Customer Reviews

Dark Reel

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I always urge people not to judge movies by their covers (and in some cases, trailers). Even with this notion, you still can't help but take interest because it's the cover that gives the first impression. Typically direct-to-video flicks will have a good cover. That doesn't necessarily mean that the movie is going to be as good. There's a reason why most of these things never make it into the theatres any. Some studios put cleavage or graphic violence on the cover to lure you in. I guess where I'm going with this statement is that the cover for Dark Reel looks just as typical as any other straight to DVD horror cover. It's horrible, and doesn't really do it justice. If you were to judge it, you would think that it's nothing more then a low budget mess. That's actually what I thought Dark Reel would be like. Surprisingly, Dark Reel is not all that bad. Yes it is low budget, but it sure doesn't look that way.

In the movie we follow Adam Waltz's unsure journey as he wins a contest for a walk on part in an upcoming pirate b-movie called "Pirate Wench." There he meets his favorite actress Cassie Blue (Tiffany Shepis). Later in production, Adam meets the rest of the cast and crew and begins to rehearse his "one" line. In the meantime, there's a serial killer running loose on set, killing off some of the cast members. The lead investigator on the case is Shields (Tony Todd), and along with his partner they question the crew as to who might be the one responsible. When one of the pirate wenches turns up dead on set, the studio calls for re-writes and decides to give Adam a much bigger part, complete with more dialog. The story later ties in with the real unpublicized murder of actress Scarlett May, who was killed in 1958.

The "Scarlett May" side of things is a nice touch and really sets the tone during the opening credits. The problem is that I couldn't piece it together with the plot involving Edward Furlong's character. For awhile it just made no sense to me. The movie really didn't need the backstory or supernatural elements. It just feels like a recycled homage to Wes Craven's "Scream." There is a killer loose on set going after the actresses, but the death scenes are so few and far in between. After the first hour I forgot that I was even watching a horror movie. The opening credits display severed body parts and an ounce of blood, but it just takes way too long for the killer to appear later on screen with the mask that's displayed on the DVD cover. The pacing is way off and if you're expecting to see a "blood and guts" kind of movie, you will be very disappointed. There's hardly any horror in this horror story. Perhaps that's the most horrific thing about it.

The movie needed some trimming here and there, because it drags on a little too much for a slasher flick. It does focus a great deal on the characters and that's always a good thing. The problem with that is it's too much. Maybe I should have expected a character study. The main focus of the plot is the relationship between Furlong and Shepis' characters. They build a friendship which eventually leads to romance, and then love. Now, I love both Furlong and Shepis, but their on screen relationship is hard to believe. Well, maybe just in parts because I actually thought the love plot worked. Seeing Adam and Cassie together was kind of cute. Love comes in all shapes and sizes, and some decent acting can make it better. Tiffany Shepis continues to impress me with her work and her talent just gets better with every film. I say the same thing about Furlong, though I still want him to go for the much larger roles. He's too good for this kind of job.

Dark Reel starts out promisingly enough, with the ghastly murder of Scarlett May (Alexandra Holden) being committed years earlier, leading us to meeting an uber-fan named Adam (Edward Furlong) who has won a contest to be an extra in the latest film starring his favorite B-movie actress Cassie Blue (Tiffany Shepis). Not long after that, more murders start occuring, and Adam starts seeing apparitions of Scarlett. There is much potential in Dark Reel that sadly gets wasted due to the fact that the film is poorly paced, and overall pretty boring as well. The gore effects, when they do occur, are pretty well done, but the various in-jokes and a sleepwalking performance from Furlong don't help matters any. Genre stalwarts Lance Henriksen and Tony Todd are here as well, and chew up as much scenery as they can manage to do. All in all, despite its slowness, Dark Reel is worth a look for slasher/mystery fans, but don't expect much from it in the least.

I had high hopes for this movie. After all Edward Furlong, the teeny star of Terminator 2, was in it, and I have never seen a movie that he was in that wasn't good. Well, sorry to say, but this time my luck with good ole Eddie would finally run out. And its not his fault that this wanna be Horror flickt is so aweful...
THe biggest problem is that there is basically no real plot here, just a jumbled together kind of story that any 6 year old could come up with in no time. Honestly, its that bad- something about a woman that gets killed by a vicious guy and then comes back to haunt people as a ghost, whenever a certain part in a movie is played, but its only 1-2 people that can actually see her in that movie part! No exaggeration, its just that bad, and that's the plot, except that a killer is apparently taking revenge for her, oh man, spare me.

The acting. all execpt for Furlong, is terrible; it feels as if the actors are all amateurs (although they're not).
The bottom line is: THis isn't even a B movie, as others have written its more like an F movie and that stands for failure! Enough said.

Horror, especially B horror, is my ultimate favorite, and, that being the case, my standards get very relaxed in this genre. It takes very little for me to become a rabid fan of film. I really wanted this to fall w/in that category, but it doesn't. On one hand, the production values are surprisingly good - good camera work, obviously high quality camera, good lighting, good(ish) sets, decent cast, etc. So all of that made the movie certainly watchable, but it was the plot that left much to be desired. The movie mostly meandered through without any real or cohesive direction. There was this killer bit, but then there was also this ghostly influence bit. The two were not harmonized in any meaningful manner, and made it feel empty, as if someone was just shooting random scenes and later splicing them together to fill a disc. So again, it was watchable because of the production quality and cast, but the lack of a good story line keeps this from achieving 3 or more stars. And the kid from terminator got fat.

Dark Reel is part horror, part thriller, part comedy and an all around enjoyable experience. In this Giallo-esque film, Ed Furlong of T2 fame plays a down on his luck loser who wins a walk on role alongside the movie star of his dreams played by the amazing Tiffany Shepis. What he doesn't know is that there is a murderer on set who seems to be obsessed with an unsolved 1950's murder case. The Black Dahlia-esque murder of starlet Scarlett May.
Every character in this film is distinct and quirky and a whole lot of fun to watch. As much as it is a suspense film it also spoofs the b-horror industry and the ruthlessness of Hollywood. This film is classier than many low budget horror films as exemplified by scenes such as the one where Tony Todd's detective character questions Lance Henriksen in an amazing verbal sword fight.
If you are looking for a straight out gore fest with no story or unique characters then this is not your film even though there are some very brutal death scenes.
But if you are looking for a great, fun filled ride of a film that never takes itself too seriously then this is for you.

Don't let the cast lure you into high hopes. A tubby Edward Furlong is awful; Lance Henriksen and Tony Todd look embarrassed; Tiffany Sephis has never had any acting abilities. Only Emmanuel Xuerub as the killer manages to get by.
It's slow and predictable and cheaply made. Gives cheese a whole new meaning!

Dark Reel is a "reel" pleasant surprise. Instantly in watching the credits you will recognize a cast of genre favorites. The cast does an excellent job of playing their roles. Every character is a little off-beat creating a world where anybody is a potential suspect. I went back and forth trying to guess the identity of the murderer. I may have guessed it because I guessed everyone at least once! The best word I could use to describe Dark Reel is fun. It is a very fun ride- one worth taking more than once. You will be laughing one second and scared the next. Also, make sure you watch the dvd extra called "the Making Of Gnome Killer 2"- a hilarious mockumentary.

The movie starts off with a killing back in the 50's, where an inspiring actress is lured for an audition and finds herself part of what probably would have made more sense had it been a snuff film... then it kicks to 30 years later or so and John Connor fills in a entry form to win a walk in roll on a film with his favorite actress in a stupid pirate movie.

After his win, he meets the cast and and some fictional leading lady celebrity takes a shining to him, but at the end of the night one of the cast members is killed by who they think is Scarlet Something, the chick who got killed in the 50's.

Whats-his-face from T2 ends up being presented a larger role then his walk on one now that the other princess has been killed. And is also under suspicion of murder by some dumb blonde cop and her partner the Candyman.

Another murder takes place, but things start to get strange when the cast is watching the dailies, that Pet Cemetery star see's the ghost of Scarlet on the screen, but no one else can. He also receives strange phone calls that he comes to terms with being Scarlet trying to communicate from the dead of who killed her.

Overall, the plot does not sound too bad at all. it's the pay off that lets this movie down. The end of the movie seemed to have a panic attack and just call it a day. It went everywhere and if it had have had a decent ending, it might have been worthy of watching again. It had all the makings for being a decent flick, it just comes up short right there at the end that so many of these B grade movies do.

I am a big horror film fan and had hoped that I would get my $1.00 RedBox DVD worth of a movie. This film is not close to a good "B" movie horror film from the past. It was painful to watch and the acting was terrible. I kept thinking that it would get better as the film progressed but it did not. If I had actually paid good money to watch in a movie theatre I would have walked out and demanded a refund. I can not believe that there is really going to be a Dark Reel 2.

I am an absolute horror fan. I will give a lot of leeway to a film, especially a 'b' horror film...though I'd put this more at a 'f' horror film. The acting was absolutely laughable...the plot...terrible. Even Lance (poor guy...Pumpkinhead was alright), the guy from Candyman (the worst cop...besides his ever posing, obviously never held a gun, a pen, a notepad, or a decent job female partner...he even laughs at her bad acting at the end...it's really funny...see it just for that), the Teminator kid, Furlong, is just terrible...and I don't think he means to be...just is...we kept thinking he was trying to be Gary Sinese. The production, camera work, writing...everything...just terrible. People that are saying otherwise here are getting paid by the company to write good reviews to get you to buy this garbage.


Rent it in a Redbox...pay a buck...you'll thank me cause you'll be laughing all night...it's a great comedy..though you're laughing AT it. And no, I don't work for Redbox, just grateful they saved me some dough from either buying this or renting it for more.

If I could give this zero stars to even out the other obviously fake reviews, I would.