Dark Place, The

Released by: Breaking Glass Pictures
Released on: December 2, 2014
Director: Jody Wheeler
Cast: Blaise Embry, Timo Descamps, Sean Paul Lockhart, Eduardo Rioseco, Shannon Day, Andy Copeland, Allison Lane, Shade Streeter, Genevieve Buechner
Year: 2014
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The Movie:

Keegan Dark and his boyfriend, Wil, are both gifted, Keegan with an eidetic memory so powerful that it borders on supernatural, Wil with an ability to fix the unfixable (including people). When Keegan returns home—his partner along for the ride—to repair his relationship with his sole surviving family member, his mother, he finds that things are not as he had left them. His mother has remarried and started a new family. Her doctor-husband, Adrian, has moved his son, Jake, into the house, and Jake clearly hopes to replace Keegan. Keegan is immediately suspicious, and his suspicions only grow when his boyfriend disappears and his mother lapses into an unexpected coma. The local sheriff believes Keegan is responsible, while Keegan believes his new stepbrother is to blame. But in order to solve the mystery, Keegan has to first confront his own demons, which means admitting his role in the deaths of his father and brother. Thankfully, he has his videographic memory to serve him.

The Dark Place was written, directed, and co-produced by Jody Wheeler. A graduate of UCLA's screenwriting program, Wheeler's direction is inexplicably stronger than his writing, at least on The Dark Place (he also wrote the film Heatwave and for the series Inside/Outside the Beltway). Whereas dialogue waxes between pretentious and juvenile, the framing and camerawork is quite good. The solution to the mystery is a tad bit obvious, but the special effects actually work, with Wheeler managing some surprisingly good shots illustrating Keegan's eidetic abilities.

Wheeler also deserves credit for not resorting to easy political messaging; instead, he treats his leads' homosexuality matter-of-factly. The Dark Place isn't about its characters' sexuality; rather, it's a mystery centered on family, one that happens to have two gay men as its heroes. And speaking of those men, actors Blaise Embry and Timo Descamps give naturalistic performances, though it's Shannon Day who steals the show as Keegan's mother, Celeste. As for Descamps, he also wrote and performs the songs that grace the film's soundtrack.

Video/Audio/Extras:

The Dark Place comes to DVD courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures in 480p standard definition. The film is in anamorphic widescreen and, while obviously shot on mid-grade digital video, looks pretty good. Colors are stable, and detail is more than adequate. Darker scenes tend to be slightly murkier than daylight or well-lit shots, but this is to be expected from such a low-budget effort. As mentioned above, Wheeler's compositions are attractive, and even when the film is utilizing special effects to help propel its story, there's never a loss of video quality as one sometimes sees with movies shot on film.

The film's primary track is provided in Dolby Digital 5.1. It's a clean track, with modest scoring. The music doesn't interfere with the dialogue, which is clear and audible. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired. The second track is an audio commentary with director Wheeler and actor Lane. The two are clearly having fun; they both moderate fairly effectively, keeping the track on subject most of the time. Both participants are obviously watching the film, which allows for some off the cuff observations, and for the most part they engage well without talking over each other. They discuss the film's special effects, backgrounds, actors, and locales, among many other things. It's certainly comprehensive and provides additional insights into the making of the picture.

Extras are plentiful. “Alternate Opening Spin” is an alternate opening shot. It's less effective than the one in the final film, so it's understandable that Wheeler would opt not to use it. There's also a deleted scene that was best left on the cutting room floor. Dialogue is understandably low, given that the sound doesn't appear to have been completed. There are innumerable Kickstarter videos: “$8,000 Happy Dance” (1:14), “Actor Timo Descamps Pimps Our Kickstarter” (1:27), “Auditions For Our Next Movie” (1:08), “Be Part Of Our Two new Films” (3:46), “Happy Dancer For Money—The Dark Place Kickstarter” (1:41), “J.T.'s $7,000 Happy Dance” (1:35), “J.T.'s $9,000 Happy Dance—Puppet Edition” (:54), “Last Dance Happy Dance” (2:25), “Meet The Writer Of The Dark Place” (:51), “Star Trek Kickstarter Happy Dance” (1:39), and “We Need A Hero!—Back Us On Kickstarter!” (1:25). These videos are mostly silly, though it's clear the participants had fun putting them together. There's also a photo gallery, with most of the images coming from the film itself rather than from behind the scenes. It's set to music from Descamps and lasts four minutes and five seconds. And finally, there's a trailer for The Dark Place (1:47) as well as for other films released by Breaking Glass Pictures: Coldwater, 4 Moons, Southern Baptist Sissies, and Last Summer (total running time: 9:15).

The Final Word:

The Dark Place may not be a great film, but at least it doesn't commit the cardinal sin of being boring. The performances are fairly naturalistic, especially Shannon Day's as Keegan's mother. The film was obviously shot on mid-grade digital video but doesn't look all that bad, and there are plenty of extras to occupy fans of the film. All in all, it's a decent package; one could certainly do worse.