Horror

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Dark Was the Night

Maiden Woods Films

Caliber Media Company

Foggy Bottom Pictures

Preferred Content

Sundial Pictures

The Molecule

First Take Films

United States of America

English

Kevin Durand

Lukas Haas

Bianca Kajlich

Ethan Khusidman

Nick Damici

Sabina Gadecki

Heath Freeman

Steve Agee

Billy Paterson

Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum

Terry Fiore

Minerva Scelza

Seth Hendricks

Joe Pallister

Charles Parshley

Vincent Carbone

Isabelle Sitterle

Kim St. Clair

Ty Vaughn

John El Manahi

Evan Seide

Brian Spears

Lizz Morhaim

Toby Yates

Adam Giambattista

Adam Dougherty

James Calleri

Haley Lieberman

Timothy Donovan

Paul Covington

Ernesto Sutton

Jack Heller

Ted Markovic

Thomas Furukawa

Joey Carey

Dylan K. Narang

Stefan Nowicki

Ryan Samul

Kevin Iwashina

Morgan White

Ross M. Dinerstein

Dallas Sonnier

Darren Morze

Tyler Hisel

Alexander Robb

James Straus

**_The Devil’s Footprints phenomenon rears its head in a wintery town in New York_**

A grieving sheriff & his deputy (Kevin Durand and Lukas Haas) investigate mysterious happenings as animals go missing and people start dying. Is it some kind of unknown predatory animal, a spirit-beast linked to American Indian lore, or something else?  

“Dark Was the Night” (2014) is mystery/horror of the monster-in-the-woods variety, but not the cabin-in-the-woods kind. Like the more recent “The Hunting” (2021), there’s a reverent ambiance to the slow-burn proceedings along the lines of “The Mothman Prophecies” (2002) and “Wendigo” (2001). It’s grim and deadly serious so don’t expect the zippy black amusement of, say, "The Wolf of Snow Hollow" (2020).

While the milieu of all of these movies is similar, it’s the protagonists and the nature of the threat that varies. The creators wisely only show quick glimpses of the threat and wait till the climax for the big reveal, which unfortunately is a CGI letdown. Meanwhile the parting shot is eye-rolling. Yet, up to that point this is moody creature mystery with nice suspense and horrific bits.

Another issue I can’t neglect to mention is that there isn’t enough focus on the female cast (not talkin’ ’bout nudity or sleaze). In other words, the story’s just too male-oriented. It needed a more prominent female character to stir interest or shake things up. The aforementioned “The Hunting” is a good example of what I’m talking about.  

The film runs 1 hour, 39 minutes, and was shot in Southampton, New York, which is at the southeastern tip of Long Island.

GRADE: B-

Dark Was the Night Official Trailer 1 (2015) - Horror HD

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Dark Was the Night

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Cast

Kevin Durand

Lukas Haas

Bianca Kajlich

Ethan Khusidman

Nick Damici

Sabina Gadecki

Heath Freeman

Steve Agee

Billy Paterson

Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum

Box office

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