Afouotos
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
BelSports
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Luisito Joaquin Gonzalez (LuisitoJoaquinGonzalez)
B-movie legend, Nico Mastorakis produced this late entry to the category and surprisingly enough, it was his first effort at a true slasher film. After Island of Death built him a career in exploitation cinema, Nico remained in the kingdom of low-budget thrillers with a solid track-record from the pictures that he was involved with. Many focused on murder-mystery/serial killer plot points, but Darkroom is his first real attempt at a stalk and slash flick.I really enjoyed Mastorakis' The Zero Boys from 1986 and people have often citied that it could sit alongside Friday the 13 et al as a traditional killer in the woods yarn. However it owes much more to 'The Hills Have Eyes' or 'Deliverance' whereas this is most definitely more of a traditional cycle entry.Janet (Jill Pierce) returns home to her family farm in order to spend more time with her boyfriend Steve (Jeffrey Alan Arbaugh). Unbeknownst to the youngster, a maniac killer is stalking the vicinity, dressed in a bright yellow rain coat. This is an artistic psychopath because after he butchers his victims, he takes pictures of them and develops them in the darkroom of the title. As more and more people die, it looks like Janet is his main target.Lack of originality is a criticism that's hard to level at the slasher genre as its familiarity is what has given it a style of its own and a cinematic personality. However this lazily delivered and lackadaisical offering really feels like it lacks even the slightest amount of effort from everyone involved and has absolutely no suspense, pace or excitement.The plot mainly concentrates on the mystery element and the development of characters to help build a good puzzle for the audience. Unfortunately for director Terrence O'Hara, the marketing team working on the picture must have been missing from the pre-production meetings when the whodunit aspect was discussed, because the killer is shown not only on the box-art of most prints in circulation, but also in the trailer for the feature. He must've been furious when he found out!There are a few themes running throughout the movie that show some ambition from the screenwriters, alas they are poorly handled and not properly developed. The killer is extremely brutal and some of the killings are quite menacing if not graphically appealing. Gore hounds will be disappointed with the lack of any gooey effects (almost everyone is murdered off-screen) and despite the endless scenes of stalking, the director struggles to build any trepidation or atmosphere.The cast come across as amateur throughout and the porn-level of dramatics soon begin to grate at the strings of your patience. There were also some serious casting errors. Sarah Lee Wade played Cindy with flair and her bubbly character was well-received and conveyed with a flamboyance that was hard to dislike. I would have felt sympathy for her if she had played the role of the final girl. That job however went to Jill Pierce who came across as arrogant, cold and she completely lacked any presence or charm. This was her movie debut and did enough to give her a few more parts in films, but she was very unapproachable here and helped add to the tedious proceedings.And there we have the real problem of Darkroom. It's basically forty- five minutes of story stretched in to an hour on a half of screen time and it really feels like the director was struggling to fill scenes with the empty script that he had. With better actors, the character development and the family feuds could have added a bit of depth to the plot. But as it stood, it became a tiresome expedition of monotonous waiting around for the psychopath to turn up. By that time I was expecting something, anything to lift me from a near-catatonic state, but the kill scenes were equally as effortless and disappointing.The direction from first timer Terrence O'Hara was flat and uninspiring, but some of the cinematography was lush. The dialogue was quite random ("I don't trust air I can't see?") and there were no real attempts from any of the on-screen characters to try and build a bond with the audience.It's a shame, because this was a debut movie for many of the people involved in it, so with that eagerness under their belts and a fairly good budget, it could have been SO much more. It's a real mystery as to why it has come across as a feature without heart and a lack of interest from the crew involved with it. Perhaps it may be rather interesting to genre enthusiasts for the Nico Mastorakis links and the photography aspect of the murder's methodology, but aside from that it's best left in obscurity.
Coventry
I picked up an old and dusty VHS copy of "Darkroom" at a nearby video store that was shutting down, and I actually even hesitated to spend 0,50€ on it. The synopsis and the cover image on the box – same one as illustrated here on the website – made it look like yet another cheap late 80's erotic thriller with a plot like there are thirteen in a dozen and a handful of tame & tedious soft-core sex sequences. I bought the VHS after all and can't say I regret it very much. Of course it is a predictable and largely inept attempt at making a slasher movie, but hey, at least it contains a few interesting elements and it didn't bore me to death. The plot is relatively simple and straightforward. Janet (an amazingly hot 80's babe) and her boyfriend Steve (a imbecilic mullet-guy who desperately wants to look like Patrick Swayze in "Dirty Dancing") are home at the isolated family farm to spend a weekend together. The farm homes Janet's mother, her two sisters, her grandfather and two cousins. Janet's father as well as her aunt and uncle mysteriously died in a fire several years ago. The only neighbors that live close to the family has been butchered by a maniac during the opening sequences of the film and now Janet's youngest sister Paula is missing. When they discover her mutilated body, they know there's a maniac killer amongst them. The climax of the film and the identity of the killer are perhaps too easy to predict, but "Darkroom" compensates the lack of originality through openly hinting at some clichéd taboo- subjects like incest, family feud and voyeurism. As the title suggests, the killer photographs all of his/her victims before, during and after the process of murdering them. The body count is also quite a lot higher than in other contemporary slasher flicks. And, even though most of the actual killing occurs off-screen, the murders and especially the way they are committed are barbaric and deeply unpleasant. Nice bit of trivia for horror fanatics: "Darkroom" was produced by the Greek writer/director Niko Mastorakis; infamous for the insane and widely banned "Island of Death".
HumanoidOfFlesh
A psycho-killer is on the loose at Janet Templeton's family farm.When Janet's sister is brutally murdered,her boyfriend and her family become targets of the killer's psychotic and passionate aggression."Darkroom" is a fairly routine slasher flick that offers literally nothing new for the fans of this sub-genre.The pace is painfully slow and almost all the killings are committed off-screen.The acting is bad and there is absolutely no suspense."Darkroom" was produced by Nico Mastorakis,but his sleazy and infamous "Island of Death" is much better than this piece of mediocrity.Give it only a look,if you are a collector of obscure and forgotten slasher flicks.5 out of 10 and that's being generous.
Scoopy
1988 grade-b entry into the horror/gore genre. Beautiful and creative opening credits, followed by a lame movie with the usual premise and some obviously amateur actors.Insane killer formed by childhood trauma, family in isolated rural location, and a few halfhearted red herrings to distract us from the killer's real identity.
