From Within (2008)
The fact that I even have to write this review is pretty painful. I honestly wasn’t expecting much to begin with, as I have been burned by the “8 films to die for” in the past. After Dark is very hit or miss as a film distribution company. They have some great titles (Tooth and Nail, Wicked Little Things, Dark Ride), then this one falls to the side with films like Nightmare Man and Reincarnation. The plot sounded interesting and unique. Mass suicide overtakes a small town, and one girl (with some help) must figure out why these events are happening. That’s where the good part of the film ends. The film feels very rocky, almost as if they didn’t know what was going to happen in the film themselves. It seems like someone sat down, wrote a draft, and they went with it. The spirit that transfers to a person once the previous person has killed themselves, is flimsily explained (or, at least, not interesting), but where the film shines as a turd is the acting. Even if these events were happening, there is so little emotion (that seemed genuine), that it almost felt like a success when I didn’t have to deal with them anymore. The film suffered from “being like all the other crap”, so it was still manageable in the “overly formulaic/seen it before, when will it be over” type of way. Overall, the film could have taken a neat concept and really hit it out of the park, but it was a foul ball the whole way through. After Dark, smarten up!
Trailer
