Dark Heritage

The girls might be prettier if you're their accompanist or a $#!+-faced onlooker. What I'm sayin' is that it'll take special circumstances for a non-whince reaction to this effort. The delivery of many lines appears to be distractingly unnatural for some actors. Lighting seems to be a problem, too, although failing eyesight may have accounted for my frequent squinting. And if you view this film, be open-minded enough to accept elements that no zoo or circus would reject: They are the above and below-ground creatures who feasted on dozens of campers near an empty Louisiana mansion. That's the discovery of a trio who is dispatched from their printed media to investigate the deaths. Then, two of THEM disappear, and the survivor is part of another threesome who take up the hunt. Eureka! I just realized what one of those aforementioned "special circumstances" would be - unconsciousness.

Independent film maker David McCormick was at his best when he ably directed his no-name cast and managed his motley crew to produce a film that keeps you wondering throughout the entire flick. Some might view the actors as stiff and slow, but this is the real secret of Dark Heritage; that is, a cast of characters who know next to nothing about acting are used by McCormick in ways that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up. Shot on location in Louisiana, this film takes advantage of the swamps, plantations, and antebellum homes. In fact it's in one antebellum home that the bloodiest scenes of the movie take place. The director's camera techniques in the horrific dream sequence are done to make the viewer squirm in his seat. The sound track is moving and is timed to move the viewer along to discover the secrets of a mysterious family of man-eating creatures. And perhaps an even more important note than the music is the way the recording of the sound and sound effects throughout the entire movie enhanced and, in some cases, even made up for the few shortcomings of the actors. McCormick took some unknowns and created a thriller that incorporates the best of detective "who dunnits" with the probing ferocity of heroic journalists. Combined with blood and guts, drama and intensity, and sheer terror, this is a "must see" film on a Friday night with a group of your best buds (and maybe some 12 ounce ones too).

First, seeing that this movie was a Lovecraft adaptation (somehow?) I picked up this priceless gem of horror-genre crap for about $2.50 at a flea market (though I think you can find people on Ebay who will pay you to take it). Upon sitting to watch this beauty, I noticed that there were three typographical errors on the back of the case. Planning to watch the worst piece of effluence to be made in a long time (Polish Vampire In Burbank not withstanding), I knew my wishes would be granted when the DVD title screen popped up: "Drak Heritage" I knew I had found a real winner. This movie went from bad to worse, and I actually believe they only gave the actors parts of the script at a time, so they never really knew how or where to develop their characters (as if the "story adapter" would have allowed characters to seem deeper than a blonde's brainwaves). The acting actually degenerated as the film progressed, or perhaps they shot it all in one day and the "actors" were getting tired. The actors they should have hired are the smooth-talkers who got this rancid pile of whale mucus produced and distributed, as they might have made more convincing characters, even if they were to simply spout gibberish (which might have made more sense plot-wise than the "carefully calculated dialogue" this film sports). But hey, they did great for a budget of $5.00, and seeing as I bought my copy for half that, they must've at least broken even somewhere, though the producers (a group of 12 year old rich boys with nothing better to do with daddy's money, who were undoubtedly promised a bit part in the credits) are probably kicking themselves very hard as far back as their knees will bend. All in all, dig around for $.50 in your couch, order it from some re-seller, and kick back to enjoy rotting your brain with something less entertaining than watching the grass grow. Great for insomniacs, because you will be snoozing in less than five minutes (which, oddly enough, is how long they took to edit this flick). On a scale of 1 - 10, I rate this a definite negative 9, as it reigns almost supreme among the refuse of the world (right below Neverending Story 3).

Though this is not a good film by any stretch of the imagination, it's been one of my favourites ever since I saw it about a year ago. The script is laughably bad, and the actors only make it worse. The lead actor, Mark LaCour, played one of the stupidest leading males I've ever seen in a horror movie: No matter what anyone said, his response of choice was "So, what does that have to do with us?". After awhile, you can almost predict what's going to come out of his mouth. As bad as the script and actors are however, this film does have some redeeming qualities. The silent, sepia-toned dream sequence about half-way through the film is actually very creepy and well done. In fact, I think the entire film would have been better if it was done like this scene. Though it usually seems that he's not sure how to work a camera, director David McCormick does know how to create atmosphere. The tunnel scene was very well done, claustrophobic and almost creepy. The ending was beyond obvious, but I still think it was pretty good. Last but not least, the Dansen clan themselves. Though many will disagree, I though these creatures were great. Once again I refer to the tunnel scene, the first time we see a Dansen-creature is an incredibly cool shot. Overall I recommend checking this out, providing you don't mind some very bad actors and a fairly low-quality DVD. Why do I say the DVD is low-quality? On the menu screen...the misspelled the title! Oh well...

6.5/10

I just finished up this unofficial adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Lurking Fear" that was shot in Louisiana. Outside of a few changes (names, setting), this follows the short story point by point for the first 70 minutes but then tries to inject its own "twist" ending that you could see coming from a mile away. Either way, it is a much better adaptation than Full Moon's THE LURKING FEAR. Too bad it is a terrible film. Director David McCormick shoots the thing with all the flair of an industrial short. I swear I counted maybe two camera movements. The creature design is cheap (we're talking store bought masks here) but shot in a dark manner (intentional or not) where they are somewhat creepy. The most impressive thing in the picture is the abandoned mansion but McCormick fails to exploit that as well. File this one under good adaptation, poor execution.