The Dark Stranger (2016)

Leah (Katie Findlay) blames herself for her mother's suicide. In a constant dysfunctional melancholy, she starts to draw a graphic novel, which symbolically imitates her life and is ominous. The villain of the story is "The Dark Stranger." Findlay was able to pull off the quiet and moody teen, so much so that at 20 minutes into the film, she was irritating me. About that time the film changes gears slightly. The film takes time to build characters and the family relationship, much like a Lifetime feature. I can see this movie having an appeal to dark graphic novel fans such as "Slenderman." The film lets itself open to a sequel or even a TV series. Horror is mostly psychological. The production will be tame to those who demand blood and guts or Hitchcock.in their terror.Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.

Lovely little movie right here, presenting a story rarely used, with a way better execution and quite good actors.Stephen McHattie does it again, comes in and steals the show as a dark, mysterious man, just like he did in Haunter (2013). Teaming up with Enrico Colantoni, you can be sure to have at least a A- acting style. The plot itself is lovely to watch, if your eyes are set on the horror industry of course, and if you are able to appreciate smaller productions, do yourself a favor and find this one.The visuals are beautiful, the story goes on at a good pace, the reveal is nice but the ending feels forced. Quick and easy, perhaps some more time was needed on the climax, but nevertheless I took the film for what it was, a nice change of direction, pace, and a different way to tell a horror story. I will definitely recommend this one.Cheers!

I'm a big Stephen McHattie fan so when The Dark Stranger came along I had to take a peek.This film has a lot of good, very creative ideas but somehow its comes across as rather nondescript. There is nothing wrong with the performances from the cast, with McHattie fitting snugly into the role of The Dark Stranger. Where this film falls down, is in its pacing and the fact well, its really not all that exciting. The key issue here is this is, at its heart, a horror thriller and its really neither of these things in enough "measure" to really hold the viewers attention. I frequently found myself distracted by other things, not a good sign. In short, The Dark Stranger is not a bad film and the ideas are good but there's just not enough happening to really bring this film to life.Six out of ten from me.

I love making reviews for movies that surprise me. I write and do some drawing, but just for fun and catharsis, and sometimes loosing myself into the magic world of imagination.We have the story of a young woman (our heroine), who have depression and anxiety, and also agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house). She is visited by a therapist because of that, and it is implied that could perhaps try to attempt against her own life. She lives with her loving father and a brother who always want to skip school and feels ignored. This family had suffered the lost of a loved one: the mother, who had committed suicide after a heated argument with her daughter (and alcoholism was the reason).The loving father do the best he can with all his family have to deal with.Soon a stranger shows interest in that mother artwork, and our heroine is very suspicious of him. At the same time she had started to drawing again, only that this time she does it with her own blood and while in a trance... and she thinks that influenced by a character she call "The Dark Stranger". Reality and fantasy start to mix and boundaries seems blurring.And finally we know from the stranger interested in art the real identity of "The Dark Stranger".I loved the idea, and how the narrative caught my attention, and keep me interested.In other side the lead actress surprised me, I never had seen her before, she was quite believable.I love Enrico Colantoni, he is always awesome. The rest of the cast was nice, specially "The Dar Stranger"The worst: no explanation or more deep backstory, and some characters are lost in the movie, making a little plot hole.The best: the script was so original, the setting was pretty much fairy-tale that I loved it. And the special effects are pretty decent.8/10 RecommendedWe all are critics. Watch at your own risk.Greetings from Uruguay.