I have not viewed many short films that had the feel of a full length feature film, but I recently had the utmost pleasure of viewing (3 times now) a 21 minute short (and I’m pretty sure, that that’s including the credits) that absolutely blew my mind, literally.  This  astounding piece of art was sent to me by a gentleman who had written to us and asked if we would take a look at his film.  And I am so glad we said yes, received it and had the honor of watching it.  Well without further ado I present to you a short that is by far better than most big budget feature films that hit the theatre these days.  From Director Gary E. Irwin comes this nightmare masterpiece;

      Starting us off with two brothers, Brian and his younger brother Jeff, carrying a crate to the basement filled with some of their late grandfathers  belongings.  As for what is inside, the boys have no idea, but we very quickly find out.  When the boys finally get the heavy crate down the stairs, it is dropped and busts open.  They find all sorts of weird shit inside, almost like voodoo artifacts.  Upon looking through the stuff while they put it back into the crate, they discover a large, seemingly very old, book.  This book is a bit strange looking, as it appears to be bound in human flesh.  Now I’ll give you horror buffs a second to guess what this fine piece of literature may be… Give up?  Does the word Necronomicon ring a bell?

      After seeing the strange objects Jeff proceeds to ask Brian about dear old grandpa.  Brian explains that their grandfather had practiced the art of Satanism.  After hearing the little story Jeff seems to feel his brother is a bullshit artist and they decide to finish putting the stuff back and go on their merry way.

      When Brian later decides he wants to go out for the night, being that the parental figures (or figure, I believe they only actually mention a mom) are out of town, Jeff gives him shit and threatens to tell mom when she gets home.  Being the intelligent elder he is Brian decides to pay Jeff off, just to keep his mouth shut.  This is funny because Jeff has the keys, so Brian must not be very trust worthy.  Already developed characters in like 4 or 5 minutes.

      Moving on to the latter part of the evening, Jeff has invited 3 of his friends over to chill and what have you.  These boys all appear to be between the ages of 15-16 years of age, or at least that’s how young they look.  Among the boys is Charlie, the younger brother of one of the boys (probably about 9 years old, give or take) brought along, I’m sure, because his brother had to bring him.  So all together we have five boys in this house, unsuspecting of the terror that’s about to be unleashed.

      While the boys sit around eating pizza, Jeff decides to show them all something weird and whips out the book of the dead.  The kids are all amazed by the book, yet you can see the fear they have being it looks so creepy.  The boys decide that young  Charlie should be the one to open the book as he appears to be the most frightened by it.  Upon opening the book and flipping through the pages the young boy appears to be completely taken over by the forces that lurk within.  During this book viewing we endure a countless number of evil drawings of torture and pain.  During the duration of this page flipping sequence, strange sounds and a menacing feel begins to surround the ears of the viewer, almost like a demonic breathing.

      Something wicked, most definitely, this way comes!  As lights begin to flicker and the evil sounds consume the home, I knew that excrement was about to hit the fan.  Sometimes the less you see and the more you hear, the scarier a situation can be.  As lights begin to dissipate and the Pitch black approaches… Beware!

      With an ending to creepy and cool to speak of (besides I wouldn’t tell you anyway), Of Darkness hits full force with fear and claustrophobia and gives that chill down the spine that you just cant shake.

 

For direction I give a BIG 10, most well deserved.  First off working with an entire cast of kids has got to be rough at times, especially when It comes to an independent film.  As it shows in this particular film, the (to me) impossible can most definitely be done, and done well.  Not only was it a fantastic idea to use nothing but kids, the execution and attention to detail was absolutely flawless, at least this sicko noticed no flaws.  I am definitely anticipating more films from director Gary Irwin, he’s a top on my list right now.  Having won a few awards for this short, I now see why.  Congrats Gary, you fucking earned it, all of it. 

For the acting I surprisingly give an 8.  Not being the biggest fan of horror films starring children as main characters, these kids were great, each and every one of them.  Each kid managed to act so well they built individual characterization, I mean when you watch this film in the short time given, you actually get to know these kids and what kind of person they are supposed to be and the complete individuality of each one.  This is a group of kids I completely applaud.

For cinematography I give a 9.  The filming quality of this short was absolutely astounding.  From the visuals of fog in a bulb to the filming of the slow creep of the dark approaching, it was absolutely mind blowing.  Clean and crisp without the digital look, the filming was so superb  it made this horror hound smile.  From scene to scene we find no flaws in the camera work, just perfect cuts and outstanding editing

As for the FX this film gets an 8.  Being that its mostly flickering lights, complete darkness and a bit of eerie fog swirling in a light bulb, for this film gore was definitely not needed.  Aside for some flashes of blood, that’s all gorehounds and gorewhores will get from this, but like I said it would not have suited this film.  The fear and build up of terror witnessed in these kids as well as myself was enough this short a horror masterpiece.  What we don’t see we fear the most, this film definitely delivered.  The sounds of evil creeping from the speakers and into our ears added heavily to the intensity of many moments throughout.  For those of you who only want gore, I’m sorry but give this film a chance anyway.  These guys used what they had and used it very, very well. 

Overall I give Of Darkness a 9.  This movie delivers us extreme intensity and an intense feel of xenophobia (fear of things we don’t know, or understand).  In it’s 21 minute span you are forced to use your imagination, as in darkness all we have to rely on is our minds, touch, smell, and most of all, our ears.  What could be behind you? What can be in front of you, hiding behind any corner or any door?  Just listen close and be afraid, be very afraid… Of Darkness!