsy scares are transported back to civilization in the closing scenes of the film. An interesting final twist that raises the hairs on the back of the neck.
The acting is not too shabby either, with a somewhat predictable back story that establishes the fractious relationship between two brothers.
All in all not a bad little horror flick. I give Devil in the Dark a seven out of ten. -
This movie is a waste of time, the disorganized editing and the confusion of flashbacks and fake-outs mixed with a stretched out plot. There are several loose ends and scenes that needed to be scraped the moment they where filmed. It seems like a 3 hour movie cut at the middle with no resolution. Do not watch
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a_cmc_b9 June 2018The movie has the potential to be good, but just when you think it finally is going to get good, it just goes off, leaving you hanging and not really understanding anything. I hate movies like this one, it's like whoever made it said let's see how many people we can make mad by making them think they are going to see a great movie, but instead we're just going to tease them and leave them wondering what was really going on...
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DenislavNikolov_Shorty1 July 2017I wasted my time... Bad script, bad cinematography, bad focus assistant, bad story, bad lighting, bad actors, poor CG, GOOD drone shots. Slow and painful to watch movie. So much noise in the picture!!! Long and painful scenes and nothing is happening in them. Unclear purpose, unclean story. OK we get the family drama, lame and common, but nothing for the creature, for it's motive.
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anthony-737-8312969 November 2018Interesting treatment of the 'Id,' sibling rivalry, hormone drives, love, regret, guilt.
The undertone is possibly alien abduction.
The creature resembles a grey, the darkening of eyes and the restraint scenarios.
The suggestion that they had been there before and fragmented dream memories seems to be redolent of greys abilities of mind control and palpable suggestion.
Anticipated the very ending, but I often do. 🥂 -
devils_neighbor_66711 August 2019I actually enjoyed this film! The setting really adds to the terror and the two brothers having to see past their differences and fight to the end builds tension. Doesn't have the most thought out storyline, but I still recommend viewing.
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TheLittleSongbird5 May 2018'Devil in the Dark' drew me into seeing it, with a cool and creepy poster, an intriguing idea with a potentially relatable central relationship and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.
Actually found 'Devil in the Dark' fairly watchable, if not an easy film to rate or review. Had to think long and hard about what my thoughts were and how to articulate them. 'Devil in the Dark' is not great, or good, has a fair share of problems (fairly big ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There are however a number of decent, even good, qualities in 'Devil in the Dark', at least it wasn't intelligence insulting or inept (unlike some films seen recently) and the potential is not completely squandered.
Lets start with the positives. The scenery is very atmospheric, likewise with the very nice way it's shot. The music is suitably spooky and doesn't distract at all from the atmosphere, while not exactly enhancing it. The acting is better than average from the whole cast.
There are some scary and suspenseful moments once the film gets going and the central family relationship does have some genuine emotion, with the origin of the conflict being one of the few things agreed made completely clear.
However, the story does feel over-stretched, especially in the first half, and too much of it feels vague, under-explained and gives off the sense of incompletion, with more loose ends than you can count. There is too much overlong exposition and too many extraneous scenes that could have been cut, and the central relationship/family scenes are too heavily focused on in favour of generating more scares.
Dialogue can be stilted while the pace is uneven, especially in the first half where things take too long to get going. Didn't find the ending that scary or surprising and the big reveal was more silly than shocking.
Overall, watchable but not devilish enough. 5/10 Bethany Cox -
rsforss3 March 2021The acting, the plot, all of that was much more than I expected going in. The two estranged brothers are actually rather stellar in portraying their fraught relationship. Honestly, I'd say the brother's relationship is the main selling feature of this film, not the monster, and that's probably where some of the let down is.
That, and the effects are probably the biggest weakness of this film, as they're actually rather shoddy, and yes, that does take points out of this review. -
Howling_at_the_Moon_Reviews10 February 2022This movie definitely had potential but maybe fell a little short, but watchable nonetheless
Story was not crazy original but still good and Intriguing. I would say the best part about this movie is the acting. The guys did a surprisingly good job.
The pacing was a bit off with far too much exposition ( and yet things still felt under explained) and nothing particularly exciting happening till over half way through. The terrible CGI was quite disappointing, I would have rather seen someone in a morph suit than that lol there was also a lot of back and forth, physically and dialogue wise that was on the verge of feeling drawn out and tired, but just on the verge. Probably could have shaved about 20 min off. The ending, while again not crazy original or unexpected, was still good and felt right for what the movie was so I liked it.
All in all it was a decently watchable film but nothing to write home about. Would recommend maybe for a rainy day. -
hemipirate31 May 2018I liked it a lot. Creepy/monotonous music, woodsy, proper gun handling, excellent ending.
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It kept my interest and I really wanted to understand it all. I thought it would all come together and answer all thise unanswered questions. A nice tidy ending. But it didn't. For me that did not make the movie bad. I for one liked this movie and will watch another time to catch somr nuances that i may have missed.
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kianoosh_99916 March 2017It ends meaninglessly and I hate this kind of movies and I think that I have wasted my time by watching it. I'm sorry for people who created this movie because of wasting all that budget and money to make a movie that doesn't have a story at all. I think that if you wanna make a movie, first of all you should have a good story and then start making the movie based on that story. this is not a story "two brothers going to hunt and then something mysterious attacks them and kills one of them and the movie ends..." what does it mean?
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ivan_dmitriev7 February 2019
- Character conflict is stereotypical, everything is a clichéd interaction between "sensitive guy" and "redneck guy and his redneck dad"
- Characters are unmemorable, I literally couldn't have told the characters apart (the brothers from their dad and their girlfriends from their mom)
- Character development is nonexistent
- The soundtrack consists of 2 boring repetitive segments of toned down inception noise and tonedeaf sad plinking on the piano
- The cinematography is AWFUL; don't let other people deceive you into watching this for the views - a home video of uncle Frank getting drunk in the woods has better cinematographic quality than this
- The monster and the supernatural effects are simply too old and not scary anymore.
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Not bad for what it is, although it does seem rushed and unfinished. I need to know what happens after they get home!