Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Dark Lurking, The
Collapse
-
- Published: 01-22-2011, 03:44 PM
- 0 comments
X
Collapse
-
Dark Lurking, The
Released by: Cinema Epoch
Released on: 10/12/10
Director: Greg Connors
Cast: Tonia Renee, Bret Kennedy, Ozzie Devrish, Anthony Edwards
Year: 2009
Purchase from Amazon here
The Movie:
An underground government research facility is overrun with demonic creatures, released from the netherworld, and a team of mercenaries is sent in to rescue the survivors. It seems that the exact location where Lucifer landed on Earth when he was cast out of Heaven was discovered, and the government attempted to harness the evil within and develop it into a weapon. It backfired and the evil overtook Outpost 320, killing most of the people within.
The survivors include Lena (Tonia Renee) who wakes up in the facility not knowing where she was or what happened, a medic who knows more than she's telling, a scientist who definitely has an agenda, and a couple of other people who are mainly fodder for the demon carnage. Of the mercenaries who come in, three of them continue past the first act: Michaels (Bret Kennedy), Kirkland (Ozzie Devrish) and Dare (Anthony Edwards…not the Revenge of the Nerds one). But their firepower and skills are not enough to defeat the demons and they end up trapped below with no communication with the outside and with little supplies. Attempting to make it to the surface, the players get picked off one by one until only two survive, and one of them may be more than it appears.
If this all sounds a bit familiar, that's because it is. The same elements seen in this film can be seen in countless others. You know which ones. And if you don't right off hand, you will once you start watching this picture, which is really nothing more than a collection of scenes borrowed from other movies that do it much more effectively. Some might say that's how a certain hotshot hipster director has made his name. At any rate, The Dark Lurking is one scene after another of heavy gunfire and splattering heads, with a totally predictable outcome. The acting is nothing to brag about either.
But, that said, this is not a piece of crap. For a low budget movie, the filmmakers have done a great job with making it look like it cost a lot more than it did. The sets look authentic, the effects are well done, both the gore and the monsters, and the action comes across as frantic and chaotic, as one could imagine that scenario would be in real life. The effects are mostly all physical effects, and they are very gooey and wet. The writer/editor/director does a nice job with creating the proper mood, and there are some competently constructed scenes conveying tension, with some well timed and nicely done seat-jump moments to boot. It's a well put together movie, even if it falls far short from being original in any way. If your looking for an entertaining action-splatter movie that requires little use of your brain, you can't go wrong with sitting through this. It was pleasantly surprising.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Cinema Epoch's presentation of The Dark Lurking is in an aspect of 1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen, and guess what…it doesn't look very nice. Tons of pixelation in the dark areas, of which there are plenty, and simply an ugly picture. Those that expect a nice image will be disappointed. It may be the equipment being used in filming, and this is the best that it can look, or it's just a bad transfer. Either way it does get distracting, but it doesn't ruin the movie.
The sound is a 2.0 Dolby Digital track. Where the image suffers on the low quality end, the sound suffers on a different end of the spectrum. It's incredibly loud, with plenty of subwoofer activity and lots of gunfire and bang bangs. Just be careful you don't have this one turned up to loud or you may break something. The sync looks off slightly, which can be an annoyance. Lips aren't matching the words, and this could be due to dubbing.
Where the picture and audio miss the mark, the extras help keep the disc out of the abyss. The first item is a short film by the writer/director called “Netherworld†(15:28) which is a really neat film with an angel and a demon having a bare knuckles fight, and then the angel shooting up card game, with a bit of animation thrown in. Great make up, great visuals, and a testament to the potential this man has in him to make something really amazing. Next is “Behind the Scenes†(24:57), which is a great featurette on making The Dark Lurking. Very interesting and well worth the watch. There's a Still Gallery (3:14) and a trailer for the movie, and a five-minute “Also Available†which just shows other titles available from Cinema Epoch.
The Final Word:
A moist and messy monster movie packed with action, but far from original, The Dark Lurking is a decent piece of Ozploitation, which entertains from start to finish. The presentation lacks, but the extras are great. Worth checking out for fans this type of film, and it puts Greg Connors on the radar as an up and coming filmmaker.
Posting comments is disabled.
Categories
Collapse
article_tags
Collapse
- album review (218)
- album reviews (274)
- arrow video (272)
- blu-ray (3225)
- blu-ray review (4162)
- comic books (1392)
- comic reviews (872)
- comics (988)
- dark horse comics (484)
- dvd and blu-ray reviews a-f (1969)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews G-M (1711)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews N-S (1757)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews T-Z (878)
- dvd review (2513)
- idw publishing (216)
- image comics (207)
- kino lorber (391)
- movie news (260)
- review (318)
- scream factory (279)
- severin films (300)
- shout! factory (537)
- twilight time (269)
- twilight time releasing (231)
- vinegar syndrome (497)
Latest Articles
Collapse
-
Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: February 22nd, 2022.
Director: Gianfranco Parolini
Cast: Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance
Year: 1976
Purchase From Amazon
God’s Gun – Movie Review:
Directed by Gianfranco Parolini in 1976, quite late in the spaghetti western boom years, God's Gun (Diamante Lobo in Italy) introduces us to a bad, bad man named Sam Clayton (Jack Palance) who, along with his gang of equally bad, bad men, start wreaking...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 12:10 PM -
-
Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: October 8th, 2019.
Director: Mario Bava
Cast: Christopher Lee, Reg Park, Leonora Ruffo, Gaia Germani
Year: 1968
Purchase From Amazon
Hercules In The Haunted World – Movie Review:
Directed by Mario Bava in 1961 and featuring a screenplay by Bava (and Sandro Continenza, Francesco Prosperi and Duccio Tessari), Hercules In The Haunted World (also known as Hercules At The Center Of The Earth and...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 12:08 PM -
-
Released by: Cinématographe
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Jack Nicholson
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Mary Steenburgen, Christopher Lloyd, John Belushi
Year: 1978
Purchase From Amazon
Goin’ South – Movie Review:
Made at the height of his career as an actor, 1978’s ‘Goin’ South’ sees Jack Nicholson once again in the director’s chair, seven years after his directorial debut, ‘Drive, He Said,’ failed to set the...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:29 AM -
-
Released by: Radiance Films
Released on: April 20th, 2024.
Director: Noburo Nakamura
Cast: Miyuki Kuwano, Mikijiro Hira
Year: 1964
Purchase From Amazon
The Shape Of Night – Movie Review:
Directed by Noburo Nakamura for Shochiko in 1964, ‘The Shape Of Night’ follows a young woman named Yoshie Nomoto (Miyuki Kuwano). In the opening scene, she’s working as a streetwalker on the outskirts of town and soon enough, she’s picked...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:26 AM -
-
Released by: Film Masters
Released on: April 23rd, 2024.
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Cast: Richard Carlson, Juli Reding, Lugene Sanders, Susan Gordon
Year: 1963
Purchase From Amazon
Tormented – Movie Review:
The late Bert I. Gordon’s 1963 horror film, ‘Tormented,’ is an effectively spooky ghost story made with an obviously low budget but no less effective for it.
The story revolves around a professional piano player...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:19 AM -
-
Released by: Grindhouse Releasing
Released on: March 12th, 2024.
Director: William Grefé
Cast: William Shatner, Jennifer Bishop, Ruth Roman, Harold Sakata
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Impulse – Movie Review:
Directed by the one and only William Grefé, 1974’s Impulse is one of those rare films that allows you to witness what it would be like if a really sweaty William Shatner got mad at a lady carrying balloons. Before that...-
Channel: Movies
04-15-2024, 01:20 PM -