In a Dark Place

While this is a slightly "unconventional" take on a ghost story.. sadly this telling of it is disjointed and lacks many necessary elements to make it any sort of success. I'm sorry to say in this case you're better off reading the book so to speak. Leelee Sobieski tries but is not a perfect fit for this role... she can act but this I think was simply beyond her ability to be truly convincing (Unlike Nicole Kidman in The Others).

The director in this case I would suggest lessons from Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge)... the Japanese have truly mastered the art of this sort of story... and Donato Rotunno gives it a half ass'd at best effort. Then tosses in some nudity from Leelee... and even in that effort he fails miserably since if you are going to have her flash her goodies to draw your attention she should at least shave/trim before hand.

It's sad that a nude shot of Leelee is the highlight of a ghost story.... and it's not even a proper porno or even "teenage tit movie".

While I do appreciate the effort... I have to give this a miserable 4 rating.. and suggest most others skip it especially if you do not appreciate the subtle telling of a ghost story without flashy effects.. (or more accurately in this case a lame attempt at such.)

I've heard that the book this film is based on is quite good, although you'd never know it from this screen translation. The movie itself is quite terrible in the way it's delivered. It is the type of film that doesn't tell you everything, and wants the viewer to decide what really happened. However this isn't directed with the skill of a Kubrick or a Bergman, nor is this version written well for the screen, so really the film just leaves you going, "What the ****?". Not even really caring much what happened, nor leaving you with interesting ideas of what may have happened. It's just crap really. The story here is an ugly toad covered in warts, as for the princess. Enter Leelee Sobieski who is the one and only reason to watch this confused effort. If you are a lesbian or a male who likes Leelee, then this will satisfy. Otherwise run from this dark place. To me, Leelee was well worth the watch. In fact I couldn't stop watching her, despite the ridiculousness of the story. Leelee's voluptuous body in itself is a feature presentation well worth the price of admission. Cleavage and curves galore, this is the only film in existence that I can think of where a woman's body completely steals the film, and alone makes it worth while. That is truly the way I felt though. The film's story is laughably stupid, however Leelee's body is nothing short of a masterpiece. And so...the princess saves an ugly toad.

7/10

In A Dark Place would be classed as a psychological horror/thriller. It stars the underrated Leelee Sobieski or as I like to call her Helen Hunts mini-me.

Telling the story of a girl hired as a nanny of two less than usual children at a wealthy estate and her dwindling mental health.

Also starring long forgotten English actress Tara Fitzgerald from the likes of Brassed Off (1996) this is an utter mess of a film from opening credits to closing.

Immensely boring, poorly written and incredibly crappily made In A Dark Place is an instantly forgettable film with practically nothing going for it at all.

The Good:

Leelee Sobieski

The Bad:

Weak writing

Terrible plot

Bad finale

Awful child actors

I was walking past In A Dark Place one day at a rental store and I saw Leelee Sobieski on the cover of the film. It looked something similar to recent movies such as The Return and The Grudge, which I thought both of those films were very satisfying, even though this ended up being nothing like them really, so I decided to give this movie a try.

At first, it looked really cool, when I put it in that is. The first near hour or so were fine, just fine, nothing special, but I was enjoying the build up and performances to an extent. Then, it took a turn for the worst. Everything started going horribly wrong and as the film dragged on I became more depressed, and more depressed with how the outcome of the film was turning out. The storyline just gets so ridiculously poor and overrated, and everything they had built up with mildly entertaining values were thrown out the window near the end of the film.

Why, how, Leelee, I thought you were great! What made you take part in this movie when you saw how the character development is demolished in the last half hour, or did you even notice? Sure, there was some stuff I found in the movie that was entertaining, I have already stated that, but I felt as if my insides were going to explode from how horrible the last half hour of the film was and how horrifically boring and inane Sobieski and everyone elses' character became.

If you love Leelee Sobieski enough, avoid this movie, because I really was expecting more from her and the movie itself seeing as how I enjoy her as an actress. I'm sure her heart will thank you if you don't watch this, for now every time she hears about her role in this film, as often as that probably isn't, I bet she falls to the ground and bursts into tears. . .

Stay far far away from this movie unless for the nude scene and then all she really shows is her butt ..... bad bad bad movie with terrible terrible terrible script and even worse direction. This movie might appeal to you if you enjoy films that try very hard to be intelligent but just can't make it past mediocrity. Leelee gives a decent portrayal of the character but she had nothing to work with. If you look up 1-deminsional in the dictionary you will see a picture of the character of Anna Vey. The lesbian scenes in this movie were added only for the sake having lesbian scenes in a sad attempt to make the film cutting edge. Everything failed miserably.