Darkness Reigns follows a film crew who are hunted and subsequently murdered by a malevolent demon that is fighting to close a deal with a crew member that made an unfortunate deal for fame and fortune.
In the realms of horror, demonic possession and hauntings will always be an oversaturated topic that none of us can escape, metaphorically and literally. However that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done well with a new and interesting take on the subject that gives the audience a little more substance than typical demonic films.
Darkness Reigns from director Andrew P. Jones aims to give the genre something different, but seems to lack the right elements to really deliver a demon film worth raving about.The one aspect of the film premise that seemed the most intriguing was the introduction from behind-the-scenes cameraman Daniel, played by Zachary Mooren. At the first cast and crew screening of the film, he introduces the film and mentioned the sadness that comes with the film after everyone on set, except for himself, was viciously murdered by a malevolent force. From there, the audience, both on and off screen, watch the film as if it’s a homage to those involved and the first depiction of the truth behind what happened to everyone on set.
Although this premise is interesting enough in itself and sets Darkness Reigns up on good terms, it seems to be the only idea that really does something different. From here we are witness to a very average film set up, with only one character offering something entertaining to watch – Sidney played by Peter Mayer is the medium who likes threesomes with the women and offers some real no bullshit tales about the truths of demons and ghosts. Unfortunately the film cannot be held up by one character alone, which means there is a real lacking of characters that the audience can resonate with and therefore leaves us holding on a single thread. Casper Van Dien from Starship Troopers plays himself and although is one other fairly believable character, he doesn’t last long which creates a slight impact but also means one of the best actors in the whole film is dissipated after about 15 minutes.
If you’re a fan of horror, then you will be aware of the unfortunate circumstances that have been reported from previous horror movie sets that paranormal devastations happened on. The most notable being The Exorcist in which some believed the set to be cursed due to catastrophic occurrences which happened during the filming period. The first incident that happened was when the set caught fire, destroying all but the room that Regan was situated in. Another situation that happened was Ellen Burstyn who played Regan’s mother was genuinely harmed during one of the scenes, and to this day is still impacted from the injury that she sustained. Although there is no proof that their deaths were caused by the film itself, cast members including Jack MacGowran and Vasiliki Maliakos, both died while the film was in post-production. It seems that Darkness Reigns may have taken some inspiration from such circumstances and played a twist on this with their storyline, which gives it a slight advantage over other films that have gone down the demonic possession route without much thought or backstory to help with their ideas. Yet there is still something that is lacking, which is a disappointment considering the potential with a storyline such as this.
Even though Darkness Reigns isn’t a film that is going to make much of a mark in the history of cinema, as an independent film making an attempt at something slightly different, it does well. I would classify the film as an easy watch experience for those evenings where you just need something that has a little macabre but nothing too heavy.