- Darkstar Pictures Announces Free Online Film Festival!
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- SKYLINES Is Coming! [Poster Premiere]
- Who Hunts Who in HUNTER HUNTER? [Trailer]
- MONSTER HUNTER Coming for Christmas [Trailer]
- Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival Returns with In-Person Event [Line Up]
- LUNATIQUE Director Returns with WASTELAND 3 Promo [Short Film]
- Win a copy of JAMES CAMERON'S STORY OF SCIENCE FICTION [Contest]
- 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?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- LUNATIQUE Director Returns with WASTELAND 3 Promo [Short Film]
- A Comet Destoys Earth in GREENLAND Trailer
- Interactive WAR OF THE WORLDS Adaptation Out Now!
- 8K Trailer for Train to Busan Sequel PENINSULA Drops Hard!
- Making a Bomb Shelter in a Funhouse is a Bad Idea in IMPACT EVENT [Trailer]
- Retro Slave: FOX's Post-Apocalyptic Sitcom WOOPS!
- TRAIN TO BUSAN Sequel PENINSULA Gets a Teaser Trailer
- New on Blu-ray and DVD for March 11, 2020
- The Apocalypse Kills Women in ONLY [Trailer]
- Trailer for TheWalking Dead: World Beyond Spin-Off Series
- BORDERLANDS Movie From Eli Roth in Development
- A Woman's Mind Unravels in BIGHT HILL ROAD [Review]
- TIFF 2020: Vanlife Gets a Reality Check in NOMADLAND [Review]
- TIFF 2020: APPLES, THE WAY I SEE IT, PIECES OF A WOMAN & ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2020: The Truth Tellers Return with THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL [Review]
- TIFF 2020: NEW ORDER is Brutal, Violent & a Must-See [Review]
- TIFF 2020: ENEMIES OF THE STATE, Or Are They? [Review]
- TIFF 2020: HOLLER Explores Life in a Dying Town [Review]
- Fantasia 2020: THE OAK ROOM, MARYGOROUND & CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER [Capsule Reviews]
- UNCLE PECKERHEAD is One Note but Fun [Review]
- Dave Franco Shows Potential as Director with Debut Feature THE RENTAL [Review]
- VIFF2020: Director Loretta Todd on the Making of Her Debut Feature MONKEY BEACH [Interview]
- TIFF 2020: APPLES, THE WAY I SEE IT, PIECES OF A WOMAN & ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2020: The Truth Tellers Return with THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL [Review]
- TIFF 2020: NEW ORDER is Brutal, Violent & a Must-See [Review]
- TIFF 2020: ENEMIES OF THE STATE, Or Are They? [Review]
- NO ESCAPE Director Talks Influencers, Escape Rooms & Writing [Interview]
- TIFF 2020: HOLLER Explores Life in a Dying Town [Review]
- The Funny Side of Alien Invasions: You have to SAVE YOURSELVES! [Trailer]
- Kodi Smit-McPhee Goes to the Future to Save the Present in 2067 [Trailer]
- First Look at Denis Villeneuve's DUNE [Trailer]
- Fantasia 2020: LAPSIS, THE COLUMNIST, MINOR PREMISE, FEELS GOOD MAN & HAIL TO THE DEADITES [Capsule Reviews]
- BUNRAKU Writer/Director Returns with LX 2048 [Trailer]
- BLOOD QUANTUM Writer/Director Talks Inspiration, Zombies & Representation [Interview]
- Fantasia 2020: THE OAK ROOM, MARYGOROUND & CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER [Capsule Reviews]
- Sylvester McCoy Talks SENSE8, DOCTOR WHO & THE OWNERS [Interview]
- Fantasia 2020: PVT CHAT, PATRICK, TIME OF MOULTING, SLEEP [Capsule Reviews]
- Scholar Mitch Horowitz Breaks Down Faith, Horror & CURSED FILMS [Interview]
- Actor Cosmo Jarvis Talks About his New Thriller THE SHADOW OF VIOLENCE [Interview]
- Director Jay Cheel Talks Making of Horror Documentary CURSED FILMS [Interview]
- Europe is in Shambles in UNDERGODS [Trailer]
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








If you're an avid fan of magic and the supernatural in cinema, you've still probably only seen a small handful of films that delve into the more workmanlike aspects of magical research, spell-casting, and summoning. Cinema is a visual medium, after all, and it's hard to conceive of how to make an exciting movie out of someone poring over old leather-bound tomes for years on end. This is the key challenge that director Liam Gavin set for himself in making A Dark Song, and the fact that the movie works at all is a small miracle in itself. Thankfully, it does more than just work, and is a pretty fascinating blend of the humdrum and the bold.
Sophia Howard (Catherine Walker), still grieving after a recent loss, tracks down occultist Joseph Solomon (Steve Oram) in the hopes that he can help her right old wrongs by summoning an otherworldly spirit. Solomon refuses at first, believing Sophia isn't being totally honest with him, and only agrees to help her once she admits the true reason she seeks supernatural intervention: her daughter was killed by a satanic cult, and she wants revenge for her murder. This requires an elaborate ritual that could take many months and must be strictly plotted out, and a single deviation could be disastrous. Sophia buys a house in the remote Irish countryside and stocks it with provisions and the assorted necessaries, while Solomon surrounds the house with a circle of salt and schools her in the intricacies of purification and meditation. They begin the arduous process that will see them confront not only the supernatural forces slowly pushing their way into the physical realm, but also a no less dangerous threat, the mundanity and boredom of living with a stranger, with nothing to do but wait.
Anchored by two excellent performances from its two leads, Gavin's film lulls you into the same mental space as its characters, and makes it clear that an actual, honest-to-gosh supernatural visitation is by no means a foregone conclusion. Walker and her co-star Oram (who's done memorable work for the likes of Ben Wheatley and Edgar Wright) do a superb job of creating characters we don't typically see in this sort of film, people who, despite their predilections and arcane skills, are otherwise quite ordinary. A great deal of the tension comes from the fact neither of them can be sure whether or not the ritual will work at all, and the awareness that they may be wasting months of their lives on what could amount to a black-robed farce tests their patience and inevitably their sanity.
I won't spoil the details of where things go, but I will say that the climax of the film delivers, not just in terms of general payoff but also in the way it stays true to the tonal risks the story takes from the beginning.
Sophia and Joseph are an odd pairing; similarly, the story's end itself fuses elements that typically appear in two very different kinds of horror film, and likewise appeal to two very different kinds of horror fan. I thought it worked extremely well, but I can easily understand why some might accuse the final moments of copping out or jumping the shark.
If nothing else, A Dark Song is memorable for its distinct and refreshingly grown-up approach to the mechanics of the unseen, and I found it a smart and savvy example of horror's new breed.
Recommended Release: The Awakening
You might also like






