Steineded How sad is this?

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

reeves2002 I thought this movie would be a lot better especially since a lot of the other Stephen J. Cannell straight to DVD movies i've seen were pretty good.Ones like It lives,the garden and room 6 were enjoyable but left in darkness was a good script and good idea but it reminded me more of an all ages movie that you would see on TV.The score was more like a Disney movie and the acting was OK but not great.It was just not scary.I can't believe Steve and the director actually thought it was scary when they said it was in the making of or behind the scenes extra feature.The character of Donovan was the worst written because when he died he was an 8 year old boy,so why was he 20 something all of a sudden when Celia died.I didn't realize you aged after you died.I assumed you stayed the same age.Also why was he her guardian angel while she was alive,and then a demon or devil when she dies.That whole part was stupid and made no sense.It would have made more sense if she met Donovan again as an 8 year old boy the way he appeared to her in a cemetery.But aging him and making him evil is just very inconsistent.And as if a little girl is going to fly through the air after nearly being hit by a car.The monsters looked more like something from a sci-fi or fantasy movie not a horror.It was very predictable and not well executed.I have seen movies with way lower budgets that are actually scary and seemed believable.This one was more of a disappointment.

Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW) Family tragedy seems to be affect the young people often. For Celia(Monica Keena) losing a loved one seems to have taken its toll on her. When she was born, her mother died. Then she has the friend who saved her from a on-coming car when she was young. On her 21st birthday, she goes to a fraternity party where she is drugged, raped, and killed. Talk about having a hard life. She ends up being the next family tragedy, and no close relative to tell the news. Only her "friend" Donovan(David Anders) tells her who to avoid, and who to trust. Donovan was her guardian angel throughout her life, until she learns he's not the trusting person he claims to be. She does find the guy who drugged and raped her, before she died. And he gets his just desserts after he commits suicide. Seems like the only family member who was at peace was her mother. The only person in the family who could be saved was her grandfather, Joe(Tim Thomerson). He was always around Celia until his death, and knowing who Donovan worked for, made her think for herself. I guess she knew what it takes to be a guardian angel. I know that Celia will definitely earn her wings. This horror is intriguing, and some form of biblical matter was mentioned. It was worth the watch. 3 out of 5 stars!

Paul Andrews Left in Darkness starts on the 21st birthday of parentless Celia (Monica Keena) who goes along to a frat party with her best friend Justine (Jessica Stroup) as way of celebration. However a scumbag guy named Doug (Chris Engen) & his mates spike Celia's drink & when she's suitably unconscious Doug rapes her. Celia wakes up only to see her own body in the corner of the room, obviously shocked she runs downstairs where she meets her dead Grandfather (Tim Thomerson) who tells her that she is dead & stuck in a place somewhere between heaven & hell & that a load of soul eating zombies are trying to, well, eat her soul. Can she survive death, even though she's already dead if you know what I mean & get to heaven where good little girls like he go?Directed by Steven R. Monroe I personally hated Left in Darkness & it's as simple & straight forward as that. The script by Philip Daay & Jane Whitney tries to be different but ends up being a load of old tosh, it's slow, it's boring & it introduces so many obscure 'rules' it's hard to keep track of things & even harder to care. Firstly there's the sanctuary bit, the bit about where the zombies are & aren't allowed, the touching the mirror, being able to affect certain objects & situations, some nonsense about a dead persons light that gives protection, a guardian angel dude who becomes the focus of the most obvious 'twist' ending ever, Celia all of a sudden having to complete tasks, zombies not being able to touch her unless she touches them & more besides. Now don't get me wrong as I love something a bit different, something where you have to think & something totally original but I also hate bad films & ladies & gentlemen I suggest to you that Left in Darkness is a very bad film. All these silly elements are thrown together with one new rule being introduced every few minutes as the previous one is totally forgotten, I found it incredibly tedious to watch, I couldn't get into the story because of all the stupid shifts in the narrative, the film lacks any decent horror elements & as a whole I have no fondness for Left in Darkness at all.Director Monroe does OK although it's neither any better nor any worse than the dozens of low budget straight-to-video horror films that seem to be around at the moment. There's zero atmosphere, there's zero tension & zero gore. I couldn't get over he ridiculous sounding fact that zombies were trying to kill someone who was in principal already dead, the more I think about this film the more I want to lower my IMDb score for it.Technically the film is fine, it's reasonably well made with no obvious problems. Shame about the over-elaborate & confused script which tries to throw some new pointless 'rule' in every few minutes. The acting wasn't that great either, leading lady Keena was easy on the eyes but I doubt she'll get much work because of Left in Darkness.Left in Darkness is crap, I'll give it three stars out of ten because I will openly admit that it does at least try to do something a bit different, it's just a shame it all turned out so terrible. Definitely not recommend.

Aaron1375 By minimal I mean there aren't all that many characters to get to know, and there also are not all that many sets...so basically a horror movie with a very limited potential for kills. Still I thought it was done rather well, could have been better, but then again most horror movies could would have and should have been better. This one has a very pretty girl with a number of tragedies that have marked her life. Her mother died when she was born, her grandfather died the prior year she just wants to have fun on her birthday for once. Well she goes with a friend to a wild frat party, which is mistake number one and her friend hooks her up with an obvious scumbag. Why do gals prefer this scum who would do what he does to a guy like me I will never know, but that is just the facts. This guy precedes to take her to the basement and gets her to tell her sad story and after she passes out from the drug in her drink rapes her. Great guy, eh? Well the drug in the drink kills the girl and is the movie over...no! It has just begun as the girl must now try to figure out the afterlife as her grandfather is there, but he seemingly wishes to do her harm and also there is her guardian angel who tries to explain things to her, but he also seems kind of menacing as well. There are flashes of others in her life, things looking for her soul and she also has the ability to look back on the life she left behind and see the party still going on. Like I said not bad, just needed more, the girl is really pretty and she does a nice job. I could have used a couple of more venues as I get really tired of the frat house. From the back of the box I was actually expecting more of a darker version of an earlier film I enjoyed "Highway to Hell", still there are worse ways to spend one's time.