Thursday, November 25, 2010

Alone in the Dark II (2009)




Review:

Believe it or not, I was looking forward to this film. I actually really enjoyed the first film. It was a fun illogical B-movie that reminded me of the stuff Cannon Films used to produce in the 1980's. Uwe Boll didn't direct this one, but did produce it. Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer, who co-wrote the first film, directed this sequel. Did it turn out any good? Read on.

Alone in the Dark II is a massive disappointment. It had alot of potential but was so poorly executed. With an interesting story line and a great group of actors, you would expect something at least entertaining. Not here folks!

The film's biggest sin is that it's dull. Instead of being a creepy horror film, Directors Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer have made one of the most dull and lifeless horror films this year. And what's the point of hiring actors like Michael Pare and Danny Trejo and doing nothing with them? Wasted in their small roles. Watching this film is like watching paint dry. Its that exciting.

I should speak about the villainous of the film, the so called "Witch" but there's not much to say. Most the time she's a flashy visual effect and the rest of the time she's as scary as a blow up doll in the sun. They could have made an effective and scary villainous but nope, just another wasted potential.

Add to that this has one of the worst finales I've seen in awhile. What an unexciting and uneventful series of events. Makes the finale to Lost Boys: The Tribe look brilliant!

And whoever hired Rick Yune as Edward Carnby deserves a hard kick to the balls. A snooze inducing performance.

Anything I liked about this suckfest? Well it looked good and thankfully it only lasted a quick 80 minutes without end credits.

Acting:
Rick Yune (Edward Carnby) was terrible. One note performance the entire time. Did he ever change facial expressions? Bill Moseley (Dexter) was OK but most of the time he was unconvincing. Most of did it for the paycheck. Rachel Specter (Natalie) was hot. That's about it. Lance Henriksen (Abner) came in, cashed that checked and left. The rest of the cast did about the same.

Directing:
Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer should stick to writing because they're terrible directors. There's a lack of energy throughout, zero suspense and very poorly staged horror and action bits. I missed Uwe Boll!

Music:
A very bland horror score by Jessica De Rooij.

Violence/Gore:
Except an impaling on someone's leg, everything was off screen. It's rated PG-13. Why they decided to go that route after the R rated first film is beyond me.

Nudity:
Nada.

In the end...
Alone in the Dark II could have been fun but was a dull and lifeless mess instead. At least Uwe Boll would have made this an enjoyable mess. It almost put me to sleep. This Boll fan wasn't pleased.

3/10

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