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Edward Carnby is a private investigator specialising in
supernatural phenomena. His cases delve into the dark corners
of the world, searching for truth in occult remnants of ancient
civilisations. When he investigates the mystery surrounding
the recent death of his friend, he's brought face to face
with bizarre horrors that prove both psychologically disturbing
and lethally dangerous. With the help of ex-girlfriend Aline
Cedrac, and bitter rival Richard Burke, Edward embarks on
a journey where he's confronted by forces of darkness, that
eat away at his very sanity...
Alone
in the Dark doesn't really bring anything new or original
to the party. In fact it's really an amalgamation of half
baked ideas and elements from other, much better movies. There's
the Egyptian artefact side of Stargate,
the effects of The
Matrix, the monsters from Aliens
and any one of a hundred zombie flicks, the parasitic bugs
from Star
Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn and the sandworms
from Tremors/Dune.
Throwing
together elements from other movies does not make for good
viewing. It's a bit like releasing a book with the opening
of a Mills and Boon novel, the middle like a Sherlock Holmes
tale and the conclusion of a Mr Men book (Hmmm now that's
an idea...) It just doesn't work. While the individual elements
work well, throwing them together and hoping for the best
is a little like sticking your starter, main course and dessert
in one large bowl, mixing it up, sticking it in the oven and
believing that in an hour you'll be sitting down to a sumptuous
meal.
The
movie doesn't seem to be sure what genre it wants to be in.
Part zombie flick, part mass alien battle (ALA Starship
Troopers) part good, dark guy does good, dark deeds (Punisher)
this is a terrible mix of half-baked ideas which just don't
work when carelessly thrown together.
And
what on earth is the ending about? I'm not really going to
spoil anything here. But in the end our heroes are walking
through a deserted city. Cars are abandoned, as are buildings.
Why? The alien battle, which took place at night, seemed to
take place on the very outskirts of the city (the aliens are
seen running through a wood before they are attacked by the
army). And while some of the sequences take place in a deserted
mall, we never really get the impression that people have
actually fled the city (or maybe I fell asleep through that
bit). And as for the very last scene... aren't the aliens
supposed to be killed by light? Hmmm. That wasn't thought
through very well was it.
In
his audio commentary, the director mentions that he had to
fight to keep this ending - the studio, apparantly wanted
something different altogether. While I'm not usually one
to champion the studio heads when it comes to wise decision
making... the director really should have listen to them on
this one.
In
summing up, this is a total disaster of a movie. Even the
special effects are pretty average. There are probably two
standout moments (the bullet effect and the scene with the
aliens running through the wood) and the rest look pretty
poor.
If
you invite some friends to watch this you may end up turning
on the lights when the movie's finished to discover that you
are alone in the dark. Sorry, poor joke for a poor film.
Nick
Smithson
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