My movie club movie will be coming up Sunday, so I'm hoping to get a couple of reviews in before then. I did get one done over at my other blog at last. I had some trouble getting my review for The Cloverfield Paradox done, but I got it finished at last. I kept getting an error when I tried to save my work there, which would manage to lose everything that had yet to be saved. I hope to get another review done there before Sunday. Things will get out of order so I can get my movie club review in, but for now, it was time for my Amazon Prime movie. At the bottom of my list, which is the oldest on it, was the film Dark Spirits (2008), so that is what I went with.
Eva (Milena Minichová) and her boyfriend Jan (Marko Igonda) are thinking of moving to Prague in order for him to take on a new job. Eva has a dream where something bad happens to her sister Tereza (Vlastina Svátková) only to find out that she has been murdered. They move to their new place but Eva keeps hearing things at their new apartment and seeing her sister at different times while out. The police have caught her sister's murderer but believe he wasn't acting alone. Eva becomes to believe that an evil spirit is after her though.
Dark Spirits was written and directed by Huck Keppler. This is a film from the United States, but it features a crew and actors from the Czech Republic and was filmed there. Nothing against the actors really, but I think I would have preferred reading subtitles over listening to them acting in English. Dark Spirits ended up being a pretty slow and confusing movie. The pacing was very slow even with ghosts making themselves known often enough. Eva would be doing something in the apartment and the floors would creek or footsteps could be heard. A shape would be seen or Eva will see her sister in the distance. Despite all this, things never get all that scary. I did jump once because of an unexpected scream. I found the plot rather confusing and never got a very good handle on it. Eva has a dream about something bad happening to her sister but it starts off as Eva remembering a conversation between Tereza and Eva, which was just their voices while Eva went about whatever she is doing. It took me a second to realize this was going on in her head. It is eventually revealed that Eva and her sister, along with another friend that we eventually meet, were friends with the guy that kills Tereza. Eva doesn't seem to ever remember the guy though. She also encounters a guy in the park who can also see Tereza. The guy is a bit weird, flipping from being nice to acting like he wants to kill Eva at one point. Both of them seem to know who the other is, but they can't explain why that is. The ending is also rather confusing, with Eva's spirit going back in time and Eva giving a different answer about moving to Prague. I don't know if Keppler was trying to suggest that events are now changed or what.
Dark Spirits is not a very heavy effects type film. The only thing gory to be found is a guy who bleeds from his mouth. There was a good amount of blood, but it sure isn't going to impress anyone. There are some ghostly type effects to be found as well, but these are few and far between. They are just okay at best. The acting wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Some of the actors are obviously hindered by trying to speak a language that isn't their first. Marko Igonda suffers from this the most, as his acting came across very flat for the most part. I rather liked Milena Minichová in the lead role. Her acting wasn't anything outstanding, mind you, but it wasn't really bad at least. You can also find Dan Brown as the investigating officer into Tereza's death. Jan Budar as the guy in the park, who was around more than I figured he would be. And also, Lucia Siposová as the best friend who has a gift speaking with the dead.
From what I could tell from the story, Eva and her sister share the same gift as Petra. When the best friends see each other again, after Eva moves back to Prague, they talk about the two hanging out with Tereza and Nemec, played by Václav Jirácek, who also shares the gift and would go on to murder Tereza. Since they were all childhood friends and shared the same gifts, it was just odd that Eva didn't remember him at all. I think the evil spirit was someone that they all talked to, but I have no idea why the spirit is coming after them now. I have watched worse films than Dark Spirits and I hate to give it my lowest score because of that. It borders on it, but I will give it my second lowest score just because I didn't think the acting was all that bad at times. I think a faster-paced script would have gone a long way to help the film as well. If you find yourself curious about Dark Spirits, it is streaming on Amazon Prime as of this writing. This isn't a film that I would suggest to anyone, but some of you might enjoy it more.
2 out of 5 Good thing I wasn't tired while watching this
Eva (Milena Minichová) and her boyfriend Jan (Marko Igonda) are thinking of moving to Prague in order for him to take on a new job. Eva has a dream where something bad happens to her sister Tereza (Vlastina Svátková) only to find out that she has been murdered. They move to their new place but Eva keeps hearing things at their new apartment and seeing her sister at different times while out. The police have caught her sister's murderer but believe he wasn't acting alone. Eva becomes to believe that an evil spirit is after her though.
Dark Spirits was written and directed by Huck Keppler. This is a film from the United States, but it features a crew and actors from the Czech Republic and was filmed there. Nothing against the actors really, but I think I would have preferred reading subtitles over listening to them acting in English. Dark Spirits ended up being a pretty slow and confusing movie. The pacing was very slow even with ghosts making themselves known often enough. Eva would be doing something in the apartment and the floors would creek or footsteps could be heard. A shape would be seen or Eva will see her sister in the distance. Despite all this, things never get all that scary. I did jump once because of an unexpected scream. I found the plot rather confusing and never got a very good handle on it. Eva has a dream about something bad happening to her sister but it starts off as Eva remembering a conversation between Tereza and Eva, which was just their voices while Eva went about whatever she is doing. It took me a second to realize this was going on in her head. It is eventually revealed that Eva and her sister, along with another friend that we eventually meet, were friends with the guy that kills Tereza. Eva doesn't seem to ever remember the guy though. She also encounters a guy in the park who can also see Tereza. The guy is a bit weird, flipping from being nice to acting like he wants to kill Eva at one point. Both of them seem to know who the other is, but they can't explain why that is. The ending is also rather confusing, with Eva's spirit going back in time and Eva giving a different answer about moving to Prague. I don't know if Keppler was trying to suggest that events are now changed or what.
Dark Spirits is not a very heavy effects type film. The only thing gory to be found is a guy who bleeds from his mouth. There was a good amount of blood, but it sure isn't going to impress anyone. There are some ghostly type effects to be found as well, but these are few and far between. They are just okay at best. The acting wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Some of the actors are obviously hindered by trying to speak a language that isn't their first. Marko Igonda suffers from this the most, as his acting came across very flat for the most part. I rather liked Milena Minichová in the lead role. Her acting wasn't anything outstanding, mind you, but it wasn't really bad at least. You can also find Dan Brown as the investigating officer into Tereza's death. Jan Budar as the guy in the park, who was around more than I figured he would be. And also, Lucia Siposová as the best friend who has a gift speaking with the dead.
From what I could tell from the story, Eva and her sister share the same gift as Petra. When the best friends see each other again, after Eva moves back to Prague, they talk about the two hanging out with Tereza and Nemec, played by Václav Jirácek, who also shares the gift and would go on to murder Tereza. Since they were all childhood friends and shared the same gifts, it was just odd that Eva didn't remember him at all. I think the evil spirit was someone that they all talked to, but I have no idea why the spirit is coming after them now. I have watched worse films than Dark Spirits and I hate to give it my lowest score because of that. It borders on it, but I will give it my second lowest score just because I didn't think the acting was all that bad at times. I think a faster-paced script would have gone a long way to help the film as well. If you find yourself curious about Dark Spirits, it is streaming on Amazon Prime as of this writing. This isn't a film that I would suggest to anyone, but some of you might enjoy it more.
2 out of 5 Good thing I wasn't tired while watching this
