L'âme des Ténèbres

A dreadful, disquieting & diabolical nightmare that reeks of death & foreboding from the first frame to the last, The Dark and the Wicked is one of those horror entries that relies on its silently brooding & gradually escalating atmosphere to crawl under the skin of its viewers, and is a haunting, unnerving & bone-chilling terror that more than lives up to its name.

Written & directed by Bryan Bertino (The Monster), the story begins on a highly promising note and the setup, location & stylistic choices only help magnify the bleak mood & sinister aura. There is a lurking & looming presence of an evil that lingers over the family and although Bertino touches on the themes of love, loss, grief & guilt, he doesn't dig deeper to aptly explore those topics.

While it would've helped to have the story journey inward into its characters and the characters themselves to be more fleshed out & exhibit more depth, the film still makes do with the given script, and conjures some genuinely effective scares with its eerie camerawork & ominous score. It doesn't quite stick the landing but the uneasy feeling is sustained throughout and the performances are convincing.

Overall, The Dark and the Wicked is one of the creepiest films to surface in recent years and is absolutely unforgiving & unrelenting in its intensity & uncomfortable aura it exudes. The uncanny cinematography & unsettling sound design are major contributors to its effectiveness but with a more refined script, this could've gone places. A cursed chiller with inescapable devilry brewing under the surface, Bryan Bertino's latest delivers on its title.

Crack out the popcorn, set up the munches, have some drinks at the ready as once you engage this film fully you'll be engrossed, with such a wonderful slow burn that builds and builds to the point of no turning back, much like a good book if you hit that page you wish you could turn it back a page and stop there. So sit back and enjoy.

Roger Ebert once said, "It's not what a film is about, but how it is about it." I had to take that into consideration when rating and reviewing 'The Dark and the Wicked'. This is admittedly not my type of horror movie. I struggle with supernatural horror, because I have zero belief in it and thus it does nothing to unsettle me. However, I have to admit that this film was done very well, and that if I were unsettled by those types of films then this one would have done the trick for me. This film is going up some people's alleys big time.

This is such a beautifully shot film. Director Bryan Bertino is so good at framing what is on screen, he doesn't even need what's on screen to be all that impressive for it to look good. I also love the inventive camera angles he comes up with. They don't always work to heighten the scares or even the tension, but they add a touch of class to the mix which is so often missing in the horror genre.

My biggest gripe with the film would be all the jump-scares and the scenes where the demon is basically just trying to scare the characters rather than harm them. I understand why they have to be there to pad the runtime to 90 minutes, but they are still very frustrating to watch. I also didn't really connect with either of the two lead characters. They were very flat (understandable in their situation to be fair) and that made it difficult for me to care all that much about their fate. The final 20-30 minutes of this film is an absolute blast though I'd have to say. The pacing rockets to life and there are some fun and pretty messed up scenes. 'The Dark and the Wicked' is worth a watch.

Enjoyable horror that sets the tension from the start and then slowly builds on it. Well shot and solid acting. Nice subtle scares carry you along till the end. I don't understand why so many bad reviews, as I've said it's an enjoyable indie-horror.

The horror genre doesn't frighten me anymore, because I've already tried all kinds of films in the genre, but sometimes I'm taken by surprise. The Dark and the Wicked scared me, gave me goosebumps and gave me some good scares! He didn't promise anything, but he delivered everything and then some, hahah!

Although her driving is slower, she is always progressive! The terror, the bizarre and the dense atmosphere is getting stronger and stronger, where we are taken by surprise with each scene. In addition, the sound is extremely present, with sounds of voices, wind or bells, letting fear circulate throughout the film.

However, the movie is not 100% amazing! The text is weak, does not deepen the characters, making their attitudes and motivations too shallow. There is no well-established relationship! It is shown with looks and conversations, very subtly, how close the family is, but that alone is not enough.

Despite the problem, nothing detracts from what good this movie did! An excellent horror! It's been a while since I was scared or felt my heart beat fast, I don't know how I went to watch it just today, but this movie has already entered the list of the best horror, for sure!