The Dark And The Wicked
In the 12 years since The Strangers became a breakout genre hit, writer/director Bryan Bertino has struggled to deliver another film that horror fans could embrace. The Dark and the Wicked nails the moody atmospherics and religious exploration that more modern films often utilize, but the beloved cult filmmaker falls short of his potential yet again.
When adult siblings Louise (Marin Ireland, Hell or High Water) and Michael (Michael Abbot Jr., Mud) return home to help their ailing parents, it soon becomes clear that something evil is afoot. Their father, once a hardworking farmer, is catatonic. Their mother, his primary caretaker, is plagued by voices that fill her mind with dark thoughts and a general sense of hopelessness. It's unclear what brought on either problem, and the answer is no more evident when the credits roll.
When their mother's delusions drive her to suicide, Louise and Michael are left to decide their father's fate and that of their family home. Louise, now fallen prey to the same strange occurrences that her mother spoke of, wants to care for everything while Michael wants to escape. Neither one will get what they want, nor will they ever fully understand why things continue to fall apart.
Bertino's ability to establish an unsettling place and time is not up for debate. Even on the sprawling family farm, the events of The Dark and the Wicked feel incredibly claustrophobic. The evil that’s stalking the family is omnipresent. It appears in bathrooms, barns, and the homes of anyone who visits the property — and it takes on many forms (including that of the siblings' dead mother), and it behaves erratically.
That tension ultimately goes to waste due to an utter lack of definition. The ''what'' and ''why'' of the story is never answered, and instead persist to an annoying degree: What is hunting the family? Why is it here? What does it want? Why now? Why ever? Why anything?
Bertino uses that ambiguity to deliver various thrills and chills cobbled together from more intelligent films. There are shivering ghosts, shapeshifting demons, and whispering voices tricking people into doing bad things. Momentarily doses of adrenaline arise, but it's all built upon a premise so flimsy that one can’t help noticing the meaninglessness of it all.
And maybe that's the point. Throughout the film, supporting characters tell Louise and Michael that their family's lack of faith doesn't mean religion a lie. Maybe The Dark and the Wicked is an allegory for how the faithless are left to the wolves because God doesn't care about them. That idea goes against claims most religions make about higher powers caring for all their creations, but it would still offer some explanation for events in this film.
As is, The Dark and the Wicked is the worst kind of film. It misses the mark by an inch rather than a mile. It has so many promising elements, including performances and aesthetics, but its makers opt to wander through its vaguely defined world rather than exploit its limitless possibilities in a meaningful way. It's a slow-burn journey to nowhere that will leave you frustrated — the horror equivalent to edging, only without the eventual payoff.
Grade: D-plus. Not rated. Available to rent starting Nov. 6 via Amazon Video, iTunes, and other streaming services
(Photo: RLJE Films)
