Search - Dark Country on DVD

Didn;t like it

jones | MO | 02/04/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Did not make any sense and the end? Who was the crazy person in this or was there a crazy person. Thumbs down."

Good idea, poor execution.

Saint Thomas | Kent, Ohio | 05/19/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a pretty big fan of Thomas Jane. Sure, he's no Robert De Niro (in his early days) or Al Pacino for that matter, but he's still enjoyable never the less. In my opinion, he's a versatile actor who can do anything from Horror, Drama, Action and anything in between. He takes projects that are a little below the radar and sometimes they're not so bad. One of the best films he's been in is the adaptation of Stephen King's THE MIST. His character was sympathetic, well acted and thoughtful. Being the huge King fan that I am, it was nice to see a well made film come from the already amazing short story. It even had the guts to go with a daring ending, completely unlike the actual one from the story! It's not everyday that you see a Hollywood, big budget movie go with a dark and negative ending!

Thomas Jane has also been in a number of other interesting films. He played Frank Castle in THE PUNISHER movie, a film that doesn't get the type of recognition it deserves because of a few mistakes here and there. It's not a perfect movie but if you look past all the bad aspects, it's probably the best PUNISHER film out of them all. Especially the "director's cut." It's much better than that Dolph Lundgren version from the late 80's, thats for sure! Thomas Jane has also been in enjoyable little Horror films such as DREAMCATCHER (another Stephen King story), THE TRIPPER (a movie about a psycho killer wearing a Ronald Reagan mask) and THE MUTANT CHRONICLES, which it seems audiences either loved or hated.

Which brings us to the movie at hand here, DARK COUNTRY. I didn't know too much about this film going into it outside of Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman (HELLBOY and THE MUTANT CHRONICLES) and Lauren German (who was in such well done modern Horror films as THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake and Eli Roth's HOSTEL sequel) were in it. Not knowing much about the actual story, I thought the actors themselves were more than enough of a reason to watch DARK COUNTRY.

My first reaction to the film was rather mixed. I liked the acting, the style and the over all story, but I didn't like how it was executed and the over all visual aspect of the movie. While I was watching the movie, I kept thinking to myself that there was far too much "green screen" and odd camera angles during the film. Sometimes it worked in it's favor, other times it didn't work at all and really took something away from the film as a whole. I really liked the beginning of DARK COUNTRY and how it was filmed like a crime story comic book from the 1940's or 1950's. The lighting and colors worked perfectly at the start of the film. Then most of the story moves into the night and the more obvious use of "green screens" comes into play at this point.

Now, before I go into the story, let's talk about the visual aspect a little more. During one moment of DARK COUNTRY, I thought the camera angles reminded me of how some directors film 3D movies. After this moment I didn't give this idea a second thought and finished the movie. When it was over, I had some mixed feelings about the film. I didn't like all the obvious use of "green screen" and odd camera angles but I liked pretty much everything else about the movie. Being the fact that I'm a huge fan of films in general, I usually try to learn more about the ones I watch afterwards. Reading articles about this movie online, I came to find out that the actual film DARK COUNTRY was supposed to be released as a 3D movie! For some reason it was given a "direct to DVD" release with no mention of it ever being a 3D film in the first place.

In my opinion, this changes everything! All of the aspects I disliked before now seem groundless to me. Had this film been given a chance as a 3D movie (even as a direct to DVD release), it would have made more sense in terms of a visual aspect. After all, "green screens" work very well with 3D movies. It's just too bad there is no mention of this on the DVD box what so ever. Then again, if the film studios were trying to ignore the 3D aspect then I guess there would be no mention of it on the DVD box. So I guess my question is, "why film it in 3D if you're not going to use it?" I'm sure it has something to do with money.

The story of DARK COUNTRY is a simple little mystery, thriller, crime tale. Newly weds Gina and Dick are on their honeymoon, traveling across the desert at night to beat the heat. As they make their way through the darkness (and have a little adult "fun" along the way) they almost run a man over in the middle of the road, seemingly coming out of nowhere. The man is horribly injured with half his face ripped off and burned, which they come to realize he's been in a car accident a little ways down the road. So they decide to take the man with him, considering they're in the middle of nowhere. As with any good thriller film, this victim isn't what he seems. DARK COUNTRY soon escalates into terror as the movie progresses with action and elements of Horror.

It's not a perfect movie, some parts seem a little rushed and a few moments left me just scratching my head in confusion. Thomas Jane directed the actual movie but I don't think he wrote the script. Plot holes and confusing elements aside, DARK COUNTRY isn't that bad of a film. Sometimes it even feels like an Alfred Hitchcock movie during moments. Gore wise, this movie doesn't really "push the envelope" but it does have some nice make-up effects on the crash victim. Gore Hounds might want to look elsewhere for their gore fix.

Also, once I understood that this movie was meant to be a 3D film, I actually became accepting of the more glaring use of the "green screens" used here. This is just the type of movie that could have been really great had it actually been given a higher budget in the first place. Thomas Jane, Lauren German and Ron Perlman all did a great job with the acting and that's what really matters.

For fans of low budget, "direct to DVD" crime thrillers only. If you can get past it's down falls, DARK COUNTRY is not a bad little movie at all. Give it a shot.

I've said my bit.

Over and out."