Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

davis2000 The actors in this movie did try and it shows, but the script and story were just awful. The brief nude scenes (topless girls x 2) were very gratuitous but the lesbian scene was totally unnecessary since one of the girls is killed soon after.The humor is lame but they do try to lighten things up. The story is convoluted and vapid with a blend of science and witchcraft and nonsense. At one point the "scientist" father reads words that make an incantation and open a dimensional portal. Uh-huh. That's right up there with the spaceship in Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls which added a redundant dimensional portal. This is more forgivable as it's clearly done on a tiny budget but if you're mixing magic with science try to make it a little bit sensible and have a witch do the magic and let the scientist do science.The acting isn't terrible but it's very uneven. The girls are all attractive and fairly sympathetic but I wanted to turn into a beast to kill both of the male actors. One is so pathetic and clingy he's hard to take, the other starts at the other extreme but turns coward at the end. And the ending. Wow. Build sympathy for the mousy girl only to have her neck broken in an instant and never seen again. The coward somehow gains fighting skills to take on the warrior girl who has honed her skills in the other dimension for most of her life. Yet he beats her down. Finally the wimp and warrior girl get re-united and somehow a bunch of freaky vigilantes show up out of nowhere to help out...and then it ends. I'm really hoping they don't plan on a sequel, the flashes of talent that came through here should be put to better use than continuing this story.The music tended to be too loud and didn't fit too well but it was the highlight of the movie I'm afraid. I might have missed some finer points because I watched parts of it on fast-forward on my DVR as it was just painful to listen to the dialog.

slayrrr666 "Dark Rising" is a lot of fun if still plagued with a few minor flaws.**SPOILERS**Still upset over a break-up, Jason, (Landy Cannon) finds that his friends Renee, (Julia Schneider) Marlene, (Haley Shannon) and Jasmine, (Vanessa James) are coming along with him and Ritchie, (Jay Reso) on their camping trip, and uses that to try to get back together. Getting everything together, they start their outdoor activities only for him to keep throwing obstacles between them getting back together, and everything gets put on hold when they're attacked by a strange monster in the forest. Struggling to understand the situation, the group discovers Summer Vale, (Bridgette Kingsley) who they were initially trying to contact via séance, living in the forest and fighting the monsters that were unleashed from another dimension by their black magic book, forcing them to fend off the creature together to get out of the forest alive.The Good News: There was a lot here to really like in this one that really works. One of the best parts is that the film manages to include a lot of action in it that's a lot of fun and gives the film a large dose of excitement and enjoyment. The campsite ambush, beginning with the séance held between the girls surrounded by candles in the middle of the forest to the sounds it makes off in the distance and finally the shots of it stalking them, to the creature appearing at the campfire and chasing them around, leaving bodies in its wake amidst the chaos, is a lot of fun and definitely a highlight moment. The battles with the creature in the forest, from the quick ones with the battle axe to the hand-to-hand combat, are highly enjoyable and definitely add more action into the film, as do the multitude of different dreams that are brought into the fray. As there's several of them, each one has something different. The first is the most visually-arresting, with the different operating tools being laid out and the confusion over everything, while the second one is the tension-packed one with the chained-up women, the darkness around them and the siren as well as the victim being dragged into the darkness screaming uncontrollably with the inevitable awaiting them next. The third one is the action part, where it's a full-on, back-and-forth fist-fight and martial arts filled brawl between the two that is just over-the-top and extra enjoyable. Aside from this, the film also manages to include a few moments of suspense amongst the action, including the initial confrontation with the girl in the house, searching through the empty rooms before finally finding her and the struggle to figure out what's going on and the eventual finding of the bug in her back, cutting it out and the confrontation within all makes for a pretty thrilling sequence. The opening, where the demon is resurrected through the incantation of the spell, followed by the green light glaring through the night, causing the walk-through of the house to discover what's going on searching for her father and the eventual discovery that ensues, is another pretty suspenseful scene, and the later technique where they discover what's going on with her is also quite good. Another plus for the film is that it manages to work in the lesbian subplot and get some mileage out of it, delivery some comedy with them in the bookstore while on the phone to the oblivious boyfriend, a bit of sensuality with the whole group frolicking in bikinis at the camp, including several of them going topless, and finally the sleaze in the full-on sex scene between the two, which is really good. The monster design is quite good, with the skull-like head, horns, warrior helmet and huge spiked-hand, along with its outfit design make for a really memorable creature. The last plus here is the film's gore, which is quite nice. From slices across the chest, a splitting in half, amputation and a decapitation, this one certainly satisfies. These here are its' positives.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot wrong here that holds it down. One of the biggest issues here is the fact that the film doesn't really manage to keep it's different story lines cohesive enough, as it tends to shift around between all of its different plot elements and never really makes sure it's important to the scene. It'll simply shift into one of its different stories in the middle of another one, going from the girl's childhood to her past battles with the demons as a warrior/barbarian and then back to the group's struggles in the present and then shifting back to the different dreams where they're fighting the others, are never really put into logical order and the constant shifting around is something that could've been fixed. Also what could've been fixed is the film's lack of explaining anything, since we don't know anything about the creatures other than they come from another dimension, but their purpose, motives or even what the thing is to begin with are all skipped over, as is the explanation of how she became the warrior/barbarian, all crucial items in here to understanding the film. The last flaw here is the rather quirky and utterly stupid music thrown in whenever the guy is failing to impress the girl. It's obvious the guy's a doofus, but to have the non-comedic music that's just plain irritating all the way through doesn't help matters. These here are the film's flaws.The Final Verdict: A whole lot of fun but still containing some flaws here and there, this one really doesn't have much of anything that will really turn off those looking for some fun. Give it a shot if you're into those types of films, a fan of the cast or just interested, while those that aren't into these should heed caution.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity and a sex scene

commonwealthofcanada Dark Rising is your typical bad, obviously quickly produced horror/sci-fi/fantasy movie. It has a strange, unexplained plot with holes so big you could fit an elephant through them. Most of the time I didn't know what the hell was going on but it didn't really matter, it was a simple demon hunter returns from hell dimension to save campers story with confusing stuff added on about witches and a book of evil with plot elements and characters who make no sense or disappear totally for no reason. The acting is bad but there honestly is not much they can do with this script I am guessing. There is a couple topless scenes which is probably the only reason this bad movie got made (like so many other bad movies). Give this one a pass unless there is nothing else on T.V.

steverockamaniac When Jay Reso aka Christian Cage departed the WWE there were a few goals he wanted to achieve, one of which was to become a world champion, and the other was to try his luck in the acting field. The first part certainly came true as he quickly rose to the top of TNA and finally received the recognition he deserves, and now the second is becoming true with the release of Dark Rising on DVD. Billed under his real name, Jay Reso, Christian, plays Ricky in this rather unique blend of comedy and horror.The films lead character, Jason, is going through a rough time. Recently his fiancé broke off their relationship, but Jason cant let go of his feelings for her, Meanwhile, his ex, Jasmine has moved on in a whole different way as she has now adopted lesbianism as her way of life, which provides for a lot of the sexiness of this film as there is some full on make out sessions with her new girlfriend. As a last ditch effort to woo Jasmine back, Jason, alongside his good buddy Ricky (Reso) organizes a camping trip and invites, Jasime, and her two friends, not realizing one of them is her new girlfriend.After seeing the movie poster and reading what I've written so far your probably wondering if im talking about the right movie, Its the same thought that went through my mind when I received the DVD, and having read the movies plot on the internet weeks before getting into my hands, This is where the films unique plot twist comes into play.Jasmine and her two friends, Marlene and Renee are aspiring witches, as mentioned though, Jasmine and Marlene are more interested in making out than actually mastering any sort of witchcraft powers. Leaving Renee, who is a bit of a bookworm, and with that determination, she accidentally opens a portal to another world. This allows Summer Vale, a lost little girl, who when she was young was dragged into this other world to return to earth,all grown up with battle axe in hand. I know it sounds like this comes out of no where but her disappearance is explained off the top of the film. Also passing through the portal is a demon, long story short, it must be stopped, and Summer is the one to do so.I gotta admit, the story is kinda weird, and at times I found myself wondering if I should be taking parts as a scary scene or as a comedic scene, That may be the beauty of the films story as you could often take it either way, ultimately though taking each scene for what it was and just trying to watch the progression of the film, not to mention the rather enjoyable sex scenes, I made it through Dark Rising and didn't regret watching the film at all.Christian is a natural in this film, his wrestling days probably helped him a lot here as his character was almost your typical heel in that he is usually the cocky in charge ladies man, but when faced with some overcoming adversity morphs into the coward role. I honestly think that he has the potential for a future in the acting field.The DVD offers all your typical bonus features including the behind the scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and director/cast commentary, but also offers a complete TNA Wrestling match between Christian Cage and Rhino inside a six sides of steel barbed wire cage match from a November 2006 edition of Impact.