An action-packed slog

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

They say the most effective horror films are not about what happens on screen but about what you don't see happening. With the inclusion of a strong and foreboding sense of dread, mood is the other component that makes or breaks that effectiveness. Right from its opening scene, Super Dark Times is a just that - a highly effective horror-thriller with mood as thick as a blanket of silent but steadily creeping fog. It is also cleverly written and slyly presented in a way where what you see is just half the story. The bait to lure us in is the premise that this is a coming-of-age film. While that is relatable to any adult watching this film, the scariest part is its rhetoric preface leading up to almost everything that is evil in the world today. Set in the early 1990s - a time before the modern day internet when teenagers would actually leave home to meet their friends, or use a brick-sized telephone to speak to them, or listen to a Sony Discman to shut out the rest of the world - Super Dark Times begins as a familiar story of adolescent teenage boys. Transitioning between the boys they were and the men they are becoming, the sense of carnal frustration and pent-up repression is hard to miss. They ride bikes, talk about movies, fantasise about girls, get into fights with other kids and everything typical of teenagers those days, until too much fooling around leads to a terrible accident.What follows is the cover-up but also where the film launches itself into the bizarre psyche of a teen's turbulent mind. Best friends Zach and Josh spiral out of control, experience an emotional disconnect, embrace solitude, struggle with guilt and grief, and all before we realise that both of them have a thing for Allison, a girl everyone seems to take for granted. During all this time, debut director Kevin Phillips examines how an unchecked act of juvenile folly can trigger unimaginable acts of cruelty. Keep in mind this film is set in an era prior to the infamous Columbine Massacre but during the onset of a social climate perceived in high school students suffering from boredom, insecurity, and a strong need for attention. Phillips not only brings this out as the film's centripetal force that draws everything inward but also uses this to propel the story towards its inevitable and bloody conclusion. While the conclusion can seem rushed or clichéd, the ending is actually brilliant when you really think about it. For instance, the twist in the story is so cleverly hidden that you may never even know you are watching a twist ending. Likewise, there are several other takeaways that can have viewers mulling over for days. In that vein of thought, Super Dark Days can be considered the next best thing after the seminal Donnie Darko. Is it scary? Not in the conventional sense of a horror film, but the subject matter is terrifyingly honest and always lurking beneath the surface. Yet you don't always see it and perhaps some of it is left to imagination. But when you do, it's like watching someone throwing a brick; only to have that brick hit you square in the face.

Initially, I was "super" excited to see this film. The trailer looked pretty good, it made it seem like one of those movies that you keeps you on edge until the very last shot. After watching Super Dark Times, I can almost assure you, this is not one of those movies.Super Dark Times labels itself as a Thriller. The trailer was made in such a way for you to believe that too, for the sole purpose of getting you interested in what is actually a snooze fest. I actually didn't hate the movie; the cinematography was excellent, the music was great, the overall tone of the film was unique, and it offered some pretty decent performances from its young stars. Quite honestly, it's one of the only films that I could actually bare watching that contains teenage main characters (some others are IT and Kings of Summer, which don't get me wrong, are far far better than this movie). What really irks me about this film, is that it has absolutely zero identity. I would've liked it a lot better if it was just a high-school coming-of-age drama and didn't try to be a serious thriller. Because the film really did capture the image of high schoolers today almost perfectly.This film is boring and fails miserably as a thriller. What seems as attempts to build suspense just feel useless given the terrible, loosely thought out plot and character development and design.There are also some very strange sexual undertones in this movie that virtually make no sense and serve no real importance towards the plot, which is already lacking.Don't get me wrong, some people might really like this film, most likely the younger crowd. Personally, I was hoping for this movie to be good myself but I was sadly disappointed. I love movies that stray away from the mainstream and/or use small budgets like this. Super Dark Times definitely had potential to be something unique and memorable but that was definitely not the case for my experience with this film. Overall, I guess it's a solid debut for director Kevin Phillips but I'll quickly be forgetting about this one.

This movie follows the same line of "Stranger Things", the pace, the scenery, the era, the music, there is even one actor from ST in this movie. The movie starts well, although I did not understand the very opening scene with the deer, anyways... it's good, but then from the middle until the end starts loosing it's essence and the end is soooooo lame. It leaves you with nothing... just BLARGH!!!! So boring.... what is going on with movie endings? I just wrote a review for "Hearthhob" and "The Open House", all recent Netflix ads, that starts ok or well but it ends without any consideration for it's viewers. No respect at all... just LAZY writing. I feel sorry for this movie because it has everything going to be dark and good but it is not. Just a wast of script.

I suppose when you title your film 'Super Dark Times' there is a bit of an onus on you to make the film reasonably dark. What starts out as quite a simple story turns into something quite major and compelling by the end. I'm definitely glad it did too because the original route the film seemed to be heading towards would not have been memorable or interesting really at all. The way they did it though made this turn out to be a very good little flick.I quite liked the chemistry between the characters. The romance angle between the characters of 'Zach' and 'Allison' was well written and the actors did a very good job of pulling it off. Amy Hargreaves' adition to the film was also a positive one. She plays a very similar character to her one in '13 Reasons Why' and she is perfectly suited to it. Finally Charlie Tahan mildly impressed me in his role. Not always an easy one to pull off but he did it well.'Super Dark Times' isn't a game-changer in any way, but it certainly achieves what it sets out to which is to tell a simple story based around some great characters and provide a wee twist of sorts near the end. It does what it sets out to well and that's all you can ask of any film.