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John Allman

If you’ve ever wandered the aisles at the video store or surfed the DVR pay-per-view options and seen a bunch of movies that you’ve never heard of, chances are John has watched them. Why? He loves movies. All kinds of movies. Good, bad, so-bad-they’re good, even the truly unwatchable ones. He mostly loves horror and science-fiction and drive-in exploitation movies that most upstanding model citizens wouldn’t dare watch. Then he writes up his thoughts so you can decide - watch, don’t watch or avoid at all costs. Sometimes he even gets to talk to the cool folks who make some of your favorite films.

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John Allman

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Darkness (T.M.A.)

Posted Sep 15, 2010 by John Allman

Updated Sep 15, 2010 at 07:30 AM

Darkness (T.M.A.)
Genre: Horror/Supernatural
Directed by: Juraj Herz
Run time: 96 minutes
Rating: R
Format: DVD

The Lowdown: “Darkness (T.M.A.)” is an interesting little import from the Czech Republic that Breaking Glass Pictures is wisely giving a release on DVD. Mixing equal parts ghost story and unnerving supernatural thriller, director Juraj Herz keeps viewers unbalanced throughout. You’re not sure if what you’re seeing is real or imagined. The only thing for certain is that the house that rock musician Marek returns to has a dark history dating back to his childhood.

“Darkness” has atmosphere to burn, not to mention a healthy heaping of sex, drugs and rock and roll. It’s a little too reminiscent of recent foreign efforts like “The Abandoned” and “Hidden,” two separate films released by After Dark’s 8 Films to Die For that both dealt with an adult returning to a childhood home to face some sort of lingering guilt, trauma or horrific past deed.

“Darkness” is a good example of what Breaking Glass Pictures does well, which is distribute a diverse catalog of cutting-edge and traditional horror films, mostly low-budget or independent productions, that otherwise might not reach a wider market.

Here’s a look at some other recent releases from the company:

Slow Torture Puke Chamber (Directed by Lucifer Valentine, 75 minutes, July 2010): Billed as the final installment in the Vomit Gore Trilogy, director Lucifer Valentine returns with a disturbing, unsettling, disgusting and, oddly, compulsively watchable movie about…I have no idea, to be honest. Is it a meditation on bulimia? A thesis statement on insecure goth girls who act out and crave degradation to feel fulfilled? A sick slice of depravity that shows just how putrid a human mind can be? I can’t say. But for a movie that has not one, not two, but three disclaimers, including a spoken testimonial from actress Hope Likens that she agreed to participate in all of the scenes filmed and was not harmed or forced into action against her will, you expect some controversy. What I wasn’t prepared for was how the erotic undertones, the pin-up fetish soft-core and unexpectedly hard-core sex scenes, could both titillate and repulse, often at the same time. I also wasn’t prepared for, but should have expected, given this disc’s title, the abundance of puking that takes place on-camera. I strongly – repeat, STRONGLY – advise that anyone with a weak constitution, or those who can’t stand the sight or sound of someone getting sick, to avoid “Slow Torture Puke Chamber” at all costs. What’s most disturbing, I think, is that while I’m pretty sure much of the regurgitation was staged with tubes, etc., but I’m also pretty convinced that a lot of it wasn’t. Regardless, this is an intense viewing experience, one that you will alternately pray for it to end even as you can’t help but wonder what’s coming next. It touches on so many taboos from the sexual desecration of religious imagery to implied cannibalism to the torture and murder of a pregnant woman and her fetus that you can’t help but speculate that Valentine’s intention is to offend as many different demographics as possible. But again, I don’t know. I’m not convinced that there isn’t some subversively brilliant subtext to all the blood, puke and tears that a more astute scholar of human nature might be able to extract. Love it, hate it, all I know is you can’t ignore it.

Slasher (Directed by Frank W. Montag, 90 minutes, May 2010): A rather routine stalk and slash bloodfest from Germany that leans heavily on nudity to make up for its subpar plot and disjointed pacing. Obviously influenced by “Friday the 13th” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” this story of a deadly, dysfunctional backwoods family is peppered with scenes that will remind you of other, better movies. Bare boobs and so-so special effects aren’t enough to sustain interest.

Brainjacked (Directed by Andrew Allan, 90 minutes, August 2010): Back in 2003, a short film called “Filthy,” filmed in Clearwater, FL, made a splash on the horror festival circuit. Tense, dark and bloody, “Filthy” didn’t set marks for originality but it was nicely made and showed promise for the local talent involved. Andrew Allan, who co-produced “Filthy,” goes behind the camera for “Brainjacked,” another Florida production, that builds on the white trash aesthetic of his previous effort and comes off almost as an homage to the direct-to-video features of the late 1980s and early 1990s, movies like “Brainscan,” “Re-Animator” or any number of Full Moon Pictures releases. There’s gore, elements of sci-fi, a mad doctor conducting unregulated experiments. It’s campy, popcorn fun.