Dark Winter – review

Director: Jason D. Morris

Release date: 2018

Contains spoilers

The trouble with creating a shared universe is the fact that you need viewers to invest in that world, to understand what it is you are doing, what your rules are and what your history is. That is likely more tough when you are working the budget film scene.

This film is set in Ashton Falls and that is the scene for a series of films that the filmmakers are creating. I went in cold, not realising this, and found the universe somewhat confusing to a new entrant – unfortunate as the filmmakers must strike a balance between not boring those versed in the world but educating new viewers.

blood bags in the washing up

So, after opening titles that involved some rather nice photography, it has to be said, we meet Vanessa (Shoni Alysse Cook) and her daughter Abigail (Autumn Evelyn). Vanessa wants to get away and speaks about killing him if necessary – referring to Harry (Wade Thalberg), Abigail’s father. The issue here, and through the film, is the acting. Some of the issue might be down to the dialogue failing to be dynamic but much is down to some poor performances – and whilst I'm not wanting to seem hyper-critical of a child actor, the Abigail performance was particularly poor.

reflecting Harry

We then get intertitles that inform us that Ashton Falls is a haven for the ‘darker parts of humanity’ and cite creatures and humans in that. It then suggests that sometimes they want to get out (like Vanessa does) and to stop that the Council has appointed collectors – essentially deadly border guards – Harry is a loyal collector. The intertitles then tell us that it is the start of the winter solstice – the most dangerous time of the year. Then we get a radio broadcast that intimates we are one year since the great collapse – an event in another film in this universe called the Collapse.

bats

The Collapse is a ‘the Mist’ like film, from what I can gather (as I haven’t watched it as I write this) and is an apocalyptic sort of film. As for the solstice. The radio broadcast tells us that there are safe zones, but if you are caught out of them then you’ll vanish for thirty years, doomed to live the same day over and over – if, like me, you find the Groundhog Day type film a chore then rest assured this doesn’t go particularly down that line. Presumably, then, the solstice issues impacted Ashton Falls prior to the collapse.

Jake sniffing tree

We then meet Jake (Doc Divecchio) and his grandson, who he is to take on a hunt in the woods (a ritualistic event). So, when we talk creatures, we hear the term kelpie used (and Jake seems to worship a kelpie diety) and we have vampires. Though the film tries to keep it as a reveal, Vanessa is a vampire and so is Abigail. It is the fact that Abigail is turning that has set Harry on the road (Vanessa believes) to kill her. The nature of them is broadcast throughout, with us seeing empty blood bags in a sink and Vanessa buying one from her friend/associate Erik (Jeremy Jones).

Harry on the hunt

She asks Erik to help her escape (Erik is something, though it isn’t revealed what – he certainly has the power to either vanish or teleport). She goes to get him money, leaving Abigail with him and he is meant to take her to a safe cabin. Abigail is run off the road by Harry (and thrown from the car, it appears) and he then hunts her through the woods. She has the power to communicate with her daughter telepathically and she has been abandoned by Erik somewhere – all the time cutting to the hunters (and yes, the paths end up crossing).

Autumn Evelyn as Abigail

The thing is, I was less than taken by this. I was unsure of the universe we were in and the film didn’t broadcast the dangers successfully. The acting was generally poor and there was little in the way of tension. There was an occasional good effect (a crossbow quarrel to the head worked well). We got meaningless characters – a character called Saffron (Katelin Stack) video calls Vanessa and it is clear they have history but Erik has ‘freed her’ to help Vanessa. But then she doesn’t come into it again, except to be blamed for a trap that Vanessa triggers – the call was a pointless moment.

vampire teeth

I wanted to like this as I hoped that the almost urban fantasy concept around Ashton Falls would be interesting. Instead we got some wandering around a forest and quarry I had no interest in. The film could have shown us much more around what the hunters were doing and their identity/religion. All in all, nice wider premise, some good photography, poor dialogue and acting and, over-all, a damp squib. 3.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK