User reviews

I sought out to see the handful of entries into the horror genre achieved by the late, great Brion James, which led me to check out "The Dark". It turned out to be an adequate late-night movie, owing a lot to the creature features from the 50s. The concept of the monster in this film is original and intriguing, and the thing itself is actually scary-looking, too. The triple conflict between the monster, the hero scientist who wants to preserve it, and the vengeful cop who wants to kill it adds to the story's effectiveness. A few contrivances and assumptions are forced on the viewer towards the start of the movie, especially how the hero survives his encounter with the creature in the opening sequence, and his initial 'adventure' with the waitress-cum-reluctant-sidekick, subsequently followed by their proper introduction at a nearby motel. But it's all worth it once the characters reach the cemetery under which the monster dwells. Most of the action takes place in a single night, which is always a plus for horror. And the whole picture has a very nice, um, 'dark' atmosphere to it.

I was surprised to see Neve Campbell's name appear in the opening credits, and although I was never a particular fan of her, she turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise in "The Dark". Brion James is excellent as the ruthless former detective hellbent on revenge against the creature at any cost. And Stephen MacHattie plays up his undeniable resemblance to Lance Henriksen by doing his best to act like LH, too. Worth watching as a late night rental. Though it never spawned a sequel, it probably deserved to, and I like to think it could still happen. Especially if they can get Neve to be in it! 5/10

THE DARK is an ambitious film, really one of the more interesting horror premises in years. Not wholly original, but it's more of a 50's throwback with a fine sense of purpose which is just to have some fun. A giant rodent with a hankering for dead people digs tunnels under cemeteries to get at it's food source. An ex-FBI agent is out to kill it while a scientist wants to capture it for study. It seems some goop it excretes helps quickly regenerate tissue in humans for quick healing.

THE DARK is from Imperial Entertainment, who seemed to specialize in off-kilter genre product. Almost family films, until you're quickly jarred by some extreme violence or out of place profanity. They're pleasantly odd as is THE DARK. It's a little slow in places and I'd have to pin that on the director Pryce. He could've really moved this sucker along. Brion James (RIP) gives a really bad performance; he's just picking up a paycheck. McHattie's a likable non-actor, like Steve McQueen, and his MOVING VIOLATION from the 70's is one of my favorite drive-in films. Of course, Neve is in it, she looks great, but let's face it, she can't act. She's done alright though, a lot better than I, so more power to her. THE DARK is fun, worth seeing, but not if you have to go out of your way.

Police detective Paul Buckner chases a suspect into a graveyard where the suspect is killed by an unknown creature. Gary 'Hunter' Henderson (Stephen McHattie) happens to be visiting a grave at the time and witnesses the event. Two years later, he is determined to hunt down the creature. There are angry bikers, a diner waitress, grave diggers, two local deputies, and detective Buckner.

It's a low grade Canadian horror. I like the underground premise but I don't like cheap monster suit. The most notable is that this is Neve Campbell's film debut in a supporting role as a deputy. The acting is generally fine. Otherwise, it's weak in almost every other way.

A scientist and an ex-FBI man are both hunting for a strange creature that lives underground and feeds on the bodies of the dead. This strange monster has the ability to heal deadly wounds, but the ex-FBI agent (played with wild menace by the great Brion James) is determined to kill it because it killed his partner. Be sure to look for an early career appearance by Neve Campbell as a young Deputy.

Because of the average script, combined with a decent cast, this movie manages to somewhat overcome the fact that the monster looks like an extra from a 1950's horror movie. Worth a watch, but not a whole lot more.

Give the Canadians their due, they have produced some good directors (Atom Egoyan, Denis Arcand) and some good films (The Decline of the American Empire, The Sweet Hereafter, Felicia's Journey). This ain't one of them.

It's your standard monster-loose-in-a-graveyard flick featuring a giant rat that could have come from a 1950's grade-z movie. The Killer Shrews has more convincing giant mammals and FX than this film. Worth only watching to see Neve Campbell in an early role (she must have needed the money) and why Stephen McHattie's acting style gives new meaning to the word 'minimalist'. He makes Lance Henriksen look like Jerry Lewis.

I rented The Dark just to see Neve Campbell in it. I was expecting something that at the least wouldn't make me want my money back. I got even better! The Dark is a very interesting movie about a scientist turned hunter who is determined to find the deadly animal that saved his life two years ago. But he isn't the only one after the miraculous creature who can either heal or kill. A unique movie in a sea of recreations and old movies being revamped. The story is very interesting and the characters have histories and personalities. When you watch it, at least in my case, you end up wishing for more not from disatisfaction but for more goodness. Plus, Neve Campbell looks great as a policewoman!

This movie was pretty good overall with excellent performances from the cast except for Neve Campbell who had just an average performance at best in her big screen debut. The cinematography was excellent along with the creature and special effects plus the script was well written.

Strange tunnels beneath a cemetery lead monster hunters into a labyrinth where hides a corpse eating giant mutated rodent. Pretty ridiculous premise is somewhat saved by interesting characters. Stephen McHattie is the scientist wanting to keep the creature for science, while, the always evil, Brion James wants to kill it. The subterranean gut cruncher is well hidden for most of the film. This is a good thing, because it tends to mask it's low budget shortcomings. For me, "The Dark" is only kept from monster movie oblivion, by the presence of Brion James. Otherwise this film would be completely forgettable. - MERK

I think this movie is one in a million.. I watched it last night on BBC 1, obviously because Neve Campbell is in it. I think she is gorgeous and is a great young Actress in it.. I mean.. It's not every day you find a great Actress at such a young age.. I think Neve was 19 in it. I have to admit.. The Actors/Actresses wern't the best (An exception to Neve) of Actors and the Movie was a bit fake.. But I was kept entertained throughout the whole Movie! I loved it!

This is a movie that I had never heard until I was working my way through a horror movie encyclopedia. It has been helpful in finding some of these lesser known titles that are a bit more obscure when rounding out my viewing history. I was impressed to see Stephen McHattie's name listed for it. Aside from that, I came in pretty blind except for reading the little blurb that went with it. The synopsis here is something is alive beneath the surface of the graveyard, something with the power to destroy and the power to heal. One man is determined to kill this mysterious creature while another wants to study it.

We start this movie off with a man drunk in a cemetery. He is Gary 'Hunter' Henderson (McHattie) and he's at the grave of his deceased wife. It is raining and he is drinking away his sorrows. Also in this cemetery are two FBI agents, one of them being Paul Buckner (Brion James). They are hunting something. Things don't as planned as Buckner's partner is taken and Hunter ends up shot. He is then taken into custody where he's roughed up by Buckner and told to forget what happened in the cemetery.

The movie then jumps 2 years later. Hunter is driving long distance and we see that Buckner is following him. Hunter ends up at a small diner where the waitress, Tracy (Cynthia Belliveau), is coming on to him. There is a biker there, Bruce Beaton, who is rude and wants her attention. When he gets too unruly, Hunter steps in. The biker isn't alone and it ends in a shoot-out. Hunter and Tracy flee together, but are now on the run.

We then get to meet two of our other characters. Jake (Dennis O'Connor) works at this cemetery from the beginning and Ed (Jaimz Woolvett) is an apprentice of sorts. He is a bit green with the job and Jake mocks him. They notice something weird going on in the cemetery though. A tombstone falls into a tunnel underneath it. The men both fall into holes as well. We get to see that there is something living down there and it is big.

Everything converges here. Hunter and Tracy arrive with him wanting to capture this creature. Buckner wants to kill it. Jake and Ed call the local police as to what is happening, which includes Jesse Donovan (Neve Campbell) who is a young deputy. It becomes a night that none of them will forget as they come face to face with this very old and pretty much undiscovered until now creature.

I think that gets you up to speed with what the movie is doing. Where I want to start is with the positives. The first would be that I can get behind the idea of this movie. It isn't all that original here with an unknown creature living under the ground. What I do think is interesting though is that it has healing properties from a liquid that it excretes. Hunter uses it for a wound he has and he also uses it on another character later. He is a doctor, so I could see him wanting to study this creature for this reason. An issue I have here though, his plan is pretty weak.

What is interesting here as well is the character of Buckner. I find it so becuse he just wants to destroy the creature. He is part of the FBI I believe. Usually you have the hero wanting to either kill the creature or preserve it. Since Buckner is our villain, I feel like they usually have some maniacal plan, but the extent of his is really just to kill this thing. I don't hate this playing with the conventions of what we are used to for a movie like this.

Then the last part of the story would be creature itself. I think there are some good aspects and some that don't work for me. This is supposed to be prehistoric animal that didn't die out. I'm assuming there had to be some evolution for it since it has fur. To be honest it looks like a giant rat or even a werewolf to an extent. I do know that Hunter states whatever this is; the fossils they found never got to be this big. Being that it has fur, it would have to have evolved to fully work since dinosaurs didn't have hair. I do like this element of this goo it has that speeds up healing in humans. There are also some definitely Lovecraftian vibes here as well.

Where I think I'll go next would be the effects. I will admit that the copy of this I saw wasn't in great shape. I'm assuming it was ripped from VHS which would explain that. What I could see of the creature I thought was good. The back-story we get I think is lacking a bit for what we see, but the more I think and break it down, the better I am with it. Everything here looks to be done practical, which I'm always a fan of. I do think they needed a bit more blood though to bring the realism to what they're doing.

Next will be the acting. I do have some negatives I'm going to incorporate here as well. Before going there, I think McHattie is solid. He's such a good actor so it is wild to see him in movies like this when he was younger. From there I would say that James plays this villainous character well. O'Connor and Woolvett are both fine. They bring a bit of comedy. Belliveau plays a pretty clueless character. Really aside from McHattie, Campbell is the best performance which shouldn't be surprising. I don't want to necessarily blame the acting though. I do think the movie is lacking a bit with the characters so they come out flat to me.

In conclusion here, I think that this movie does have some good aspects. The idea of this creature is one that I like. By having movie take place in the cemetery works for the spooky vibe and the effects of the monster work for me. McHattie and Campbell have solid performances while the rest are a bit flat. The movie really just is lacking with the character motivations and I think this comes from the writing to be honest. I just don't think there are enough elements there and I don't really buy in. That brings me with seeing this as a below average movie for me. I cannot really recommend it unless you want to see the actors I highlighted earlier in their careers or the creature effects. Not enough humor though to watch this with friends while drinking in my opinion either.

This is rather lame. It's nothing special and mainly a bunch of nothing... very little "creepy graveyard" with the big scary rat! Really, that is the ending of the film - the rest just babble from the characters. When it's a creature horror film then one expects to see the creature or even hints of the creature to see often enough throughout but this film does not have that.

I mean, if you want to see a rat creature resembling one of Jim Henson's creatures from The Dark Crystal at the end of the film with a lot of blah-blah the first 90% of the film - then you might like this one - otherwise I will say just pass this film by... plenty of better horror films to watch out there.

2/10

Besides Neve Campbell, who does a decent job no matter what movie she is in, this movie is crap. It tries too hard to be a serious movie, and the situations and character actions are not at all believable. You don't feel like you are watching real people. It's not scary... It's not funny... it's just ... boring. So, unless you are a die hard Neve fan... go watch Dead Alive.

Stephen McHattie and Neve Campbell star in this dreadfully dumb monster movie that I imagine both actors would prefer to see wiped from their respective filmographies. The wafer thin plot sees a giant, mutated prehistoric rat feeding on the recently interred at a cemetery. MacHattie's character, Hunter, is a scientist that wants to capture the rat for the cell regenerating black goop it secretes. Campbell is Jesse, a young cop called to the cemetery by two gravediggers who discover the creature. Meanwhile, an ex-FBI agent (played by Brion James) is also after the oversized rodent, although I can't remember why (he's the baddie, so I know it wasn't for humanitarian reasons).

If originality, intelligence and coherence are in short supply, as is the case here, a decent creature and a reasonable dose of gore are almost mandatory requirements; sadly, The Dark has neither. The monster is hardly on screen, not surprising given that what we do see looks completely rubbish, and the gore is limited to a couple of gunshot wounds. Much of the action involves the characters running through the graveyard, digging holes, and exploring the tunnels, all of which is extremely dull. On the plus side, Campbell looks nice in uniform, and there is a gratuitous sex scene, McHattie getting lucky with diner waitress Tracy (Cynthia Belliveau)—not much to recommend the film, but it's the best I could do.

This is one of the neatest movies I've seen in a long time. It is creative, fast-paced, fun, freaky, and surprising all at once. What more could I ask for in a film? Here's the rundown: (it's been awhile since I've seen it, so a few minor details might be off)

Stephen McHattie plays a doctor who is on the trail of a creature left over from prehistoric times: a giant rodent-like beast whose blood has the magical power to heal. The creature lives in tunnels it digs underground in cemeteries, and McHattie has finally tracked the last of its kind to one in a small town. Unfortunately for him, the creature is also being trailed by a crazed FBI agent (played by the always wonderful Brion James) who wants to kill the creature because it killed his partner.

Not much else to say about the plot without giving away surprises, other than that the climax inside the creatures tunnels are some of the coolest scenes I've watched. They create suspense and make you giggle while you shiver. And it is a prime example of how you don't need a super huge budget to make a super movie. Horror fans, this is a must-see! Zanatos's score: 9 out of 10!

A scientist and a waitress (Stephen McHattie and Cynthia Belliveau) investigate a gigantic, prehistoric rodent living in tunnels underneath a cemetery. Meanwhile, a retired FBI agent (Brion James) seeks the same creature, only he wants revenge for his partner's death. Now, along with two gravediggers and a sheriff's deputy (Neve Campbell), the final confrontation begins.

THE DARK is a good, old-fashioned monster movie. If you enjoy such fare, then you'll probably like it. The giant rat is fairly well-realized, and kept mostly in the shadows to hide any shortcomings. The human performances are adequate, with Mr. James playing another of his intimidating characters. The story is decent and never becomes tiresome. All in all, a good way to spend a late-late night of movie watching...