Within the opening 20 minutes or so, "From The Dark" already manages to hit basically every cliche that the horror genre has to offer. A farmer makes a gruesome discovery and then we shift back 20 hours in time to learn what led up to his discovery. Check. A young couple are on a road trip. Check. They get lost, but the boyfriend (who's driving) won't admit that he's lost and refuses every effort of his girlfriend (and the GPS) to get him back on track. Check. The car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Check. The sunlight is fading. Check. They discover an abandoned farmhouse. Check. There's a full moon. Check. And, of course, there's some sort of mysterious creature hidden in the darkness that's out to get them. Check. Cliches galore! Cliches abound!
The creature was somewhat mysterious. Point for that. What was it? Where did it come from? Early in the movie it has a ghostly kind of appearance, but it clearly takes physical form and its outline in the light reminded me a bit of the vampire in "Nosferatu." Does it possess people? Or is this some sort of infection that turns people into - well - the creature? That was never really explained. What we did learn was that the creature couldn't be around light. That's a little different from the norm. Usually you hide in the darkness to be safe. The young couple in this had to hide in the light to be safe. The atmosphere and use of the abandoned farmhouse set was done reasonably well. When all is said and done - even if you can overlook to overuse of cliche situations - this just fails as a horror movie. It's not particularly original, nor is it particularly frightening. A little bit mysterious perhaps, but that's about it. It has a very limited cast - essentially just the actors portraying the young couple - Stephen Cromwell and Niamh Algar. She was better than he was, but there was really no discernible chemistry between them and their relationship didn't come across as authentic to me. (3/10)
The creature was somewhat mysterious. Point for that. What was it? Where did it come from? Early in the movie it has a ghostly kind of appearance, but it clearly takes physical form and its outline in the light reminded me a bit of the vampire in "Nosferatu." Does it possess people? Or is this some sort of infection that turns people into - well - the creature? That was never really explained. What we did learn was that the creature couldn't be around light. That's a little different from the norm. Usually you hide in the darkness to be safe. The young couple in this had to hide in the light to be safe. The atmosphere and use of the abandoned farmhouse set was done reasonably well. When all is said and done - even if you can overlook to overuse of cliche situations - this just fails as a horror movie. It's not particularly original, nor is it particularly frightening. A little bit mysterious perhaps, but that's about it. It has a very limited cast - essentially just the actors portraying the young couple - Stephen Cromwell and Niamh Algar. She was better than he was, but there was really no discernible chemistry between them and their relationship didn't come across as authentic to me. (3/10)