Darkroom

Michelle (Kaylee DeFer) is a somewhat petulant, tortured soul. She is pretty blonde, and in possession of a throaty, scratchy voice guaranteed to dissipate into an airy rasp should she be moved to scream in horror - and she has plenty of reason to here. Told in sometimes confusing flashbacks, Michelle has been institutionalised because she caused an accident which killed three of her friends whilst under the influence of alcohol. She's not particularly remorseful, showing scant regard for any rules or regulations at the rehab facility. Daniel (Tobias Segal), who seems well-meaning, and Rachel (Elisabeth Rohm), who is in authority, are revealed as having their own dark secrets, a revelation that attempts to vindicate Michelle's earlier lack of respect for them - even though she cannot possibly have known of their out-of-hours activities. They are religious extremists, steering their faith towards 'purging' inmates of their sins by torturing them at a secret location. And there you have the plot. We spend the rest of the time watching Michelle try to escape their clutches. The low budget on display works in the film's favour, with non-slick locations revelling in their enclosed dinginess and grainy imagery. We are expected to side with Michelle but given scant reason to, other than the fact that the other characters are more misguided than she is. It is unspectacular but solid, with good performances and a good atmosphere of hopelessness. It isn't quite 'torture *', but there are some nasty inferences all explained by a familiar perversion and the easy target of religious abuse. There are some nice moments of melancholy - flashbacks of innocent children playing contrasting well with the sporadic bouts of violence - but where 'Darkroom' falls down is that it isn't terribly involving due to the unsympathetic, sketchy characters.

This was horrible. Why can't someone come up with a horror movie without total idiots. Seriously, are people really this stupid???

"Michelle" (Kaylee DeFer) is a young woman who was recently involved in a deadly car accident which killed three of her friends. As a result she is in therapy in order to come to terms with her emotional trauma. After finally being able to open up and talk about her traumatic experiences she manages to acquire a job working for a company called "Darkroom Incorporated" which operates out of an isolated mansion. Now, rather than detail any more of the plot and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that her new employers are keeping a very dark secret which she is totally unprepared for upon her arrival. Having said that, although this film had a couple of surprising scenes I can't say that I actually enjoyed the overall movie that much. Not only did I find the plot to be extremely crude and one-dimensional but I also thought that the talented cast was terribly wasted. Quite bluntly, it was torture to watch and I cannot think of any reason to recommend this movie to anyone. Definitely below average.

They say where there are shadows there is also light. Unfortunately in the Dark Room, you only get the Dark. In this case it does stand for bad. Maybe the only "shining" moment of the script, could be the time line(s) the movie tries to establish. But even that isn't really that well thought and executed. The acting is below average, but the script does not help either. Having a predictable story with cardboard characters, with no real threads, a lead that is supposed to have some "trauma", she is trying to escape (metaphorical escape combined with a physical one), might sound somewhat intriguing in script form, but the finalized product is not worth your time. Even "torture" movie "fans" have a lot better quality movies to choose from

I did not expect a lot from this film, but I received more then I expected. Actually I was pleasantly surprised. For this type of film it is really very well done film. Plot is interesting, I mean I expected from a horror film to be a horror film and it delivered. There was a lot of blood and that type of stuff. Good old horror stuff! Cinemtaography was surprisingly good, and acting was rather good for those young actors I did not hear from before. All in all if you like horror films this is a film for you, I mean I saw so many bad horror films, this one is not that bad, so you probably will not waste time by watching it.

had decent expectations going into this one but was disappointed. The premise is interesting, and was sort of expecting a Saw vibe but yeah not here. The worst part is the main problems are things that could of easily been fixed before the camera started rolling. The script wasn't that great to begin with, good job from some of the actors to make the most of what they were working with. The decision working in flashbacks was a really bad one, and making the decision to provide no relatable or redeeming qualities for the main protagonist doesn't help. Everything just feels flat. The good - some of the actors showed some skills working with the limited material they were given. I wish they would of fleshed out the main protagonist more. The cinematography was actually really good for the most part, which makes the errors so much worse since they really could of had a much better film. The sound and effects were pretty good to. Really this film serves as a great example of why you should measure twice and cut once, because with better pre-production and better decision making this could of been a much better film.

Michelle was in an accident. This damages all her attempts at drug rehabilitation. To get out of the program, she needs to get Rachel's approval. She's lost her school aid due to the court orders, and her job prospects are dim. Rachel gives her an assignment, which is at a huge, for-sale house doing modeling. Amazing. Why would anyone give so much help to this loser-with-repellent-attitude? She's not attractive, she has a bad smoker's rasp, and various wounds on her body. Model? Seriously? Rachel tries to get her to own up to her part in the driving accident in a group therapy session. This is more or less at the heart of the film. Michelle does not want to accept responsibility. She was driving, the three people with her were killed, but somehow it was not her fault. So many flashbacks, so many irritations. This story is short, and should be told linearly. At the photo shoot, she gets a costume for the gig, and directions to the first filming location. But no one is there. By this time, I'm rooting for Michelle to get a one-way ticket out of the movie. She adds little, but is repellent and irritating. At one point, her captors put some food under the door of her holding cell. Rather than eating for strength, the pouting idiot throws the food against the door. This harms her foes not one bit, but does mess up her already nasty cell. Hours later, a slight lesson is learned, and she cooperates a bit for food. Of course, cooperation does not do her any good in the end. Her captors are siblings whose obsessions make them play out the nightmares of their youth with their abusive mother. Michelle is only a side prop. Will she get out alive? Let's hope not. The thought of a sequel is scarier than the entire movie. ------Scores-------- Cinematography: 8/10 Not too bad; some weak light and soft focus, though. Sound: 2/10 Had to listen to Michelle's terrible voice. Incidental music was not a plus during the movie itself. Acting: 1/10 I like Elisabeth Roehm, and was sorry to see her in this mess. Even so, this was not one of her better performances. Kaylee DeFer, on the other hand, was simply terrible. Christian Campbell was wretched. Tobias Segal was worthless. Screenplay: 1/10 Why do I have to listen to this ugly woman's ugly voice? A woman with neutral looks and a routine sort of voice (just about anyone) would have drawn more sympathy, which would have given the film more depth. But no, this harsh, useless, foul-mouthed, unrepentant, murdering scumbag is what everyone has to experience. So the conclusion I get from this dubious casting is that the director wanted the audience to hate the protagonist from the get-go, and greet whatever is done to her with glee. The back story of the siblings was convenient as well. So, let the slashing begin. The ending was incredibly weak.

Michelle (Kaylee DeFer) finds herself trapped in a rather foreboding, dimly lit mansion terrorized by a sinister family after taking a job recommendation (the last you'll the word recommendation in regards to this boring little film, by the way, but I digress) A majority of the film is told in flashbacks, meandering, badly acted,excruciatingly dull flashbacks. I suspect to pad the rather thin material that the movie does possess. So what we have is what could've been a passable short film (that's being extremely generous) stretched out to a dreary, sleep-inducing sub-par saw-ripoff feature film. I hesitate to give this film a 1 because I have seen worse, but not by much.

Darkroom (There Are No Links to Purchase this movie on DVD). This was written by two-time writer Michaelbrent Collings, and directed by Britt Napier. This was Napier's debut as a director. The cast consists of Britne Oldford as Jean, Christian Campbell as Larry, Tobias Segal as Daniel, Elisabeth Rohm as Rachal, and stars Kaylee Defer as Michelle -- whom I loved in Red State. The pros about this film. There are many. The quality of filming is outstanding. The scenes are tight, and dramatic. The dark and light contrast works. The video footage is done well. The acting by each of those listed above, very well done. And this is rare in horror films. But I applaud all performances. The director did a great job of telling the story. The story, sick and twisted, and pretty solid. The cons. I wish there weren't any. I really wanted to like this film. But over all, I didn't really care either way. And for me the issue came down to pacing. In Darkroom, Michelle is locked away in an institution for being wasted while driving and causing an accident that killed three of her friends. Her counselor, Rachel, wants to help -- but if Michelle won't open up about the past, then she doesn't see Michelle getting released any time soon. Jean, on the other hand, is new to the group, and due to full participation, is quickly released. This upsets Michelle. Rachel helps those in the institution by getting them work with a "friend." The giant mansion is a photo studio for models. Only it's really a torture asylum for those who sin and refuse to repent. Run by a sick family of siblings (Larry, Daniel and surprise-surprise Rachel), they lock women in the basement and convince them that confessing and admitting sin is the only way to forgiveness and salvation. There is still no escape, but at least you can die knowing you are now right with God. Trapped in a basement room with a television (to watch the horrors unfold against other sinners) Michelle realizes that she ... and Jean, are in a lot of trouble. The only trouble is, pacing. It is 24 minutes into this short 81 minute movie before anything "really" happens, and even once it does start happening there is a viewer-disconnect. I didn't feel any sense of ... urgency on behalf of anyone in the film. Neither to torture, or escape . . . Again, the actors did a great job. I think the writing and directing were good, too. There just seemed to be something lacking. There is plenty of violence. A lot of use of drills, box cutters and wrenches. There is partial nudity, and some "bad" language. All in all, I can only give Darkroom 3 out of 5 Tombstones. http://www.philliptomasso.com/

This movie takes a long time to get going to the good stuff and as its only about 70 minutes long in total it could easily be made into a TV show. As for "the good stuff" it's nothing I haven't seen before in a lot of other horror movies. Religious nuts torturing girls private parts and forcing them to "repent". If you're a fan of torture * I'd say go for it watch this movie. The thing that is most disturbing and not in a good way is it shows kids being tortured. I personally think kids shouldn't be in a movie of this caliber.