Customer Reviews

Dark Currents

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Two young filmmakers in Mattawamkeag, Maine have carried low production values to a touchdown. The two episodes of the occult soap opera DARK CURRENTS left us delighted and, more important, wanting more (and more is forthcoming). With one camera, locations in and around their home town, and lively imaginations, writer-director-producer Lucas Knight and writer-producer-actor Frank Welch have created a valid, compelling vision of Maine.
Which is not to say that DARK CURRENTS is heading straight to the Emmys. Its debt to David Lynch's TWIN PEAKS is blatant, from plot to overarching world view. And the acting, sound and continuity leave no doubt that this is an amateur, volunteer creation.

But that's part of the appeal. It makes DARK CURRENTS funny (it's also funny by design) and more important, it speaks to credibility. Where suspension of disbelief falls short, identification with settings and participants kicks in. One can imagine oneself behind Knight's viewfinder and getting the same satisfaction from it that he, Welch and their cast of half a dozen or so friends obviously are.

The very best thing about DARK CURRENTS is that it's so Maine. The locations look familiar: The signature image is of a river in early spring, a flood of rough black water. There's a lot of empty land and a lot of apparent poverty or outright desolation. The voices are real Maine, an accent Hollywood's big bucks just can't buy.