Dark Corners (2006)

To call this a movie a hidden gem, is not a hyperbole, but it reflects its quality.It is a dive into the darkness, in an unknown place that salvation seems so far away. I haven't seen a lot American horror movies which are more frightening than this. It's a shame that this movie didn't get the recognition it deserved. 5.1 is not a fair rate. I would give it a 7.5. I think that the reviewers should award efforts like that, for encouraging producers/directors/writers who don't have large budget in their movies, to keep their vision up. Finally, i must confess that i wouldn't have understood the meaning of the end if i had not read the interpretation here, in movie's page in IMDb. Maybe that was the only flaw, the end is a little confusing.

For some this movie may require more then one viewing. I would actually recommend watching it at least twice as there is so much going on that things make much more sense after a second viewing. After reading some of the reviews here I can see that this movie went over a lot of peoples heads which is no surprise to me.First of all, no, the movie leaves no question unanswered, there are absolutely NO plot holes, and if it did for you watch it again, you missed it or if you refuse, maybe this just isn't the movie for you.Thora Birch, as always, gives an excellent performance. I swear every time I see her starring in a Horror I know its going to be good. This girl is talented and has an eye for picking great independent movies. I recommend checking out "The Hole" if you like her. Also, the rest of the actors in this movie are totally believable and give stellar performances.Without spoilers, this movie follows a young woman who lives two separate lives. One while she is awake and one when shes asleep. In one life she has everything she wants, a picture perfect life if you will. And the other life is dark and miserable. As the movie goes on the lives begin to intertwine. All of this is going on while a serial killer terrorizes the city they live in.The scenery of this movie is absolutely perfect between her two lives. Bright and happy in one life, Dark and menacing in the other. The characters and scenes in this movie are truly real. There are funny moments(This is NOT a comedy in any way) and some serious wtf? moments. Definitely not a cookie cutter movie in anyway though some may mistake it for one hence the bad reviews.For genre fans I cannot recommend this movie enough. I really don't like to sound over anxious in movie reviews because a lot of it comes down to taste and I don't want to let people down if this isn't there type of movie, but still, this movie really affected me to the point that I actually bought it and have shown it to many of my friends who aren't into the horror genre as much as myself and everyone I have shown it too has been affected which just reinforces my belief that this is of GEM quality.Mark my words, this will be a forgotten classic someday. The good acting, the subtle hints, combined with the "holy sh**" ending makes this one hard to forget.I gave this movie a 10 out of 10 rating because it really delivers. I never give 10. In the past I have given 7's to independent movies that were only deserving of a 6 to help them out when the one time trolls have killed and thoroughly discredited a movie, but in this case this movie really is, to me a 10/10 horror movie. I can think of nothing that could've made this movie better then it is.Absolute gem!!

Dark Corners, directed by Ray Gower, is one of those films that is designed to have its audience ponder long and hard about events, and then come to their own conclusion about what they have seen. The problem is, even after much consideration (and on-line research), it's unlikely that a satisfying answer will be forthcoming. There's a point beyond which ambiguity simply becomes frustrating and Dark Corners cruises right past it and keeps on going; in fact, the film is so confusing that it's quite possible the makers didn't really know what the hell was going themselves.Thora Birch stars as a young, blonde wife named Susan who suffers from terrifying nightmares prior to having IVF fertility treatment. In these vivid dreams, she sees herself as another person—a brunette named Karen (also Thora Birch)—who inhabits a hellish world where she repeatedly wakes from her sleep covered in blood and bruises.In order to try and quell her night-time hallucinations, Sarah visits Dr. Woodleigh (Toby Stephens), a psycho-analyst who suggests hypnosis as a way of dealing with the problem. However, her appointment with Woodleigh proves to be the start of even more horror for poor Sarah, as her life gradually becomes more intertwined with that of her imaginary self, and she becomes a target of a knife wielding killer known as The Nightstalker.There's a lot of conjecture on the Dark Corner message board about what is really supposed to be occurring, with some posters proposing that both Sarah and Karen are manifestations of Dr.Woodleigh (AKA The Nightstalker), who is reliving his sins endlessly in hell. Whilst this is certainly a possibility, quite how one reaches that conclusion based on the evidence offered in the film is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe in being spoon-fed the answers, but in this case, a couple of satisfying morsels wouldn't have gone amiss.Fortunately, although the story is a real head-scratcher, the quality of the acting prevents this film from being a total loss. Birch is great as both versions of her character (and also rather cute to boot, particularly as the brunette), and she is ably supported by Christien Anholt as Sarah's understanding hubby and Joanna Hole as best friend/work colleague Elaine Jordan. These solid performances, plus a fair bit of graphic nastiness, make the film a reasonably engaging and entertaining experience; just don't expect to understand all that you are seeing.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.

I caught this movie several months ago, and it was only after happening to come across it in my collection recently that I realized it was really worth commenting on here. So here goes.Firstly, my brief take on the plot: Karen Clarke lives in a city where dark and horrifying things exist just beyond the edge of her vision. Susan Hamilton is a happily married woman suffering from recurring nightmares. Each considers the other to be the person they become in their dreams. So who is real? Now, this is not one of those "are you sure this is low-budget?" productions. There are numerous qualities about this film which make it very clear to the viewer that we are, in fact, in the land of independent financing, ranging from certain scenes shot like they're using 1950s camera equipment to the typical "small roles filled by people with all the emotions of a cardboard box" syndrome. This even extends to one of the more significant minor roles, an older blond woman whose acting ability alternates between competent and "Plan 9 From Outer Space" depending on the scene.With that said, there's still something to this film. It takes a bit to get going, with the first 30-40 minutes leaving the viewer with a lot of puzzle pieces and very few ways to connect them, but the pieces themselves are reasonably interesting. Once we hit the halfway mark, however, things begin to connect a bit more. Most of it is executed well, leaving the viewer feeling neither confused nor as though they've been led by the nose. A few times, however, clues are all but identified with bright neon signs, particularly a seemingly pointless conversation which suddenly draws attention to itself with a rather unorthodox camera pan. The presentation otherwise is excellent, with many of the scenes set in the "dark" city just about oozing a sense of corruption and decay. Much of the content is surprisingly robust as well, with a lot of allegory and outright symbolism present throughout. (Though the significance of it all isn't truly clear until the end of the film) While the smaller roles are filled with the typical low-budget riff-raff, the principals all do an excellent job in this film. Thora Birch is entertaining to watch and, as always, you can sympathize with her character(s) almost instantly. Toby Stephens gives a short, interesting, and dark performance which is perfect for the film, and in a pleasant surprise Alan Perrin makes a highly intriguing detective in both "sides" of the narrative.However, the real winning part of this film is the final reveal, the "twist" if you will. While it isn't what I would call exactly genius, it's still pretty clever; even the most observant of viewers will at best be able to determine part of the twist, but not all. More importantly, the reveal is both creepy and satisfying, albeit in a Schadenfreude-y kind of way. It's a worthy payoff for 90 minutes of invested time.BOTTOM LINE: It's not really award worthy and it's certainly not perfect, but it's entertaining and has a wonderfully satisfying-yet-creepy ending. If you're a fan of "twist" movies like Memento and Sixth Sense but prefer a "darker" feel this may be right up your alley.