- Trailer for New SCAVENGERS REIGN Animated Series
- Trailer for New SCAVENGERS REIGN Animated Series
- Trailer for New SCAVENGERS REIGN Animated Series
- Book Club: SWAN SONG Is a Post-Apocalyptic Classic on Par with The Stand
- Book Club: SWAN SONG Is a Post-Apocalyptic Classic on Par with The Stand
- THE SHARDS: New Bret Easton Ellis Novel Publishes in January
- THE SHARDS: New Bret Easton Ellis Novel Publishes in January
- EDGE OF TOMORROW 4K Detailed and Available Now
- Welcome to THE FRINGE - The Exciting New Cinematic Universe Coming from the Makers of PROSPECT
- Welcome to THE FRINGE - The Exciting New Cinematic Universe Coming from the Makers of PROSPECT
- Re: Occupation, Australian Sci Fi movie
- Slice of Life, Blade Runner inspired short
- Is Snowpeircer a sequel to Willy Wonka?
- Re: Yesterday
- Re: Yesterday
- Yesterday
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Trailer for New SCAVENGERS REIGN Animated Series
- MANBORG Novelization Out Now!
- Book Club: SWAN SONG Is a Post-Apocalyptic Classic on Par with The Stand
- First VESPER Trailer Finally Drops!
- Feast Directors Return with Zombie Comedy UNHUMAN [Trailer]
- First Poster for Anticipated Apocalyptic Thriller VESPER
- Teaser Trailer for Netflix's RESIDENT EVIL Series
- Here's What's On Blu-ray and 4K This Week! [May 10, 2022]
- THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN Series Blends Post-Apocalypse with Epic Fantasy
- Turbo Kid Directors Apating THE ZOMBIES THAT ATE THE WORLD Comic Series
- Proto-Cyberpunk & Post-Apocalypse Meet in MONDOCANE [Trailer]
- VIFF 2021: THE IN-LAWS, MIRACLE, SALOUM, SECRETS FROM PUTUMAYO [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2021: SILENT NIGHT Review
- VIFF 2021: Documentary Preview [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2021: THE PINK CLOUD, THE HOLE IN THE FENCE [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2021: JAGGED Review
- TIFF 2021: SUNDOWN Review
- VIFF 2021: Animation Preview [Capsule Reviews]
- SAINT-NARCISSE is Bruce LaBruce at His Most Accomplished [Review]
- TIFF 2021: DASHCAM Review
- TIFF 2021: THE DAUGHTER Review
- THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN Series Blends Post-Apocalypse with Epic Fantasy
- Watch the Full Obi-Wan Kenobi Trailer
- Famous First Films: Sam Raimi's IT'S MURDER! (1977)
- Four Disc Limited Edition of THE WICKER MAN Is Everything
- Robert Eggers' Edgar Allen Poe Adaptation Finally Gets Released!
- The Northman is Already Up for Pre-Order
- Watch Now: Heavy Metal Meets He-Man in STARCHASER THE LEGEND OF ORIN
- AVATAR 2 Trailer Reactions Are In!
- Trailer for SciFi Indie CRYO Looks Great!
- Sausages: The Making Of Dog Soldiers Book Available Now!
- Turbo Kid Directors Apating THE ZOMBIES THAT ATE THE WORLD Comic Series
- This Week on 4K Blu-ray and DVD (April 25, 2022)
- Surreal Scifi Film AFTER BLUE Channel Jodorowsky
- Listen to John Carpenter's New FIRESTARTER Theme!
- Zack Snyder's REBEL MOON Giving Us Major Seven Samurai Vibes
- New Red Band Trailer Gives First Look at HEAVY METAL SteelBook Edition 4K Blu-ray
- Trailer for Sci-Fi Prison Thriller CORRECTIVE MEASURES
- This Week on Blu-ray and DVD! [April 19, 2022]
- Disturbing Teaser for David Cronenberg's CRIMES OF THE FUTURE
- CHILDREN OF SIN Spooks up Amazon April 22
Jack In
Latest Comments
Latest Forum Posts
PA News
Latest Reviews
Older News
Crew
Marina Antunes
Editor in Chief
Vancouver, British Columbia
Christopher Webster
Managing Editor
Edmonton, Alberta
DN aka quietearth
Founder / Asst. Managing Editor
Denver, Colorado
Simon Read
UK Correspondent
Edinburgh, Scotland
Rick McGrath
Toronto Correspondent
Toronto, Ontario
Manuel de Layet
France Correspondent
Paris, France
rochefort
Austin Correspondent
Austin, Texas
Daniel Olmos
Corrispondente in Italia
Italy
Griffith Maloney aka Griffith Maloney
New York Correspondent
New York, NY
Stephanie O
Floating Correspondent
Quiet Earth Bunker
Jason Widgington
Montreal Correspondent
Montreal, Quebec
Carlos Prime
Austin Correspondent
Austin, TX
Latest news








The Dark Mile is a thriller with supernatural overtones, set in the Highlands of Scotland, and while it isn't a complete disaster, containing as it does several moments of genuine tension and suspense, it's pretty clear that the film is a bit of a mess. At some point, probably around the half-hour mark, what starts out as a promising, lo-fi little horror film starts to falter.
The story follows a couple played by Rebecca Calder and Deirdre Mullins. Together they're travelling from London to Scotland, where they plan to rent a boat and relax in the natural beauty of the Scottish countryside - an attempt to repair their fractured relationship following a personal tragedy alluded to in the opening scenes of the film. Their relationship does indeed seem strained, Calder's Louise is distant, emotionally drained, indifferent, while Mullins's Claire seems nervous and overly protective, wearing a smile to hide a grimace.
They arrive at the dock to begin their journey and are given some hassle by a local lad, Kevin, played by Paul Brannigan, who later appears in the village pub, along with a bunch of suitably creepy-looking regulars. Our protagonists have barely sat down before Kevin is bearing down on them, his overly-jocular and sarcastic sense of humour apparently masking some kind of spooky warning. That night, moored alongside the pub, Louise hears noises and investigates, spying figures moving through the surrounding woodland. This is the set-up, and it's also the moment most people would turn the boat around and go visit Edinburgh instead, maybe check out the film festival or something.
As the days slowly pass, Louise and Claire realise that they are being followed. An enormous, ominous black barge, home to a family of weirdos, keeps a steady pace behind them. They meet an elderly couple who offer sinister smiles and home-made preserves. Someone steals Claire's iPad. Someone leaves a creepy, broken doll on their boat. Claustrophobia, paranoia and an altogether understandable sense of dread, do nothing to help improve Louise and Claire's relationship, but soon they'll have bigger things to worry about, especially when the barge and its crew decide to accelerate, so to speak, their motives finally becoming clearer.
The Dark Mile starts off pretty well. Calder and Mullins are well-suited to their roles and make for a believable couple, and the film earns a certain respect in depicting a gay couple without resorting to stereotypes. (Okay, Mullins is perhaps a little butch.) But the film itself, performances aside, simply doesn't seem to know where it's going. The festival guide namechecks Duel and The Wicker Man, which is unfair since those films are regarded as classics of the horror genre, but I guess they need to sell tickets.
The problem lies somewhere between pacing, and the viewer's desire for a more tangible threat, a specific antagonist. Narratively the film feels baggy, as we simply watch our leads live through several days of increasing anxiety and alarm, with strange stuff going on - odd faces appearing at windows, nights spent listening to the rustling forest, menacing text-messages - but without a sense of where to all this is leading. The film's final act, if you can call it that, feels disjointed and underwhelming. It's only really as the film begins to end that we realise that we've been duped. All of this was, essentially, leading nowhere.
The final revelation, while something of a twist, feels very lazy. As in audibly-groaning lazy. I can appreciate what they were going for, but it simply feels contrived, and boy do we have to wait a long time to get there. The film also resorts to using flashes of 'subliminal' images, fuzzy, split-second shots of goat-headed men and other vaguely threatening, quasi-Pagan symbolism, inserted in-between scene transitions. Far from making the film scarier, these irritating inserts actually bring it down significantly, an insult to anyone over the age of twelve. Should director Gary Love choose to remove these as soon as possible, the film would automatically raise itself by one star, so there's some advice.
Like a boat without a compass, The Dark Mile meanders far too long before mooring itself somewhere specific and offering us something to care about. While everyone involved in-front of the camera does good work (including a welcome cameo from the excellent Sheila Hancock), the end result is that we're forced to sit on this barge and wait, observing all the disturbing and disquieting little events, the hints at what's in store for our heroes, but when we finally arrive it's just too late. We don't care anymore. We're just glad the film is finished, the ending coming as both a disappointment and a relief - like arriving back home after a terrible holiday and wishing you'd never bothered going.
Recommended Release: A Dark Song
You might also like






