Hey gang, Valkor here. Moving from the big city to the country just to “get away from it all”, ordinarily would seem like a good idea; it’s quieter, the people are usually friendly and the air is oh so sweet. However, for the family in this next film, Deep in the Darkness, the quiet little country town they’ve moved into, has a serious problem, most noticeably is a case of “badfilmitis”. Read on.

Deep in the Darkness centers on Dr. Michael Cayle (Sean Patrick Thomas) and his family, who’ve up and moved from Manhattan to live in the quiet countryside of Ashborough. No sooner do they arrive, they meet their neighbors the Deightons – father Phil (Dean Stockwell), his son Tyler (Anthony Del Negro) and wife Rosy (Marty Gargle); they're just being neighborly, but Michael’s run in with Rosy set his creep levels to “off the charts”, especially after seeing her mutilated face. But it’s also because Phil sent him through their bedroom to use the restroom, when the single bathroom was actually in front of him. Anywho, later in the film Michael and Phil take a walk, where Phil shows Michael a sacrificial stone used to… well sacrifice animals for the sake of appeasing a wild race of ravenous creatures. And as per the town's tradition, it’s now Michael’s turn to take on the task, but he refuses. He’ll bet he wished he hadn’t as weird shit starts happening around his home: shadows everywhere, their dog goes missing and the neighbors refuse to speak or even help him in anyway. Ultimately the creatures show their faces to Michael and everything beyond that changes the entire dynamic of the story.

No seriously it does and I don’t mean that in a good way. That middle section reminds me of Insidious, where once it’s revealed that the kid isn’t exactly “haunted” but an astral walker… well everything goes downhill from there. And the same can be said about this film.

The Good:
Deep in the Darkness does have a few good points that are worth mentioning; for one, the level of creepiness never changes as throughout the film the mood remains dark, mysterious and very unsettling. The design of the creatures also gets plus points as they come across ravenous and disturbing. The acting is also quite strong right through the film, with everyone playing their part to perfection. Kudos to Dean Stockwell as the creepy old timer with an agenda; he plays his part well and remains consistent throughout the story. So for the first half, Deep in the Darkness delivers, but when we enter the second half… well…

The Bad:
… And that’s where you totally lose me. I went into this film assuming I would see a family haunted by these creatures, having to fight for their survival. And for the first half after Michael says he isn’t gonna follow the town’s tradition, you sort of get that. On top of that you have the town basically distancing themselves from Michael and his family, so my thinking is “shit’s about to go down”. But what happens is that a woman named Lady Zellis (Blanche Baker), who considers herself the head of the town informs Michael that the creatures will come for him, to help one of the creatures give birth. At that point I was done, I mean I wanted these creatures to stalk, taunt and hunt this family because they didn’t follow the town’s sacrificial tradition. And that would have made for a much better story. I mean… there’s a lot of crazy stuff that happens, just not along the lines of what one would expect is all. Just like with Insidious and the astral walking kid, I just lost complete interest.

The Ugly:
Them creatures tho…

Deep in the Darkness is available now on the digital scene (I found it on Amazon Prime) and it’s the type of film that you’ll either like it or lump it. The film has a nice premise that’s enough to draw you in, but not enough to keep you invested. And out of TOV 5 stars, I give Deep in the Darkness a 1.5.
