SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Lawbolisted Powerful

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

NateWatchesCoolMovies Andreas Prochaska's The Dark Valley is a dark, grimly paced Euro-western that could have been a great one if only the script was as tight and polished as it's musical and stylistic elements. Shot in the Italian mountains, it looks absolutely alluring in every single frame, blessed with a stoic tough-guy performance from Sam Riley as a mysterious stranger bent on revenge and a soundtrack full of odd, against-the-grain yet distinct choices. It looks, sounds and feels evocative, but the story that should go alongside and string it all together is just too loosely woven, and as such, interest is lost. Riley's stranger is not really welcome in the alpine town, especially by the Brenners, a local crime family that rule the roost. It's a harsh winter, and pretty soon bodies start piling up, victims of an unseen assailant the townspeople just assume is the Stranger. There's a backstory to the whole thing, some great atrocity committed by these folk decades earlier, and while all the information was presented, in both exposition and flashback, it just didn't have the emotional payoff or clear-cut grandiosity that a western like this should, especially one as dramatic in every other area. The dubbing over of the German actors doesn't help one bit either, a choice which I will never, ever support. Subtitles all the way, man. Anyways, Riley is as awesome as ever, it's really sad that he doesn't make more films, he's got a dark star quality that immediately classes up any film he shows up in. The cinematography is top shelf, with a stunning backdrop of mountains all round, detailed period-appropriate production design and costume work. Music is a strong point, with a neat opening credit rendition of Nina Simone's Sinner Man, and there's a climactic gunfight that leaps off the screen in bold strokes. It's just a little less than it should be in areas where the stakes needed to be way higher and draw us into the story, so that when the operatic violence comes, it has heft beyond just looking cool and leaving us nothing to invest our care in. Good stuff, if incomplete.

billgrasha I'd never seen an Oestern before, so I thought this might be worth watching. My mistake. Dark Valley is too kind a description. Dismal, dank, horrid would all be better descriptors. And I only watched for thirty minutes.The best parts are the scenery and the homestead/village sets.After that it is all downhill. Or should I say uphill? The opening narrative is whispered and pretty effectively canceled out by some dreary string music. That sets the tone for the rest of it. Everyone in Dark Valley seems to be a refugee from a Bergman film, and nearly all have laryngitis. Those that don't are effectively canceled out by hoof beats, wagon wheels, tableware, rustling straw, rain, etc., all of which were recorded at least 40 decibels higher than the voices. Not that the dialogue was anything original, but it would have been nice to hear more of it.I never thought I would miss stage actors projecting their voices to the back corner of the second balcony. They could have used a few in this.

blackdruidwolf-86740 I came upon this movie not knowing anything about it. All I knew was that the main character was an actor I found to be truly wonderful in another movie I had seen. I really enjoyed this movie a lot! It was well written. The small details here and there really helped make the movie even better! From the costume to the scenery, the animals,and the characters. Every little touch such as ice in a bowl were just perfect. I found the story enjoyable enough to want to watch it again and again. The opening song says it all, you just have to listen and you might not fully know it's meaning until you've seen the movie through to the end.

Lothar Gerber Such great preconditions: a fantastic novel, a promising cast. So how did this movie end up being so mediocre? 1. and most important: They changed the story. They should not have. That's the biggest mistake of all. They should have just adhered to the novel. Nothing would have gone wrong. But they did and subsequently ruined all the atmosphere of the novel. The plot moves way too fast.2. Pop music as background music? Terrible decision. Not fitting at all. Why not traditional Austrian folk tunes? Why not a zither or a dulcimer? Too obvious? Maybe. But it would have been much more appropriate. 3. The big shoot-out at the end is poorly directed.4. Why the occasional slow motion? It probably is supposed to make the movie more intense, but it's nothing more than an atmosphere killer. As mentioned earlier under those preconditions "Das finstere Tal" is a decent movie, but anyone who read the novel will be disappointed.