Just when i was starting to wonder if I’d see any reviews this year WORSE than the ones received by Elektra… along come Alone in the Dark. Oh wow… no seriously folks.. this film is getting HAMMERED by the critics from every angle.
I was looking forward to catching Christian Slater in a flick again… I guess this couldn’t be called a tripumphant return. Just take a look at some of the horrific things that are being said about this film. Keep in mind, these aren’t just a couple of bad reviews… ALL of them are this bad.
“This horror film, spun off from an old Atari video game, is so inept on every level, you wonder why the distributor didn’t release it straight to video, or better, toss it directly into the trash.”
— Stephen Holden, NEW YORK TIMES“Alone in the Dark co-stars perpetual party-girl Tara Reid as an archeologist. That alone should give you some clue as to how bad this movie is.”
— Bob Townsend, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION“There are some stupid films that rock, if you turn your brain off and enjoy them. Alone in the Dark isn’t one of these, though it is very stupid.”
— Michael Wilmington, CHICAGO TRIBUNE“Terrible beyond belief, like the worst 1940s serial ever made. As for Slater and Dorff…well, they’ve been in worse movies–wait a minute, no they haven’t.”
— Frank Swietek, ONE GUY’S OPINION
Wow… I want to go to it now just to see for myself how bad this film is. Guess I know what I’m doing this weekend. Maybe that was the studios strategy all along?
what was that thing chasing them down at the end of the movie
I know this topic is dying right now.. but i still need to spit some dirt as well, since i’m feeling insulted by this piece of crap they call a movie.
The game gave me the shivers when i played it, spooky and fun till the end.
I watched the trailer, and decided not to waste any of my money on it.. yes I downloaded it (saved me 10 bucks).
If the movie and the storyline where only half of what the game is then there was a future for this ….”movie”.
But they simply grabbed a good title.. and decided to rape it to make an extra buck.
Just for making this movie.. some actors and directors should be BANNED from hollywood. never to be heard of again.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD… if ppl decide to film a videogame, stick to the original storyline.. and keep the same ingredients in the movie that made the game so successfull.. it’s that soooo hard to do??
Uwe Boll is ahead of the curve. ALONE IN THE DARK’s director is reinventing Hollywood on his own terms and he’s not taking any prisoners. Don’t take my word for it; read the interview with LucasArts President, Jim Ward, in the March issue of Game Informer. Ward and LucasArts are emulating Uwe’s strategy. Uwe understands that when a contemporary video game franchise sells thirty-five million copies the marketing inertia for a cinematic tie-in is enormous. Revenue potential eclipses the current Hollywood trend to revive nostalgic comic book superheroes of the baby-boom generation.
Of course, to be successful the movie must be entertaining and ALONE IN THE DARK is! Protagonist Edward Carnby, played by Christian Slater, must unravel the mystery of an evil parallel universe sealed by an ancient Indian tribe. Along the way he discovers the secrets of the orphanage he was raised in as he deciphers the clues that lead him to his true identity. Christian’s performance is superb. His subdued, laid back demeanor is a canvas for the melodramatic chaos that engulfs him. Edward’s love interest, a museum caretaker played by Tara Reid, is his constant companion, providing a steady supply of eye candy for the male audience. Tara treats us to a competent performance without overacting. The two stars complement each other with a believable chemistry that comes to a head during a sexual encounter that is at once intimate and sensual. I hope this relationship will continue to develop in a future sequel. Nothing is sexier than Tara in jeans blowing away the evil dominions!
ALONE IN THE DARK is not a perfect film. The special effects are top tier while the gore factor is over the top. I understand this is a subjective evaluation and that too much for some may not be enough for others. In my opinion less is more. Repetition diminishes the shock value of outrageous violence. When a head is split in half the emotional impact is unnerving. When the same head is shown a few minutes later it feels like the filmmaker wants props for doing such a good job. Some scenes are overloaded with stroboscopic lighting that diminishes the perception of high production values, while running the risk of inducing headaches.
As I watched ALONE IN THE DARK I paid attention to audience reactions. I was sitting near some teenage girls who were gasping, shrieking, and taking turns hiding their eyes as girlfriends encouraged each other to look. At the same time a group of boys that had entered the theater together and were sitting directly behind me were laughing spontaneously. Diametrically opposed reactions with a common denominator: Everyone was having fun!
Uwe Boll has his detractors, as every artist who pushes the envelope does. However, I don’t know of any films any of them have made. I do know that some of the best actors and actresses in the business (including an Oscar winner) are clamoring to be involved in an Uwe Boll project. Uwe’s got big balls and he’s not afraid to tell it like it is. He’s going to make a lot of money and entertain a lot of people along the way. I expect big things from this filmmaker and I anticipate he will deliver and, am looking forward to BLOODRAYNE, HUNTER THE RECKONING, FAR CRY, the list goes on …
This is possibly the worst movie I have seen in a long time. I would have rather watched Dune all day than this trash. Tara Reid is so terrible as an archeologist! Someone tell this drunk slut to stick to cheesy comedy movies and showing her breasts. What a waste!
B Movie my butt… C movie, F movie more like it. These poor starving actors will do any shit for a quick buck. Next time you see Christian, Tara, or Stephen on the street corner, be sure to give the a $100 bill so they don’t have to stoop so low. But if you see non-director Ugly Balls on the corner be sure to take away his visa and punch him good. Shame on Lions Gate Films, Shame on Hollywood, shame on all with names as weird as Ugly Balls. Give me $10 back. I want to donate it for the Tsunami Victims. I hope this movie is not playing in Thailand; they’ve suffered enough. I don’t want to go on writing… just know I could never say enough anyway. Ugly Bullshiten Bollen has a new movie coming out in Disneyland. Its rated T for trash. It was downgraded from R for recyle bacuase the recyling bin would not accept it.
B Movie my butt… C movie, F movie more like it. These poor starving actors will do any shit for a quick buck. Next time you see Christian, Tara, or Stephen on the street corner, be sure to give the a $100 bill so they don’t have to stoop so low. But if you see non-director Ugly Balls on the corner be sure to take away his visa and punch him good. Shame on Lions Gate Films, Shame on Hollywood, shame on all with names as weird as Ugly Balls. Give me $10 back. I want to donate it for the Tsunami Victims. I hope this movie is not playing in Thailand; they’ve suffered enough. I don’t want to go on writing… just know I could never say enough anyway. Ugly Bullshiten Bollen has a new movie coming out in Disneyland. Its rated T for trash. It was downgraded from R for recyle bacuase the recyling bin would not accept it.
I thought this movie was a great movie Slater is one of the best actors around to some to me he is. I think this movie could have been better but it was pretty damn good. If they make a sequel and follow were they left off it will blow most video game movies away the acting was good the plot was alright over all it was good it will be in my top ten fav movies of all time and i see alot of movies i know more than any one here im pretty sure off it. I say give it a chance I give it 4 stars.
i hope that this film is better than the game was!
Totally agree with everybody on this movie. This is probably the worst movie that I have ever seen in my whole life.
Have somebody seen the trailer of Bloodrayne, by “Alone in the Dark”-director Uwe Boll ?!? It looks horrible, and this is very sad because I kindda liked the games ! Photography sucks, the actors (Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen) are just not believable in their roles and Kristina Loken is just plain silly. Without seeing the film, my guess is that this will be the Catwoman of 2005 !!!
Why do directors like Uwe Boll, Paul W.S. Anderson and Pitof still get projects to direct??? Can a Hollywood executive make the difference between a good director and a second rate tv-director?? And what makes me even more furious is the fact that directors like these make movies based on terrific games THAT THEY HAVEN’t EVEN PLAYED ONCE ?!? With a budget of $17M, I would think that affording a tiny bit to consultants who know the game would actually improve the end-result. Those guys don’t even have the hair-color of Rayne right ?!?!
It was a MAJOR disapointment! Plot holes big enough to run an aircraft carrier through, crappy acting and an even worse ending!
IMHO it started off all right, even interestingly so, but after Slater’s character offed that “zombie” guy eventhing about the story slowly went down hill and picked up speed.
Personally I thought Slater did a good job acting, but everyone else just did terrible.
A friend of mine thought it might turn out that way, due to how the promos ran. If the promo runs fast with only bits and pieces of scenes then in his experience the movie is not going to be very good at best.
I cannot believe I wasted $7.00 to watch this stupid junk!! I’m so mad.!!! Even a mad old cow will find this movie trashy. If I was given a camera, I truely believe I can do it way much better!
Scripts, scenes, pictures, costumes, music… are just terrible. Scenes, costumes are borrowed from starship troopers, or aliens! but borrowed in a very bad way. I cannot believe someone would dare to put these kinds of movies on the market.
Don’t they have just some brain cells left to have some critics on what they have done before putting it on the market! What kind of brain washed people could possibly have made this thing!? Or maybe they thing that american people are so stupid, or so stupidized by the media that they can go and watch and enjoy anything…
LGF made a big mistake to distribute this “thing”! I do not know what this is, but definitely it is NOT a movie!
If there is anyway to get my money back I will try the best I can to do so!
I kinda figured this movie was going to suck, and I didn’t even have to go and see it to tell you that. Most video game to movie transitions aren’t very smooth or good…but I am not going to bash “Alone in the Dark” cause I know there some avid fan of the game out there who thinks this was the greatest thing ever made and when the “Silent Hill” movie, another video game to movie, comes out, it’s not going to be the best in the world but I am still going stand behind it like it’s a masterpiece.
Dear god Ive seen some pretty awful movies. But this is by far one of the worst. Just when I was starting to miss Christian Slater this piece of shit is released. It seemed as though every scene was filmed without retakes. The acting was that bad. I recommend that no one sees this movie. In the words of my friend it was almost as bad as Jeepers Creepers. Lets pray to god that they dont make a sequel to this awful movie as well.
Such a surprise from a director of his pedigree… House of the Dead, anyone?
All I can say is brace yourself for Bloodrayne.