I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

It's one of the most original films you'll likely see all year, which, depending on your threshold for certifiably crazy storylines, could be a rewarding experience or one that frustrates you.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

There is simply nothing to redeem this awful rip off of the wicker man. While other commentators seem to feel overly kind in that they mention it being similar, it was clearly an unashamed copy without the style or intellect. The pacing is terrible. the acting rotten (poor Jon Finch being the exception) and the directing haphazard.Failing at both intrigue and suspense, this so called horror simply becomes a waste of two hours of your life. Watching it will make you feel that A) you've seen the ideas done better before somewhere else and B) that if this film got the green light you and a few mates could probably get drunk with a cell phone and do a better job. You would be 100% correct in both assumptions.

WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS (Like it matters…..)This film tried so hard to be ‘The Wicker Man for the Millenium' and failed on so many levels. I must admit, I watched it while I was fairly caned on very late night T.V, but it was still stupid. Craig Fairbrass (who you will recognise as Dan from eastenders or that annoying British ‘Heavy' from cliff hanger) is atrocious as the be mulleted reporter who gets up to the kind of things only American Reporters (in films) seem to get up to. And he only works for a local welsh paper………This is basically The Wicker Man lite. Everything screams ‘made for t.v', the (bad) gore and violence, the spectacularly unsexy sex scenes and the casting of the welsh as either tramps or occultists.The most annoying thing about this piece of poo, though, is the ending. Basically, it transpires that Dan from eastenders whole life has been pre-ordained. He was a special baby and he must also make special babies. These special babies get sacrificed every so often to a pretty non specific deity. WHY? What do these people get out of it? What is the reason for this elaborate pantomime? There is never any reason for these human sacrifices other than that they just seemed to feel like it. So why all the ‘First full moon of the new equinox' type jive? There is no point. I felt so cheated. As the film finished I thought ‘is that it?' Why the hell did they mess about for days on end? Why did they need him to be at the right place at the right time, if there was not going to be any sort of ‘supernatural' reward. They were just like a load of bloodthirsty masons. Utter…well I cant say the word, so fill in the blanks……..Utter ______

It's a really boring film, but has it's highlights! The first hour of the film sucks, but the last 30 minutes are moderately good. One cool thing is when the main character, Frazer, drives around with his girl and if you watch the background they pass a power plant (some factory) and just a few seconds later they are going backwards passing the exact place again, but reverse... *lol* =) Anyway, the ending is cool too, I'm not going to spoil anything, but it does not end like most film does! =) Best regards, /Janne

Not for nothing has Julian Richards' assured debut been dubbed the Welsh 'Wicker Man'. The writer-director readily acknowledges it's debt to the 1973 horror classic. In his least action orientated role to date - Craig Fairbrass plays Frazer Truick, a Welsh-born, London raised journo whose investigations into a young steelworkers death suggest links between the industrial 'accident', fervent nationalist politician David Keller (Jon Finch) and an uppity group of Celtic neo-pagans. Truick's nose for a story and lust for the dead girl's beautiful sister, trainee journo Rachel Morris (Rowena King), soon have him knee deep in desecrated churches, slaughtered pigs, crazy priests and a revivalist political conspiracy. Anyone familiar with 'The Wicker Man' or 'Rosemary's Baby' will quickly guess that what Truick thinks is a light at the end of the tunnel is in fact an oncoming train. That said, what the film lacks in narrative riginality, it makes up for in imaginative execution, despite the limitations imposed by a £500,000 budget. Richards' confident direction and cinematographer Zoran Djordjevic's atmospheric visuals are complemented by a score that effectively blends Test Department's percussive industrial noise with gentler Welsh folk songs. By juxtaposing the scary intensity of ancient pagan rituals with the grim beauty of a modern post-industrial landscape, 'Darklands' draws upon evocative pre-christian imagery while also hinting at a more serious socio-economic subtext. Together with 'Twin Town' and 'House Of America' this confirms the recent revival in Welsh film-making. ------------------------------------------