Dark Places

As far as I know, director Don Sharp, from the same genetation as Terence Fisher, Freddie Francis, Val Guest and Sidney Hayers, did not direct any horror films, except KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, CURSE OF THE FLY, and this one, an haunted mansion scheme film, his first. Don Sharp was a damn good and efficient film maker, very professional, and he had no proper style. He also made some AVENGERS series episodes, as John Hough, who also made a good haunted mansion mystery yarrn: LEGEND OF HELL, same year as this one. Nothing to do, concerning this one - DARK PLACES - with the today THE CONJURING or SINISTER US films series. It remains British but so efficient without being really horrific. It remains more a psychological drama than a pure horror film.

I have been looking a long time on the internet for this one and the only copy available is a DVD-r made of a video rip so I guess this is probably as good as it gets. And how good it gets indeed! Wonderful Hammer-style gem, creepy deserted house, hidden money and a tragedy from long ago that lies hidden in the walls. Robert Hardy (also active in similar flicks like Psychomania) lives up to his name of being an actor of versatility and depth. His transformation into the previous landlord of the house he has bought, is so well done you see his whole Shakespearian career in a flash. As if Joan Collins as femme fatale (and Jane Birkin!) isn't enough to make this a top notch cast, Christopher Lee plays her untrustworthy brother. So we are all set! I always love they way how Joan Collins manages to make being strangled look to sensual, it makes you think she has done it before - which she did in Tales From The Crypt but there it was Santa. And she did it again. When it came to the classic scene in Dynasty she had practiced this to perfection; who doesn't remember Blake trying to take the breath out of her? It would be great if this movie became more widely available on DVD in good quality.

"Dark Places" begins with an elderly man dying in some sort of asylum. Soon Edward (Robert Hardy) moves into the abandoned mansion owned by the dead man, as apparently he willed the place to him. The place is an absolute mess and looks as if it's sat derelict for decades. Supposedly, within the manor is some sort of hidden fortune...and folks who run the asylum ALSO want to get their hands on the money. The problem is that the longer Edward stays there, the longer ghosts from the manor begin to take over the drive him over the edge. How will all this end?

The main story idea isn't bad at all. But the way the story is handled technically is pretty bad. All the 'special effects' that show you Edward is experiencing bad things are more annoying and hard on the brain than anything else. The worst is at the 100 minute mark as well as those ultra-cheesy bats...they just look cheap and stupid. Overall, not a terrible movie but one that also isn't very good and is, surprisingly, a bit dull.

Unmemorable by-the-numbers haunted house flick with a great cast (Joan Collins, Christopher Lee, Herbert Lom, Jean Marsh, Jane Birkin) and decent story that could and should have been better. But unfortunately it is bogged down by its less than stellar direction, uncharismatic camera work and lame main actor Robert Hardy, who is about as interesting as a Saltine cracker...without the salt, of course. Lee & Collins play an unscrupulous couple trying to manipulate their hands onto the money that is hidden somewhere inside of the Marr Estate mansion which has just been willed to Robert Foster (played by Hardy) by its original tenant Andrew Marr (also played by Hardy) whose family was killed inside of the house and now is haunting it. Herbert Lom is the next door neighbor who is sort of helpful, but also wouldn't mind getting the cash into his pockets. If you didn't know better, you'd think this was a made-for-TV film, virtually wasting its great locations by filming the goings on as you would a family reunion. And again, there is too much Hardy and not enough Lee, Collins or Lom. But if you are a fan of haunted house films or British horror, there are certainly worse options out there. Then again, there are much better.

I mean it.

I investigated systematically on the ghost genre and I can say this is one of the scariest ones. It surprised me, i didn't expected much from it, but it's very skillfully done, the way the flashbacks (or dimensional passages) start and stop are a masterwork.

It's a sort of a cheesy film but somehow, at the same time, is an excellent piece of cinema.

Here's the scariest scene of all my investigation: the one where our hero is knocking on the house's walls to find the place where the money is hidden, as he is tortured by the children voices, and they go "no, no ,no, no , no..."

You should see it if you didn't. And in the case you like it, try "The Haunting", "The Innocents" and "Picture of Jenny".