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Reign in Darkness

Reign in Darkness

List Price: $24.99
Your Price: $22.49
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Rein in Darkness
Review: Overall:
Overall good Australian effort at an American style slick movie with a definite Blade feel to it. Reign in Darkness has a polished mainstream look mixed with the raw, indie feel of horror schlock movies of the '80's, the era that gave birth to this genre. It is a combination of beautifully shot elements and interesting story threads all mixed in with the inconsistency of talented first time filmmakers having trouble expressing themselves. One minute it looks like it could be a film with a 50 million dollar budget, the next, 5 thousand! The car chase between two BMW's is particularly nice, being more reminiscent of a WW2 dogfight than your typical scene of this type. The director's commentary is humorous and essential listening for anyone interested in filmmaking. The two directors talk unashamedly about the adversity faced at every step in this production and the lessons learned. A point of great interest was the little making of feature. When I watched the trailer and then the feature (presented in 16:9), I assumed it was shot on film. In watching the making-of, you are presented with a D.O.P. working his magic with a tiny digital video camera! This film should give hope to all those aspiring filmmakers armed with a script and no access to a budget for expensive camera hire and film stock. The soundtrack is wonderful and I would love to buy it if it becomes available. It encompasses haunting elements from Vangelis' Blade Runner to the Carpenter-esque twangy 80's style, right through to the hard-core Korn rock of Queen of the Damned.

Contents:
The film is presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen with a powerful Dolby Digital soundtrack. There is only a modest amount of chapter stops and I would have like to have seen a longer making-of with actual interviews with cast and crew. The one that is supplied is simply footage with music, though there are some candid spots to camera. The menu system is simple and straightforward but does encompass some nice elements of the film. The audio commentary is by far the most important resource in the extras section. I find it much more interesting to see how indie filmmakers like this accomplished what they did than crews with and infinite budget and human resources. The trailer is beautifully cut to a rapid pace, which comes up all too rarely in the actual film. I found the 5:1 Dolby Digital soundtrack to be a little too aggressive and overpowering. There is even a warning on the back cover emphasizing the low-level bass that was constantly popping the speakers of my modest audio setup.

Its quite obvious independent origins actually make it a treat to watch though I found the accents a little disconcerting.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: You haven't seen many movies if you call this the worst
Review: The movie is bad... poorly acted... storyline is nothing new of course... There is something to be said for the cinematography, it's not standard b grade... it's actually pretty good... but yes... unless you're like me and willing to spend an hour and a half on watching a pointless movie that gives little or no gratification, by all means, rent it or buy it... To call this the worst movie ever is unfair... it's not entertaining enough to be the worst movie ever...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: "B-Grade". That's all it is.
Review: This movie got a lot of bad reviews, probably because everyone paid too much for it. It is definately one for the bargin bin, but if you are a collector, as I, then it's worth having in your collection. Don't exect spectaular effects, it's pretty much just a half step above a B movie. If your strickly into vampires, then you probably won't like it, but if you like Sci-Fi, then it's passible. It's true, the dialouge is terrible and some of the acting is pretty amature, but for the price (I got mine under 6 bucks) and if you like B movies, then it's cool. For a low budget the special effects aren't bad. The stroy line's a bit funny, because it seems to take parts from different movies, like the kevlar suit seems to come straight out of Batman, and the sword fight, from Highlander. If you don't mind low buget, brainless, entertainment, then it's ok.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Cool Sci-Fi Vampire Twist
Review: This movie got a lot of bad reviews, probably because everyone paid too much for it. It is definately one for the bargin bin, but if you are a collector, as I, then it's worth having in your collection. Don't exect spectaular effects, it's pretty much just a half step above a B movie. If your strickly into vampires, then you probably won't like it, but if you like Sci-Fi, then it's passible. It's true, the dialouge is terrible and some of the acting is pretty amature, but for the price (I got mine under 6 bucks) and if you like B movies, then it's cool. For a low budget the special effects aren't bad. The stroy line's a bit funny, because it seems to take parts from different movies, like the kevlar suit seems to come straight out of Batman, and the sword fight, from Highlander. If you don't mind low buget, brainless, entertainment, then it's ok.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The Worst Movie of 2002, with 37 minutes to spare.
Review: We rented this one on VHS tonight, and...it's just BAD. If you rent this movie, you can expect to see:

The best Acting/Directing/Writing/Producing hat trick since "Plan 9 From Outer Space."
The worst fake Texas (Arkansas? Generic American Redneck?) accent ever;
A six minute long (!) expositional monologue about how HIV, Carbon Monoxide, evolution and Vampires are all related;
The first kevlar bullet-proof vest ever conceived, designed and delivered in 10 seconds, which naturally enhances the male bosom;
The best semi-high speed rented car chase ever;
Eminiem's dramatic portrayal of a gay vampire;
The use of photoshop-level special effects to create fake gun flashes;
Proof that watching too much Highlander or playing too many roleplaying games can adversely affect your filmmaking skills;
The quickest recovery from a gunshot to the knee in movie history;
A chance to play 'spot the wire' with your friends;
Fake blood...now! Okay, more. I said more! MORE!!!
and 'We can't afford explosions but we can use dramatic lighting to imply them'.

The scenes filmed in the real molecular biology lab took countless MINUTES away from the search for a cure to MS, or HIV, or, or, Psoriasis, and the producers, directors, actors and writers (all one person!) should pay with their (his) life.

Happy New Year! Word to my undead molecular biology homies! Ed out.

*Note that no real Eminems were used in the making of this movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Tacky but Fun
Review: Well considering that this flick was something that my film group got out for a "bad movie marathon" I really wasn't expecting that much, and indeed there were some compleatly cornball lines and bad acting.
However, the film was still interesting enough to make me want to see it again, MINUS, the friends doing the MST3000 impression in the back ground.
So I did, and what I found when I was acutally able to watch sans people threateing the one who brought it with wild dingos, was a rather compleing film.
For a group of people who are doing this as a first attempt at film making it's a good start. The actors seem to be new at it, but they give good performances in most places, and there are some sceens that make one cringe not in their cheezball natuer but in horror like and good vamp flick should.
Its also a good display of how indpendants can get what the want on the screen if they really want to bad enough.
So to sum this all up, I wouldnt tell you to go out of your way to find this film. But if you happen to spot it on the 8.99 rack at your local wally world then get it. If nothing else it's commentary is a good instruction book on how to get your own film makeing carreer going of you are an aspiering director.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Tacky but Fun
Review: Well considering that this flick was something that my film group got out for a "bad movie marathon" I really wasn't expecting that much, and indeed there were some compleatly cornball lines and bad acting.
However, the film was still interesting enough to make me want to see it again, MINUS, the friends doing the MST3000 impression in the back ground.
So I did, and what I found when I was acutally able to watch sans people threateing the one who brought it with wild dingos, was a rather compleing film.
For a group of people who are doing this as a first attempt at film making it's a good start. The actors seem to be new at it, but they give good performances in most places, and there are some sceens that make one cringe not in their cheezball natuer but in horror like and good vamp flick should.
Its also a good display of how indpendants can get what the want on the screen if they really want to bad enough.
So to sum this all up, I wouldnt tell you to go out of your way to find this film. But if you happen to spot it on the 8.99 rack at your local wally world then get it. If nothing else it's commentary is a good instruction book on how to get your own film makeing carreer going of you are an aspiering director.


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