Vampire films come in many forms. As a huge fan, I'm open to just about anything having to do with the subject. Whether they're old new, big budget or low, there's a certain classiness about a Horror flick with a Vampire. Although, "classy" might not be the first word to come to mind when watching the film I've been meaning to tell you about. Darkness. Or Leif Jonker's Darkness, as it seems more known as. One of many micro-budgeted unknowns I came across courtesy of my favorite video store back in the 90's. As soon as the cover caught my eye, I was sold. There was just no way I'm passing this one up. I had a feeling about Darkness from the beginning. Going by the cool, gory cover and the description on the back, I knew I was in for something different. But I still had no idea what a cool discovery I had just made.
Three things that this movie has going for it. Three things which I feel makes up for its shortcomings. Shortcomings mostly being an obvious lack of story or script. Although, this doesn't hold the movie back nearly as much as it should. Three things make Darkness. Atmosphere, score and gore. Three qualities that give this unlimited rewatch value for me. Even 20 years later, Darkness impresses me to no end. The atmosphere is all in the camera quality. Grainy, blurry, dark. This looks very much like something from about 20 years prior. The songs chosen for this film are dark and nightmarish, and fit perfectly. At the time of my first viewing, For me, this experience was second only to Peter Jackson's Dead Alive in the gore department. But there's no slapstick or any type of lighthearted humor in the world of Darkness. This world is a dreary one. An apocalyptic tone rears its ugly head from the beginning. We don't know where or when we are, but we know there is something to run from. But all we can see is, you guessed it. Darkness!
As we soon discover, the world is in the early stages of being taken over by Vampires. Not a bunch of Draculas and Barnabas Collins'. Basically, a bunch of zombies which are killed by daylight. Technically, this is a zombie movie. And a running zombie movie on top of it. But they ARE vampires, which automatically makes this more interesting than an actual zombie movie. So, we begin with some hysterical teenager in a convenience store, trying to talk some sense in to a cop and a clerk. Their inability to get it quickly leads to the kid borrowing a gun and blowing his own brains out, out of sheer hopelessness, I guess. The first five minutes is nothing short of insanity and lets the viewer know that whatever is to come, it won't be pretty. Head Vampire, Liven soon arrives and cleans house. Taking everyone's blood and making a couple new vampires. The suicide kid's friend, Toby, witnesses all this carnage, but manages to get away unharmed. Since discovering that his family, as well as everyone in his hometown, is gone, Toby's goal in life is to get rid of any and all vampires using his shotgun, chainsaw and Holy water. Liven won't be so easy, but so far, he's tearing their shit up good. And once he discovers some other surviving young people, they may get one step closer to figuring out a solution to this nightmare. But ending Liven is the only way.Here's a Horror film which really lives up to its name. It's all about Darkness, here. Even the scenes which were shot in daylight have a bit of a tint to them. While the nights looks blacker than the depths of Hell. Leif Jonker's Darkness is unlike anything I've seen before or since. As mesmerizing and fascinating as the nightmarish atmosphere can be, it's equaled only by the massive doses of blood and gore. This Jonker guy is generous to say the least. And his film is truly for the splatter fan by the splatter fan.
One thing you could call this movie is rough around the edges. This isn't exactly Blade, here. In a way, something far better. Jonker originally made this film as a "demo" or sorts. Just a taste of what he was all about, before making an "actual movie". And as Darkness got out there, it slowly gained a cult following throughout the 90's making this alleged real movie a real movie. After several releases on vhs and dvd, Leif Jonker's Darkness got its own official dvd release from Barrel Entertainment in 2006, as we were finally introduced to Darkness: The Vampire Version. The long awaited Director's cut, which was all cleaned up and featured a new score and even more gore. The gore is fine with me, but personally, I never took to this new version as the new score kills it for me. However, I still have to recommend this release, as it is packed with extras, including the original Darkness, making this one of the most prized dvds in my collection. So, decide for yourself which version suits you. but to me, Darkness doesn't get any darker than the original '93 version. Vampire fans and living dead fans alike might want to give this a chance. Fans of the obscure and unique definitely need this in their lives. But for gore fans, Darkness will be a wet dream come true. 7/10
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