A long time ago I wrote a piece at epinions on my favorite perplexing films, flicks that demand a little more than gasps from the viewer.I don't know that I would add Dark Corners written/directed by Ray Gower to my favorites, but it's certainly a demanding little chiller that I now think I understand thanks to the message board on Internet Movie Database.
I was interested in it first because I read a synopsis when production was announced a while back. The gist of that description was that Thora Birch would play a young woman who wakes up one morning to discover she is a different person, a person pursued by strange beings in London.
That film has yet to be made. Dark Corners
is a Japanese-influenced psychological thriller, surreal and imaginative and chilling in a subtle way.Ms. Birch plays Susan Hamilton (blonde) and Karen Clarke (brunette).
Susan's world is one of light, a glowing suburban existence in which she and husband David (Christien Anholt) are struggling with infertility.
Susan's light is plagued by darkness, a grunge world she enters when she dreams and becomes Karen, who lives in a grim little apartment and works as a mortician's assistant.
The paralell worlds are lighted and photographed as incredible polarities, making for very interesting visuals.
A serial killer is stalking both universes and both Susan and Karen are exposed to the brutality.
Toby Stephens (who battled 007 so wowingly in Die Another Day) is Susan's psychicatrist who seeks to purge the dreams of Karen.
The key to it all, if the I believe accurate assessments on imdb.com are to be trusted, is in Susan's statement that hell is having all of one's dark corners exposed.
I can't promise that this is the best horror film you'll ever view, but after you watch and think about it a little you realize it rises above the standard-issue chiller.
Check it out and see if you agree.
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4 comments:
Sounds certainly like an interesting film. I may have to rent this one. I wonder if it'll show up on ppv. Or maybe it's already come and gone.
Also enjoyed your piece on the perplexing films. I've seen Donnie Darko and 1 hour photo and liked them both. Darko confused me pretty well. My son really liked it, too.
Glad you liked the movie list. You know I have yet to see the longer version of "Donnie Darko."
I don't know if "Dark Corners" will be on Pay Per View or not, but it might turn up there shortly. It didn't get much of a theatrical release that I noticed which sometimes seems an earmark of what gets picked up for PPV.
I'll rent Dark Corners and let you know.
I thought Donnie Darko was brilliant. A little trite and times, but still a great example of black comedy.
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