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A Quiet Place: Day One is the highly anticipated prequel film to John Krasinski‘s sci-fi film franchise A Quite Place. Written and directed by Michael Sarnoski, the apocalyptic horror film shows us the day when the aliens in A Quiet Place franchise invaded Earth, and instead of the Abbott family, we see the story of a terminally ill woman who tries to survive in New York City with her cat and an English law student named Eric. A Quiet Place: Day One stars Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn in the lead roles, with Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Eliane Umuhire, and Nico & Schnitzel starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the intense survival thriller and alien invasion elements in A Quiet Place: Day One, here are some similar films you could watch next.

A Quiet Place Part I & Part II (Paramount+ & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Paramount Pictures

While...

Soulcatcher is a Polish sci-fi film directed by Daniel Markowicz. The Netflix original film follows a military contractor as he’s hired to seize a weapon which was originally designed to cure cancer but it turns people into savage killers but when his brother becomes a victim of the device his desire to save him gets in the way of his job. So, if you also loved Soulcatcher here are some similar movies that you should watch next.

Spectral (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Synopsis: When an otherworldly force wreaks havoc on a war-torn European city, an engineer teams up with an elite Special Ops unit to stop it.

Outside the Wire (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Synopsis: Set in the future, Harp (Damson Idris), a drone pilot, is sent into a deadly militarized zone where he finds himself working for Leo (Anthony Mackie), an android officer, tasked to locate a doomsday device before the insurgents do.

Trey Edward Shults' Us hit arrives in the UK. It’s a particularly unsettling piece of cinema, too…

There’s very little about It Comes At Night that I’d class as comfortable viewing. The second film from writer/director Trey Edward Shults is 91 minutes of unsettling, often gripping filmmaking, that pitched a tent inside my brain and has stayed there since I watched it. I can’t honestly say I enjoyed watching it too much, but I can say it’s a fierce, impressive piece of work.

See related Don Hahn interview: The Lion King, Disney, Pixar, Frankenweenie and the future of animation The Lion King: writer hired for live action movie

Its origins are important. Shults has been open about the fact that he didn’t have much of a relationship with his father, and that the two of them only really came back together when his dad was dying.

Chronicle actor Alex Russell will star in the sci-fi thriller Attach, which will be helmed by Chris Gorak from his own original script.

The story follows star athlete Daniel Townsend (Russell), who undergoes an experimental surgery that permanently attaches a cutting-edge bionic arm and leg to his body after he loses his own in a car accident. But when he realizes the advanced intelligent prosthetics may have a destructive mind of their own, Daniel’s rehabilitation quickly transforms into a desperate fight to save himself and everyone around him.

Adam Schroeder (Chronicle, Sleepy Hollow, The Truman Show) will produce under his Adam...

Sci-fi thriller to star Alex Russell from Chronicle as a star athlete with bionic enhancements.

Ariane Fraser and Delphine Perrier will kick off pre-sales in Berlin on the project from writer-director Chris Gorak, whose credits include Right At Your Door and The Darkest Hour.

Attach will star Russell (pictured) as a star athlete who is fitted with a bionic arm and leg after a car accident and discovers the prosthetics may have a destructive life of their own.

Adam Schroeder will produce through Adam Schroeder Entertainment banner alongside Rob Paris of Paris Film.

“We’re going to explore the most current and innovative science and technology in this film,” said Schroeder. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of Chris Gorak’s provocative vision and distinctive worldview.

“Having the brilliant Alex Russell on board to star takes Attach to the next level and I can’t wait for Highland Film Group to share this exciting...

Chris Gorak is set to direct the sci-fi thriller Attach, based on his original script and starring Chronicle's Alex Russell. Adam Shroeder will produce under his Adam Schroeder Entertainment banner alongside Rob Paris of Paris Film Inc. Highland Film Group will handle international sales and launch the project to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin next week, with UTA repping domestic rights. Russell plays star athlete Daniel Townsend, who undergoes an…...

Odd List Simon Brew Ryan Lambie 17 Feb 2014 - 06:24

Whether they're bleak, shocking or sad, the endings to these 22 movies have haunted us for years...

Warning: There are spoilers to the endings for every film we talk about in this article. So if you don't want to know an ending for a film, then don't read that entry.

It's probably best to start by talking about what this article isn't. It's not a list of the best movie endings, the best twists, the most depressing endings or anything like that. Instead, we're focusing here on the endings that seeped into our brain and stayed there for some time after we'd seen the film. The endings that provoke in an interesting way, and haunt you for days afterwards.

As such, whilst not every ending we're going to talk about here is a flat out classic - although lots of them are...

Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 23 Jan 2014 - 05:44

Our series of lists devoted to underappreciated films brings us to the year 2006, and a further 25 overlooked gems...

With all the major films that elbow their way into their cinemas every year, there's bound to be some casualties among the big hits. And just like any other year, 2006 was dominated by the likes of Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Da Vinci Code and Ice Age: The Meltdown. But in tandem, there were dozens of lesser-seen films which shuffled in and out of cinemas (or occasionally, didn't get a release in cinemas at all) without very many people noticing.

As we're sure you're aware by now, these lists aim to redress the balance a little, and hopefully introduce a few films from any given year that you may have missed. There are also one or two films that, although...

Paramount has become one of the friendliest studios to the horror genre over the past several years by taking chances on movies others wouldn't touch. Next up for them? A little movie called Attach. Read on for details.

According to THR, Paramount has nabbed writer-director Chris Gorak's sci-fi spec script Attach. Gorak, a longtime production designer who segued to the director's chair for the 2006 thriller Right at Your Door, also will direct Attach. Adam Schroeder (Chronicle) is producing.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it is described as in a similar vein as Chronicle in that it is a big visual concept with a young cast at the center of it. Look for more on this one as we get it!

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Ninja Turtles

William Fichtner plays Eric Sachs, the man who becomes Shredder in the upcoming "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" reboot. Fichtner confirmed neither Bebop and Rocksteady will appear in the reboot, and recently spoke about his villainous role:

"What I read about Eric Sachs in the script was great, and then how the character has been moulded and changed when we started filming has become something really quite remarkable in terms of what we’ve seen before of the character." [Source: The Hollywood News]

Fifty Shades of Grey

Making his first public appearance since departing "Fifty Shades of Grey," Charlie Hunnam says he's "doing good" and wouldn't comment about any of the talk surrounding his exit from that film.

Instead, he says he is concentrating on finishing the sixth season of "Sons of Anarchy" before seeing family in the UK, then filming Guillermo del Toro's "Crimson Peak" before shooting the seventh and final season of 'Sons'.

Paramount has nabbed writer-director Chris Gorak's sci-fi spec script Attach. Gorak, a longtime production designer who segued to the director's chair for the 2006 thriller Right at Your Door, also will direct Attach. Adam Schroeder (Chronicle) is producing. Photos: 15 Horror Movies That Offered the Most Bang for the Buck The script came with a visual test that Gorak directed and sparked a bidding war, with multiple studios involved. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it is described as in a similar vein as Chronicle in that it is a big visual concept with a young cast at

read more...

According to The Hollywood Reporter , Paramount has won out in a heated bidding war for director Chris Gorak's ( The Darkest Hour ) new spec script titled "Attach." Chronicle producer Adam Schroeder will produce the film which, despite being kept under wraps, is described as in  "a similar vein as Chronicle in that it is a big visual concept with a young cast at the center of it." It's also reported that the pitch included a visual test for the film, which sparked the bidding war. Check back here for more details on the project as we learn them. (Photo credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)...

An Incredible Mess: Todd Berger’s Apocalypse a Hilarious Gas

The end of days have never looked like a better time to spend with friends than they do in director Todd Berger’s latest film, a gleeful exploration of morbidity, It’s a Disaster. Obviously made on a scanty budget, this one setting comedic extravaganza seems all the better for its tight containment, featuring an exciting concept, a hellaciously dynamite screenplay, and a group of talented actors all obviously having a good time—you’ll wish, as they do, that an end weren’t in sight.

Four couples are about to converge for a semi-regular couples brunch at the home of Pete and Emma (Blaise Miller and Erinn Hayes). While nearly all of them have been friends for years, the Debbie Downer of the bunch, Tracy (Julia Stiles) is bringing her recent boyfriend, Glenn (David Cross), to meet her friends for the first time.

Playing like a comedic response to Chris Gorak's 2006 indie disaster fave Right At Your Door, director Todd Berger's It's A Disaster drops a regular brunch date between friends into the end of the world. With a talented cast including David Cross, Julia Stiles and America Ferrera this one is available on VOD right now with a limited theatrical run due to start on April 12. And we've got an exclusive clip to entice your attendance ... Eight friends meet for their monthly "couples brunch." But what starts as an impromptu therapy session / airing of domestic grievances takes a sudden, catastrophic turn when the city falls victim to a mysterious attack. Trapped in the house and unsure of their fates, these seemingly normal people...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Special Mention: The Fake Trailers from Grindhouse (2007, USA): The four fake trailers featured in the otherwise disappointing Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double-feature: Machete by Robert Rodriguez, Werewolf Women of the SS by Rob Zombie, Thanksgiving by Eli Roth and Don’t by Edgar Wright-are all very entertaining trips down horror/exploitation film memory lane and are easily the best part of the film.

****

2) Other Notable Horror Films Of The 2000’s:

This list focuses on films that are partially successful and even touch on brilliance at times but ultimately don’t pull everything together to fully deliver on their promise.

Intacto (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, 2001, Spain):

This film about a group of people blessed with supernatural good luck has a great premise, several great scenes-the revelation of the plane crash early in the film, the blindfolded race through the trees and the Russian roulette climax-plus the welcome presence of...

Only a little more than a month after the release of his version of Total Recall, Len Wiseman is getting ready to get back into the reboot/remake game. The filmmaker is reportedly now in talks with Universal Pictures to direct The Mummy, the studio's attempt to restart the massively successful adventure franchise that began in 1999. The movie is being produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci through their K/O Paper Products banner and Jon Spaihts, who is best known for his work on Ridley Scott's Prometheus and Chris Gorak's The Darkest Hour, is writing the script. While it looks like no official deal is in place just yet, Deadline recently spoke with the Kurtzman about the director potentially handling the project and lauded his ability to create mythology. "I remember seeing Underworld and finding it a beautiful advancement of the genre," Kurtzman told the site. "It...

The Darkest Hour

Stars: Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor, Olivia Thirlby, Joel Kinnaman, Veronika Vernadskaya, Dato Bakhtadze | Written by Jon Spaihts | Directed by Chris Gorak

A sci-fi take on end of the world movies such as I Am Legend which replaces zombies with invisible alien invaders, The Darkest Hour sees software designers Sean (Hirsch) and Ben (Minghella) journey to Moscow where they hope to sell a new social networking concept to the Russian market. When their business plans turn sour they commiserate in the company of the beautiful Anne (Taylor) and Natalie (Thirlby), before noticing strange apparitions in the sky. Wonder turns to horror, however, when the city is suddenly overrun by invisible forces that disintegrate any life form on approach!

A co-production between the Us and Russia, The Darkest Hour is yet another production from the prolific Timur Bekmambetov that, at least on paper, sounds like an awesome idea – strange electrical aliens,...

After last week’s brilliant new releases in the home entertainment market, headed up by Steve McQueen’s Shame and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (I bought them both on Blu-ray, the latter in HMV’s exclusive steelbook special edition), this week sees another great slew of titles for us to add to our collections.

As ever, we have not just the brand new films and TV shows making their way to shelves for the first time, but also single-disc Blu-ray editions (which we’re increasingly seeing within a few months of the Double / Triple Play versions), and a host of films getting the HD treatment, released on Blu-ray for the first time, with Disney releasing a handful of old titles in the visually beautiful format.

Stay tuned for next week (and be sure to get your pre-orders in early), which will see Chornicle, Coriolanus, Martha Marcy May Marlene,...

The Darkest Hour takes advantage of the popularity of many end of the world/alien takeover vehicles that have hit lately, and ups the ante somewhat by following a group of survivors who are twenty-somethings as they try to survive the onslaught of invisible invaders.

In an opening act that is a little longer than necessary, we meet our two main characters: Sean (Emile Hirsch) and Ben (Max Minghella) are computer geeks who have created a new App that is sure to be all the rage. They’re on their way to Moscow to close a deal, but things don’t quite work out as planned, and they arrive to find that they’ve had their intellectual property stolen from them… or whatever.

Hitting the Moscow nightlife to drown their sorrows, they meet up with two young American beauties, and the next thing you know, odd lights are appearing in the sky.

Chicago – “The Darkest Hour,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, may seem like a fun sci-fi action option for movie night. It is not. There’s nothing fun about this horrifically made film, easily one of the worst of 2011. It’s stunningly bad, almost as if it was made by college students. Otherwise talented actors get sucked into awful performances (both male leads have never given less genuine performances), the special effects are horrible, and there’s never even the slightest flicker of anything worth giving a damn about. When this flick was shuffled off unceremoniously without critics screenings on Christmas, I suspected it was bad (it only made $21 million domestically although, startlingly, accumulated $65 million worldwide). It was much worse than my expectations.

Blu-ray Rating: 0.5/5.0

There’s a theory that you can learn as much from a bad movie as a good one. Like rainy days make us appreciate the sunny ones,...

Blu-ray Review

The Darkest Hour

Directed by: Chris Gorak

Cast: Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella, Olivia Thirlby, Rachael Taylor

Running Time: 1 hr 38 mins

Rating: PG-13

Due Out: April 10, 2012

Plot: A group of Americans visiting Moscow try to survive a spontaneous attack on the world brought by cloudy electric aliens.

Who’S It For? Do you love science fiction movies? And by that I mean, you love them so much that you will see their (ahem) darkest days just as much as their brightest moments? This one might strike your fancy. If you’re looking for an exciting movie of survival, you would probably be better off looking elsewhere. This one isn’t bound to grip your attention anytime soon.

Movie:

The Darkest Hour is a movie doomed by the mess it makes for itself in the plot synopsis available above. Typing it, I thought that one of the kids from Bully...

Although the aliens are invisible and the human survivors run around with a weapon that looks like it is leftover from Ghostbusters, The Darkest Hour keeps the audience entertained. The movie manages to craft some tension, but is easily forgettable once the final credits roll. Produced by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and directed by Chris Gorak, the film features a screenplay by Jon Spaihts (who also wrote the story with Leslie Bohem and M.T. Ahern). It stars Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer), Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella (The Social Network), Rachael Taylor (Transformers), Joel Kinnaman (The Killing), and Veronika Ozerova. The film opens with Americans Ben (Minghella) and Sean (Hirsch) arriving in Moscow with dreams of...

This week on The Video Score, we've got all your new major video releases including an Oscar winner and a horror movie people didn't think too much of. There are also three great classics coming out, two of which are on Blu-ray. "A Streetcar Named Desire" is our pick of the week, just edging out Georges "Papa Georges" Méliès' "A Trip to the Moon," which should seem very timely if you checked out "Hugo" last year.

Pick of the Week

"A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951)

Director: Elia Kazan

Cast: Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh

Story:

In the classic play by Tennessee Williams, brought to the screen by Elia Kazan, faded Southern belle Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) comes to visit her pregnant sister, Stella (Kim Hunter), in a seedy section of New Orleans. Stella's boorish husband, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), not only regards Blanche's aristocratic affectations as a royal pain but also thinks...

Director: Chris Gorak

Cast: Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor, Olivia Thirlby, Joel Kinnaman, Veronika Ozerova

Writer: Jon Spaihts, Leslie Bohem, M.T. Ahern

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for sci-fi action, violence and some language)

Run Time: 88 minutes

Synopsis:

A Sci-fi thriller featuring mind-blowing special effects from the minds of visionary filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and director Chris Gorak (Art Director Fight Club, Minority Report),The Darkest Hour is the story of five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.

View the Trailer Here

In the film, two internet entrepreneurs named Sean (Emile Hirsch) and Ben (Max Minghella) travel to Moscow on business and find themselves amidst an alien invasion. After sheltering themselves during the initial attack, along with three other survivors, Natalie (Olivia Thirlby), Anne (Rachael Taylor) and Skylar (Joel Kinnaman), they sneak through the city evading alien invaders...

Since alien invasion films are nothing new, it all comes down to the execution. Having a vision of the characters and the nature of the attack will make or break a film and in the case of The Darkest Hour, it all falls flat. There’s a distinct lack of innovation to the set up or characters although director Chris Gorak and producer Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) get credit for setting the movie in Russia which at least gave us different visuals. But, the film then centers on a quartet of English-speaking foreigners with not enough of a fish out of water vibe to make it interesting. The movie, released in 3-D on Christmas Day was quickly dismissed by critics and audiences for being anything but a nice present.

The movie, out now from Summit Home Entertainment, focuses on Sean (Emile Hirsch) and Ben (Max Minghella), two Americans in Russia to...

The Darkest Hour is high-concept sci-fi the likes of which Hollywood doesn't often get behind. Sure, there are plenty of alien invasion movies every year, but most are of the generic aliens in massive, overpowered ships attack major Us cities variety. Chris Gorak's film, however, doesn't bank on the spectacle of big floating hunks of metal attacking Los Angeles. It finds Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor and future RoboCop Joel Kinnaman hunkering down in Moscow while it's swarmed by aliens who are eager to get their invisible tendrils on anything with an electrical signature. If that happens to be a person, well, they go poof in an impressive way. Truth be told, what happens when aliens and humans collide is the best part of The Darkest...

Read More...

The Darkest Hour arrives on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD from Summit Entertainment this Tuesday. Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) produces this apocalyptic sci-fi film from director Chris Gorak (Fight Club, Minority Report). The cast incldudes Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer, Into the Wild), Max Minghella (Ides of March, The Social Network), Olivia Thirlby (The Wackness, Dredd), and Joel Kinnaman (AMC's The Killing). 

An alien life form has invaded Earth, and five young people find themselves stranded in Moscow to fight for their lives and human kind after the devastating attack. Minghella and Hirsch play software developers in Moscow trying to raise capital for their new social media hotspot application.

If the world is really this badly scripted, then I do not think it is worth saving. Fortunatlely, the world is not as bad as this films script and storyline. Jon Spaihts wrote the screenplay for this film, which is pretty lackluster. He...

“The Darkest Hour” is the second directorial effort from Chris Gorak, and was produced by Timur Bekmambetov, though if you only saw the ads, you might have mistakenly believed that Bekmambetov, the director of “Wanted” and the upcoming “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” was the man behind the camera. (Which, I suppose, was the point of said ads.) The film opened late last year and disappeared from theaters just as quickly. There were plenty of ads, sure, but no press screenings, which is always a bad sign when studios try to sneak movies into opening nights without screening it for review from the “pros”. Some movies are critic-proof; alas, “The Darkest Hour” is definitely not one of those movies. Set and shot entirely in Moscow, the Russian-produced “The Darkest Hour” centers around a small band of American 20-somethings who find themselves stuck smack dab in the middle of an alien invasion.

With the home video release of The Darkest Hour upon us, we figured we'd hit you guys off with some clips to get you ready for the invisible alien invasion. Grab your flashlights!

From the Press Release

The electrifying science-fiction thriller The Darkest Hour arrives on 3D Blu-ray™, Blu-ray, and DVD April 10th from Summit Entertainment. Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer, Into the Wild), Max Minghella (Ides of March, The Social Network), and Olivia Thirlby (TV’s “Bored to Death,” Dredd) star in this story of five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow and fight to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.

With Moscow’s classic beauty as the backdrop, The Darkest Hour features mind-blowing special effects from the minds of visionary filmmakers Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and Chris Gorak (Fight Club, Minority Report). The suspense never lets up as the invaders begin their assault on Earth,...

The Darkest Hour arrives on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD April 10th from Summit Entertainment. Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella and Olivia Thirlby star in this story of five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow and fight to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.

With Moscow’s classic beauty as the backdrop, The Darkest Hour is from the minds of visionary filmmakers Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and Chris Gorak (Right At Your Door).

The suspense never lets up as the invaders begin their assault on Earth, targeting the planet’s power supply. Head inside for a peek at the special features.

Read more...

Courage survives in…

The Darkest Hour

Starring Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella and Olivia Thirlby

Arriving on 3D Blu-ray., Blu-ray and DVD April 10th

The electrifying science-fiction thriller The Darkest Hour arrives on 3D Blu-ray., Blu-ray and DVD April 10th from Summit Entertainment. Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer, Into the Wild), Max Minghella (Ides of March, The Social Network) and Olivia Thirlby (TV.s .Bored to Death,. Dredd) star in this story of five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow and fight to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.

With Moscow.s classic beauty as the backdrop, The Darkest Hour features mind-blowing special effects from the minds of visionary filmmakers Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and Chris Gorak (Fight Club, Minority Report). The suspense never lets up as the invaders begin their assault on Earth, targeting the planet.s power supply.

Once the credits roll, see what happens next...

Following up on our earlier report that The Darkest Hour (review here) would be hitting DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D this April, we now have the official word!

From the Press Release

The electrifying science-fiction thriller The Darkest Hour arrives on 3D Blu-ray™, Blu-ray, and DVD April 10th from Summit Entertainment. Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer, Into the Wild), Max Minghella (Ides of March, The Social Network), and Olivia Thirlby (TV’s “Bored to Death,” Dredd) star in this story of five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow and fight to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.

With Moscow’s classic beauty as the backdrop, The Darkest Hour features mind-blowing special effects from the minds of visionary filmmakers Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and Chris Gorak (Fight Club, Minority Report). The suspense never lets up as the invaders begin their assault on Earth, targeting the planet’s power supply.

Remember the times critics have said that they like it when films let the audience find the horror in their own imagination? To keep that latex monstrosity of a monster in the shadows lest we see it’s horribly unhorrifying latex moulded face? To keep that particularly traumatic scene off-screen so that we can think ourselves into terror as opposed to just passively taking it like a blood soaked pie to the face?

Well I think they should take that back because no matter how fertile an imagination you have The Darkest Hour will finally confirm that suspicion you had that invisible electricity isn’t actually that scary. At all. Not even when it turns people into fairy dust and eats your energy. Not even then.

The film starts by following two American internet entrepreneurs (Emile Hirsch and Max Minghella) who head to Moscow to finalise a business deal. When...

This is a UK competition for The Darkest Hour, directed by Chris Gorak and starring Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby and Max Minghella. The Darkest Hour is out from 16 January and, to celebrate, Pure Movies is giving away a bunch of merchandise including light-up shot glasses, Russian hats, light-up Usb sticks and t-shirts! Four young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack, and combines mind blowing special effects from filmmaker Timur Bekmambetor (Wanted) with the grounded, post-apocalyptic vision of director Chris Gorak (Right At Your Door).

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

The Darkest Hour is another depressing example of a talented young director who appears to have been put through the studio mangle and been artistically compromised as a result. Chris Gorak’s first film, Right at Your Door, was an audacious and impressively-concieved doomsday scenario, yet the one presented here – not written by Gorak this time – suffers a laughable dearth of invention, and to be fair to Gorak, even a veteran director would struggle to muster up much intrigue.

In the lead roles, Emile Hirsch and Max Minghella play a pair of arrogant, enterprising douchebags who travel to Moscow for a business meeting, only to have their idea unceremoniously stolen by a Russian businessman. Quite strange it is how the film, produced by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, keenly enforces any and all stereotypes about the country, that it is a corrupt, amoral wasteland in which the word of law means little.

War Horse (12A)

(Steven Spielberg, 2011, Us) Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch. 146 mins

You can see why the hit boy-and-his-horse book/play appealed to Spielberg, in a sort of Et-meets-Saving Private Ryan way. It brings out the best and worst of him. There's some brazen old-school tear-jerking and rosy rural farming hardship, but there's also the first world war, thank God. Epic action frequently comes to the rescue, in what becomes a stirring, gruelling steeplechase across wartime Europe, towards an ending that's pure Hollywood.

Shame (18)

(Steve McQueen, 2011, UK) Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale. 101 mins

McQueen's follow-up to Hunger tackles an equally risky topic (sex addiction) with a similarly sparse and frank approach, though this is arguably more conventional. Fassbender is magnetic as usual, playing a terminally horny Manhattan man whose lone-wolf existence is disrupted by the arrival of his needy sister.

Cheap can be a good thing. Cheap can force visual storytellers to be more creative. Here we have nearly invisible alien invaders dropping down in globs of light over Moscow. Invisible invaders! Sometimes they shoot lightning! Imagine all the FX budget The Darkest Hour didn’t have to play with! Surely, then, we’re in for an inspired, imaginative story and engaging, fascinating characters -- you know, to make up for the cheapness. Kinda like director Chris Gorak has already done, with his gripping near-sf thriller Right at Your Door (budget: about $1.98) which takes place almost entirely within the confines of an ordinary modest Los Angeles home and the surrounding streets... with no FX to speak of. Nope. What we have here is a simple yet stupid riff on the disaster monster movie. Its idea of using the Moscow urban landscape is most memorably limited to gawping at famous logos -- look,...

To celebrate the release of ‘The Darkest Hour’, in cinemas Friday 13th January, we are giving away 5 goodie bags with a T-Shirt, shot glasses, a Russian hat, Usb key and a Darkest Hour graphic novel!

Five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack, and combines mind blowing special effects from filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) with the grounded, post-apocalyptic vision of director Chris Gorak (Right At Your Door). Starring Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor, Joel Kinnaman.

The Darkest Hour stars Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor and Joel Kinnaman.

You can find out more about The Darkest Hour on the official Facebook page, win tickets to see UK dubstep duo Nero and even win a film pass for a year.

To be in with a chance of winning this great prize, click next below...

Movie Review: 'The Darkest Hour'; Star Cast: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella; Director: Chris Gorak; Rating: *1/2 - cinematically bleak.

Alien invasion movies, a specialised Hollywood domain, works on few fundamental premises -- characterisation of protagonists who the viewers relate to, fierceness of aliens that includes their looks and finally the ability of humans to fight back.

Despite having potential, 'The Darkest Hour' becomes one of the darkest hours of alien invasion movies because it goes wrong on all fundamentals of this sub-genre.

Five young Americans are caught unawares in Moscow.

Two new featurettes have been unveiled for Twentieth Century Fox's new alien invasion thriller The Darkest Hour, released in 2D and 3D on January 13.

The latest poster for the film is above and both featurettes are embedded below.

Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor and Joel Kinnaman star as five young people stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive after a devastating invasion by invisible, energy-devouring beings from another world.

They lead the charge against the extraterrestrials, who have attacked Earth via our power supply.

Filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch, upcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) is a producer on the project, which is directed by Chris Gorak (Right At Your Door).

The Darkest Hour hits UK cinemas 13th January and to mark this occasion, Twentieth Century Fox have given us this brand new TV spot for the movie. It’s directed by Chris Gorak and stars Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor and Joel Kinnaman. We’ve had quite a lot of coverage for the movie all of which you can see here. If you haven’t seen a trailer for it yet, have a little look at this as it does look visually stunning.

Synopsis: The Darkest Hour is the story of five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack. The 3D thriller highlights the classic beauty of Moscow alongside mind-blowing special effects.

Check out the TV spot below.

We’ve already had plenty of trailers and TV spots for the film, but now here’s a new “dubstep trailer” for the sci-fi thriller The Darkest Hour, which follows a group of American tourists visiting Moscow Russia when an alien invasion occurs. Starring Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby and Max Minghella, The Darkest Hour, directed by Chris Gorak and produced by Wanted‘s Timur Bekmambetov, is set for a December 23rd release in the Us and January 13th 2012 release in the UK.

The Darkest Hour is the story of five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack. The 3D thriller highlights the classic beauty of Moscow alongside mind-blowing special effects.

Zac Efron, Michelle Pfeiffer, New Year's Eve Steven Spielberg/Jeremy Irvine/War Horse Gallops Slower, Chip-wrecked $70 Million Behind The Squeakquel: Box Office Starring Matt Damon and former Woody Allen muse Scarlett Johansson, Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo brought in $14.3m at no. 6 as per studio estimates found at Box Office Mojo. After surging 53%, the film's per-theater average was a better-than-expected $4,521 at 3,163 locations. As mentioned in a previous post, despite its performance this New Year's weekend, We Bought a Zoo will have quite a bit of trouble recovering its $50m budget domestically. Matching it, however, shouldn't be too much a problem despite my early, more dire prediction. We Bought a Zoo, Crowe's first narrative feature since the Orlando Bloom/Kirsten Dunst/Susan Sarandon box-office fiasco Elizabethtown six years ago, also features Angus Macfadyen, Thomas Haden Church, Patrick Fugit, Colin Ford, and Maggie Elizabeth Jones. I'll say it again: when it comes to box-office returns,...

Jeremy Irvine, Steven Spielberg on the set of War Horse Tom Cruise/Mission: Impossible 4, Robert Downey Jr/A Game Of Shadows Have Estimates Revised Upwards: Box Office Despite the presence of Matt Damon and former Woody Allen muse Scarlett Johansson, Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo brought in a revised $9.5m — nearly $2m more than originally estimated — at no. 6 as per studio estimates found at Box Office Mojo. Even so, the film's per-theater average was a mere $3,032 at 3,117 locations ($15.6m for the four-day weekend; average $5,005). As mentioned in a previous post, although figures will almost inevitably go up next weekend thanks to the New Year's holiday, We Bought a Zoo will have quite a bit of trouble matching — let alone recovering — its $50m budget domestically. Perhaps it's time for Cameron Crowe to pair up with Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky) once again. We Bought a Zoo, Crowe's first...

The Darkest Hour

Starring Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella, Olivia Thirlby

Directed by Chris Gorak

Rated PG-13

Try sitting down and writing out a 500 word document about a blank concrete wall and you'll pretty much understand what I'm going through when writing this review.  The Darkest Hour is a bad movie, but that's not its biggest problem.  Its biggest problem is that it's a boring movie.  Oh, god, is it a boring movie.  It's like having to listen to a lecture by Ben Stein about how to file your taxes.

The film starts out with two American business entrepreneurs, Ben and Sean, trying to sell a Gps system to Russian investors.  The former is played by The Social Network's Max Minghella, and the latter by Emile Hirsch.  Man, Emile Hirsch, remember him in Into the Wild?  Wasn't that a great movie?  Who ever thought that Sean Penn would be able to direct so.

Looking to spend your holiday week by taking in a quality alien invasion flick? We've got the verdict on whether or not Chris Gorak's new flick, The Darkest Hour, fits the bill or is just another flaccid anal probe.

Read our The Darkest Hour review here!

Synopsis:

The Darkest Hour, starring Emile Hirsch, Rachael Taylor, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, and Joel Kinnamana, is a new film about five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack. The 3D action-thriller highlights the classic beauty of Moscow alongside mind-blowing special effects from the minds of visionary filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch) and director Chris Gorak.

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Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Breaking Dawn Cameron Crowe/Matt Damon/Scarlett Johansson/We Bought A Zoo Disappoints, David Fincher/Daniel Craig/Rooney Mara/The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Passable: Box Office The no. 7 movie this Christmas weekend at the domestic box office will surely be Steven Spielberg's War Horse, which, as mentioned in part I of this three-part box-office article, is expected to gross close to $7 million on opening day — today. In addition to its four-legged star(s), War Horse features Jeremy Irvine, two-time Oscar nominee Emily Watson, Thor's Tom Hiddleston, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup, David Thewlis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Kebbell, David Kross, Celine Buckens, Patrick Kennedy, Robert Emms, and Eddie Marsan. Sunday's other wide release, The Darkest Hour, an apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, isn't expected to make much of a splash at the box office despite showings at 2,324 locations. In fact, there's a good chance it won't...

Apocalyptic fantasy goes to Russia in The Darkest Hour, an alien invasion flick that evidently expects dramatic shots of a depopulated Red Square to make up for a flatlining screenplay and the absence of even a single compelling character. Some diverting effects work and a puzzling (if badly developed) premise may keep audiences from throwing in the towel, but ho-hum word-of-mouth should lead to quickly fizzling box office. Video: 'The Darkest Hour' Trailer After his intriguing twist on biohazard drama in 2006's Right at Your Door, director Chris Gorak is slavishly obedient to genre expectations here, finding

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Title: The Darkest Hour Directed By: Chris Gorak Starring: Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella, Olivia Thirlby, Rachael Taylor, Joel Kinnaman, Veronika Ozerova Tell us an alien invasion movie is on the way and, regardless of who’s in it or what it’s about, it sparks intrigue. Not only am I particularly guilty of this in general, but upon hearing the concept backing The Darkest Hour, I fell head over heels for what should have been a wildly original dose of Et destruction. However, perhaps test screenings didn’t go as planned, because as the film’s Christmas day release approached, its marketing campaign fizzled out, warning us of what’s to come. Is it all...

Sneaking into theaters this Christmas Sunday is Summit Entertainment's The Darkest Hour, a sci-fi alien invasion film that was Not screened for critics. We all know what that usually means. Directed by Chris Gorak (the man behind the awesome thriller Right at Your Door), and starring Olivia Thirlby, Emile Hirsch, Rachael Taylor, Joel Kinnaman and Max Minghella, the 28 Days-like thriller follows five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack. Since Bloody Disgusting won't have a review for you until tomorrow (it's the holidays yo!), we're asking you dear readers to write your own reviews and tell all of Bd what You thought. Simple enough? I have a feeling we won't be seeing many reviews today....