Darkness

I bought this movie recently and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was way better than I thought it would be. With the budget that the filmmakers had I didn't expect "From Dusk Till Dawn," but this movie is awesome all the same. There was even a shot of Liven (the vampire king) coming out of the ground that would later be used in "John Carpenter's Vampires."

This film shows vampirism among normal people and not wealthy and elegant aristocrats. The vampires in this film don't just suck blood from people's necks, they revel in it. There is a lot of cool gore in this film, too, which is amazing considering how low the budget was. The scene where a group of vampires start to disintegrate on a lonely road when the sun comes up in the middle of chasing the heroes of the film is the most memorable. Altogether this is an awesome film!

Don't listen to the other guy. Sure, this movie is a mess as far as technique, lighting, sound, budget, etc. is concerned, but for a low-rent Hi-8 splatterfest this is one of the best I've seen in the independant market for quite some time. Darkness holds many moments of cinematic glory - the chainsaw farmhouse scene, the ending sunrise melting scene, the fact that most the vampires wear Iron Maiden T- shirts... This film is a buried gem and I implore all true fans of independent gore-based cinema to hunt this one down. Leif Jonker, I salute you. -RBT

Okay, before I start my review, I would like to make something unmistakably clear, DO NOT BELIEVE ANYONE WHO SAYS THAT THIS MOVIE IS AS GORY OR GORIER THAN DEAD ALIVE AKA BRAINDEAD!!! The amount of gore in this movie was highly disappointing, save for one long vampire melting sequence near the end, there are some stabbings, some bitings, a lot of off-screen stuff, maybe two or three actual on screen deaths. There was actually so little gore in the movie that I stopped thinking of this movie as a gore film and started looking at it as an '80s style B-horror movie, and it actually was entertaining in that aspect. Nevertheless, there are still several other little things in this movie to bug you and/or get on your nerves. Including but not limited to:

• The vampires... or zombies... or both,... Yah, I'm not really sure what they were.

• In the first part of the movie, the film constantly cuts from "19 minutes to sunset" to "2 minutes to sunrise" to "23 minutes to sunset" and so on and so on and so on. It does this a LOT, sometimes with nothing happening in between.

Cut to two minutes before sunset, guy sits in his car, cut to twenty minutes before sunrise.

It's just really unnecessary.

• There's one scene where a guy is being eaten by vampire-zombies in a car wash, while his girlfriend stands a couple feet away and screams "No!". We then see him being eaten for a while, and cut back to the girl still standing there, probably meaning she was just standing and watching the whole time.

• The acting is really not that good to be honest, it didn't really bother me any, but there are probably a lot of people that will be bothered by it, so I thought I should bring that up.

• Almost the entire soundtrack is heavy metal, whether that is a good or bad thing depends on the viewer. I personally liked it myself.

Also, the movie is called "Darkness - The Vampire Version". OK, so there's another version? I thought it was just rough translation but according to the credits that list credits for "both versions" of the movie, I could be wrong. I wonder if the other version has more gore.

There is apparently a VHS version and a digitally remastered DVD version with less gore but with some "spit and polish" applied to it like in the American unrated version of Dead Alive. I really don't know which one I watched, I don't think it would make much of a difference either way.

6.5/10

The title of this review sums up my opinion on this gore scale-tipping splatterfest. This is a movie made by gorehounds for gorehounds.

The "story" follows a vampire outbreak in what looks like a small town. A few metalheads have to defend themselves against hordes of zompires (I call them this because even though the movie is about vampires, they are basically zombies who can't stand the sun). Gore ensues as some kids die, some carve the zompires up with chainsaws and other weapons, all leading up to the goriest meltdown that is one of the goriest scenes I have ever seen.

Like I said, this movie is for gorehounds and basically no one else, but if you seek splatter, look no further than Leif Jonker's Darkness.

Title: Leif Jonkers Darkness (1990)

Director: Leif Jonker

Review: I always admire creative people who even though they might not have any resources go out of their way to make their dreams come true. There's something to be admired in that type of passion and determination. And Leif Jonkers had that and a whole lot more when he made Darkness.

The plot is about Toby, a young man whos whole family was murdered by a gang of vampires lead by an undead known as Liven. He joins forces with a bunch of other teenagers who upon returning from a Rock and Roll concert find that their parents have perished at the hands of Liven and his vampire gang as well.

This movie impressed me in many ways. OK, first off the movie is a no budget flick that was shot by a few teenagers and their friends in their own home town, so lets get any hopes for this being a mega budgeted high production right out of the way. This is first and foremost a ultra low budget independent film. Now, lets get to the good stuff. This movie kicks ass! Its got a lot of imagination. It might have had no budget but that doesn't mean that Leif Jonker didn't think up imaginative ways of overcoming their obstacles in making this vampire Opus! This is the type of film that makes me want to get up from my ass, buy a digital camera and start making my own independent film. Its got that energy and spark that only new comers who are hungry can give to their project and it is very evident in every inch of film.

First off the flick opens with a bang in a gas station. This whole sequence was designed to grab you by the throat in the first opening minutes, and that it does! The pace of the movie is very fast and energetic, right from the get go, the movie never stops. Its like a roller coaster ride of vampiric thrills.

The movie has some well orchestrated moments spread evenly all through out. Starting with the gas station sequence, then the rading of a vampire layer which turns pretty bloody (chainsaws and all) the car wash sequence...the shoot out, I mean this movie has a bunch of interesting moments that keep the movie from being boring.

The gore is plentiful! No budget? Screw it! Lets throwing as much blood as we can for shock value alone! And gosh darned it I loved the cheap thrill of seeing those sprays of blood exploding on my TV. The deaths don't shy away from the red stuff like in todays PG-13 filled world. No, no, here the blood splashes all over the place right down to the ultra bloody as hell finale.

Speaking of the finale I loved the heck out of it. It had an Evil Dead vibe to it; though I'm sure that was intentional because the film feels like something Raimi and Campbell could have cooked up in their early years. Its got that bravado of showing things raw, no candy coating whatsoever. That ending has got to be one of the bloodiest ending I've ever seen. The special effects were fun, I couldn't get over the things these guys came up with on such a low budget (something like 5,000$) The only bad thing about the movie where its technical limitations. Its obvious that they lighted this movie the home made way, some scenes are too dark to make out, others where to bright. Still, you can tell that all Leif Jonker needed was a good lighting crew and a budget and the movie would have looked a heck of a lot more kick ass. But as it is, I let that slide because the movie was being so entertaining. Also some of the acting and dialog wasn't so hot. In other words, it has all the limitations of a no budget flick. But the fact that Leif Jonker could churn out such an entertaining flick with all these things against him speaks volumes of the talent that the guy has. I'm sure given the right budget this guy could be a very good horror director.

In conclusion, Id say this is a fun movie to watch. Never boring, lots of energy and imagination. Hurray for Independent cinema and bring on Darkness 2! Rating: 4 out of 5