Memorable, crazy movie

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Whilst the plot owes a huge debt of inspiration to THE WICKER MAN (except the fertility "sun-worshipping" cult is relocated to Wales from a Scottish island, and a gang of poorly-dressed gypsies and Druid weirdos instead), and whilst it can't hope to equal that 1973 classic, DARKLANDS is a pretty good thriller for the modern horror genre which keeps its feet firmly on the ground. Due to the low budget, there are no elaborate special effects sequences or fancy action scenarios - instead, just a gritty, depressive feel to the film and plenty of suspense at the same time, especially towards the last half an hour.The biggest flaw this film has is its predictability - at all stages there's a "seen it all before" kind of feel. Plot twists involving friendly characters turning out to be bad guys are easy to spot and incredibly obvious, and the downbeat outcome, whilst short, and with maximum horror, also comes as no surprise to seasoned horror fans who may have seen THE WICKER MAN. Ironically, the sequences showing the Druid revellers dancing with chainsaws and the alike aren't really horrific or disturbing at all, just silly, and the few gore scenes are clumsy and mishandled (don't even get me started on that silly drug-induced sexual encounter with the woman in the red robe). Where DARKLANDS is at its most effective is in the quieter conspiracy-type moments as the lead character of Frazer Truick investigates mysterious happenings and has run-ins with various unsavoury characters, and the finale in which he gradually comes to realise that he's caught in one huge trap.Craig Fairbrass may not be everyone's choice for such a leading role, but to be fair he acts more here than his usual hardman action hero-type role requires. His no-frills everyman-style acting works well, giving the film a likable and dependable lead. The good supporting cast includes Rowena King as a mysterious girlfriend, Jon Finch (FRENZY) as a mysterious councillor and plenty more suspicious faces. The end result is that DARKLANDS is a familiar film which is easily missed - but for fans looking for serious hard-edged horror with no easy answers, it may be worth a look. It is unsatisfying, and you feel like something is missing, but it stands unique as one of the few (only?) Welsh-set horror films out there.

Between depressing police procedurals like "A Mind to Kill" and cultic crap like this, it's a wonder anyone has any respect for the Welsh, let alone any interest in visiting or living in Wales. Myself, based on just the above, I'd leave skidmarks in the opposite direction from Cardiff.Craig Fairbrass is no more convincing here as the journalist protag on the trail of a big story than he was as a love rat on Eastenders. Not that that matters much since a dyslexic Howler monkey could come up with a better script. We are asked to swallow, for example [hack, cough, spit], the idea that some Celtic cult that's a mix of pagan ritual, pseudo-freemasonry and virulent Welsh nationalism could get away with practicing human sacrifice in a large industrial town in Wales. Yeah, I'm sure Downing Street would *never* twig to that little regional conspiracy. Also, I never thought I'd say this, since I normally find horror movie sex scenes at least highly amusing, but there is a truly tedious amount of bonking. This very unfortunately has everything to do with the "shock climax" (if you'll pardon the pun). I could live with the downer ending if it had a point, but it doesn't. It's just nihilism for the sake of it--rather like the soundtrack, really. Not to mention an unhealthy dose of anti-Welsh stereotypes that makes it look like they could really use some chlorine in the gene pool down there in Wales.For a good downer movie about Celtic cults, do yourself an enormous favour and rent The Wicker Man instead. That one at least makes you think about who the good guys and bad guys are- -and the ending (which this one tried dismally to rip off) is much, much better.

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. ------------------------------------------

Despite all of the feverish accolades on the box, I found this to be a conventional and dull film. The few scenes of the pagan ritual might be disturbing were there not some sub-portishead music playing on the soundtrack the entire time.The scenes of the gypsys living outside the power plant were grimy and creepy. I was very annoyed by the fact that this film compared itself to the great "The Wicker man." while that film was an attack on Christianity and organized religion, this film seems to just be about how bad and evil the religous cult is which I found kind of silly and reactionary.