The Dark Room

Film: The Dark Room

Year: 2023

Directors: Jake C. Young and Kenny Scott Guffey

Writer: Jake C. Young

Starring: Diane Franklin, Jake C. Young and Shane Thompson

Review:

This was a movie that I got the chance to see when my buddy, Shane Thompson, who is one of the stars here reached out. The co-director and writer of the story, Kenny Scott Guffey, was looking for people to review this. I love to help independent cinema by getting the word out and it is impressive that my friend is an actor, so it worked. This also is listed on Letterboxd as horror so this doubled as a 2023 watch as well.

Synopsis: as murders grip a small town, a photog uncovers something sinister while developing photos. As the body count rises, he is pursued by a mysterious woman, throwing his own sanity into question by his doctor.

We start this off with a man tied up in what looks to be a basement. They’re attacked by someone wearing a skull mask with a cross between the eyes. I should point out that this is skull of a deer or a similar animal. The masked person stabs the tied up individual before we shift over to the credits.

Now for this movie, we are following Ezra Jones (Jake C. Young). He works in a photography studio. He develops film there. That is where he meets Audrey (Kayla Perkins). She tells him that her boyfriend took all the prints of the photos on the old negatives so she wants them reprinted. She tells him that these belonged to her mother. Ezra takes down her information, even though she is reluctant to give her phone number.

When Ezra returns home, we see that he has issues with mental stability. He has calls with Dr. Riley (Diane Franklin) who checks on his mental state. Ezra is taking lithium. It doesn’t help that he’s sarcastic and this causes friction with his doctor. He upsets her when she learns that he doesn’t take his medication in the correct dosage. He takes more to stop the voices and images that he sees. We do see though that things look up between them their sessions progress

Then there is another aspect to this. We see our masked killer from the beginning attack a man who is walking home. We then see them attack a duo who goes out to an archaeological dig as well. This killer then stalks Ezra. He also meets an odd reverend, David Faulks (Thompson), who claims to be the husband to Audrey. He brings in an old camera, not sure who it belongs to and wants Ezra to try and develop the film. Ezra also sees Audrey living in the apartment across from him. He takes pictures of her in his living room. She seems to know and is enjoying it. She also makes odd phone calls to him.

Ezra starts to spiral as he can’t make sense of things happening around him though. These murders are unsettling. I should point out that his mother is the sheriff and his sister the deputy, McKenna (Brianna Phipps). They’re also worried about Ezra. These things are triggering the voices and nightmares so he has to make sense of what is real before it is too late.

That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Now where I’m going to start is that this is an interesting film. There are elements here that I like and tick boxes for me. The use of old photos and getting them developed is a cool way to spark mystery. In this day and age, it is a dying art so I can appreciate that. We are also incorporating in religion here as well as pagan ideas. I’ll delve more into it, but Ezra looks into Skinwalkers and seeks out another person to find out more. This plays in with the killer as well. These elements perked my interest.

I want to delve into these a bit more. The first thing would be the use of film. We have Audrey dropping off old negatives. David also drops off an old camera with film in it as well. Ezra develops these. I’m guessing the images we use in the transitions are supposed to be things that he has developed. I did love that they did that. It helped build an eerie vibe to what we’re getting. I do think it would better serve this movie though to show a bit more of that with Ezra. That would help build the mystery a bit more. I do like this idea of voyeurism through the lens of the camera with Ezra as well.

Moving then to the other part of what I brought up in my first thoughts. That would be the entity of Skinwalkers as well as other pagan and religious beliefs. The killer is wearing a skull mask. It isn’t a human skull as I said, but what looks to be a deer or maybe even a cow. I thought that was an interesting look. It gives the vibe that this is going to be a slasher. If anything, this plays more like a giallo as we are trying to figure out who the killer is. We also have Ezra looking into Skinwalkers and reaching out to a guy to learn more. Then there is Rev. David Faulks who is a priest. These ideas clash and it was interesting to reveals later in the movie, especially with things he says to Ezra.

Now I do have negatives here. This is a slow burn movie. It is deliberate in giving you aspects while mixing in kills to keep your attention. My issue here is that we completely shift away from this to focus on Ezra breaking down mentally and the killer disappeared for a good 15 to 20 minutes. My interest waned as I think we can balance the descent into madness for Ezra while we figure out who the killer is. I understand why it is done this way. I won’t reveal though to avoid spoilers.

Where I want to then take this review would be filmmaking. This is working with a lower budget. I want to say that here. I thought the cinematography was good. How this is framed and shot was good. We got interesting angles and point of view shots that helped build atmosphere as well as tension. One scene in particular with Ezra was good for this while he watched from a closet. Moving over to effects then, we don’t get a lot of them. My guess would be budget here and I’m glad that they hid it if they couldn’t make it look good. There is a scene in the basement where we get blood. That looked good. It seemed to be done mostly practically. I’d guess there was a bit of CGI for blood spray. I don’t always love this, but I can let it pass. I don’t like the filter over this to make it look like this was shot on film. I’m assuming this was shot digitally. Not everyone will have this issue. I’m particular due to my love of film. I also wanted to credit the soundtrack. There are couple eerie tracks, including the one with the opening credits that got me in the mood. Well done for those selections. The rest worked for what was needed.

All that is left then is acting. I’m going to preface that this has amateur feel so I’m not going to come down on it. Despite that, I think the acting is good. Young does a solid job of conveying that Ezra has mental issues without it beaten over our head. Him descending into madness makes sense as he is becoming obsessed as odd things happen around him. Should he go there? Probably not due to things around him, but he can’t help himself. I loved seeing Franklin here as I’m a fan of her. She wants to help Ezra, but he needs to help himself first. Perkins was solid as Audrey. She’s quite attractive so that helps to entice our lead. Thompson is good as David who seems like he’s doing everything in his power to keep it together. That fits the role. I’ll also credit Brandon Ludwig, Gage Carnes, Phipps and the rest of the cast. They rounded this out for what was needed.

In conclusion, this is a solid independent film. This feels like it is set up to be a slasher film but plays more like a gialli to me. I like the incorporation of photos/film as well as religion. How this factors into the end as interesting. The acting was good. I thought that Young was great as Ezra. He is pushed into madness through the characters around him. The rest of the cast is solid with Franklin and Thompson being bright spots there. This is also well-made. Special credit to the soundtrack. My only true issue is the film filter. Other than that, if you like lower budget films, I’d recommend this. I enjoyed my time here with the elements presented.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10