Darkroom

My review was written in July 1990 after watching the movie on Quest Entertainment video cassette.

Slasher film "Darkroom" starts well but sputters once the killer's identity has been revealed midstream. Direct-to-video feature is merely okay for target fans.

Best thing here is the opening credits sequence, imaginatively using frames of film to display the title cards as if magnified.

Film proper has a maniacal killer preying on victims in a family setting and taking photographs of same. Incest is the key plot gimmick as a childhood trauma solves the mystery.

As long as the characters and suspects are introduced in opening reels and the killer is confined to stalking footage, the film holds up, but once the cat's out of the bag it becomes boring. Finale has two characters thought to be dead bouncing back for a hokey fight.

No-name cast is game.

I picked up an old and dusty VHS copy of "Darkroom" at a nearby video store that was shutting down, and I actually even hesitated to spend 0,50€ on it. The synopsis and the cover image on the box – same one as illustrated here on the website – made it look like yet another cheap late 80's erotic thriller with a plot like there are thirteen in a dozen and a handful of tame & tedious soft-core sex sequences. I bought the VHS after all and can't say I regret it very much. Of course it is a predictable and largely inept attempt at making a slasher movie, but hey, at least it contains a few interesting elements and it didn't bore me to death. The plot is relatively simple and straightforward. Janet (an amazingly hot 80's babe) and her boyfriend Steve (a imbecilic mullet-guy who desperately wants to look like Patrick Swayze in "Dirty Dancing") are home at the isolated family farm to spend a weekend together. The farm homes Janet's mother, her two sisters, her grandfather and two cousins. Janet's father as well as her aunt and uncle mysteriously died in a fire several years ago. The only neighbors that live close to the family has been butchered by a maniac during the opening sequences of the film and now Janet's youngest sister Paula is missing. When they discover her mutilated body, they know there's a maniac killer amongst them. The climax of the film and the identity of the killer are perhaps too easy to predict, but "Darkroom" compensates the lack of originality through openly hinting at some clichéd taboo- subjects like incest, family feud and voyeurism. As the title suggests, the killer photographs all of his/her victims before, during and after the process of murdering them. The body count is also quite a lot higher than in other contemporary slasher flicks. And, even though most of the actual killing occurs off-screen, the murders and especially the way they are committed are barbaric and deeply unpleasant. Nice bit of trivia for horror fanatics: "Darkroom" was produced by the Greek writer/director Niko Mastorakis; infamous for the insane and widely banned "Island of Death".

I saw this recently for the first time and what a waste of time.

Generous with a 4 cos of the settings of that of a remote farmhouse, nestled deep in the countryside and the only neighbors is a couple and they disappear very early, making the area even more secluded.

This is a boring slasher with almost zero nudity inspite of a shower scene, clothes changing scene n a sex scene.

Wait, even the sex scene is offscreen.

The guy with the mullet hair looked like a slimmer version of Brian Thompson. He gets injured in an offscreen scene but pops up in the end as a hero.

Ther is absolutely no the character development n we dont feel anything for any victims.

Waning - Do Not Watch The Trailer before the movie, unless you want to know the killer's identity beforehand!! Darkroom is set at a rural location where a family has gathered and an unknown (assuming you haven't watched the trailer) psycho with a passion for photography is on a brutal killing spree. Until very recently I had never heard of the film, it appears in none of my horror movie books. It was shot in under 2 weeks on a low budget and the acting is pretty amateur. We get the obligatory girl in the shower scene, though little nudity is seen, and whilst there is a sufficient body count the effects are nothing remarkable. Niko Mastorakis, who made the notorious (and bad) Island of Death, is producer and the film does have a part European Giallo look, the unknown glove wearing killer, the darkroom where the killer develops his photographs, etc. The most horrific thing on offer here is the character Steve and his prize winning mullet! I have scored this 5/10, partly down to the fact that I watched it on a really nice Blu-ray release, I love slasher movies and could happily watch them all day long, but your average horror fan may feel short changed by this entry.

Darkroom is first and the only movie in Terrence O'Hara filmography. I don't really know if it's good or not 'cause this slasher flick is very average but certainly watchable if you have a few beers in your fridge. The plot is pretty basic for a slasher flick - someone is killing people in the forest area. There is no suspense and you will see only one quite good death scene (axe in the back). No gore at all, just some blood here and there. Normally I would say it's not worth to hunt down this little flick (it's actually pretty rare), but for a slasher freaks it definitely should be seen. 'Darkroom'for sure had a potential to be a good stalk and slash flick and the executive producer was Nico Mastorakis most known from his cult classic 'Island of Death' and quite good survival horror 'Zero Boys'. If you find it give it a chance. 5 out of 10.