I could tell more than a few stories about my hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Some good, some not-so-good, some laughably bad. Regardless, unless you like working in a paper mill, there’s a reason why people leave the remote Northern Ontario city. Case example: Kevin Durand. Durand’s career has spanned both television and film, notably starring as The Blob in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Barry Burton in Resident Evil: Retribution. Now he’s taken on the leading role in Jack Heller’s Dark Was The Night. And while Durand proves that he can go as main actor, the film doesn’t quite hit the mark itself.

In the northern town of Maiden Woods, Sheriff Paul Shields (Kevin Durand) and Deputy Donny Saunders (Lukas Haas) carry on their duties, despite carrying their own personal baggage in the form of personal tragedies, with each man blaming himself. After some strange occurrences involving disappearing wildlife and pets, strange noises and large hoofprints around town, things take a turn when three hunters are attacked by something in the woods, and only one of them survives. As things start to escalate, Shields and Saunders must find a way to stop whatever it is from ransacking the town.

Firstly, I have to give it to the performances for our leads and their great chemistry together. As previously mentioned, Durand proves he can be a leading man with presence in his role as Shields. Not only that, but he also effectively pulls off the trope of the “protagonist with a guilty past” without being too in-your-face with it. Shields comes across as a man who is coiled and ready to explode in anger or sobs because of it. Likewise, Lukas Haas also does the “past guilt” trip well, while also showing the emotion associated with that guilt, and effectively communicating that to the audience. The supporting cast isn’t half bad, either. Nick Damici is quite good as the sagely bartender, and Bianca Kajlich hits all the right notes as Paul Shields’ estranged wife, Susan.

Another big plus for Dark Was The Night is its cinematography. I’m generally a sucker for these “remote area in winter” types of films, since it essentially hands the cinematographers their objective, and it’s up to them to capitalize on it. And luckily, cinematographer Ryan Samul succeeds in presenting the film as cold and grim, which definitely helps up the tension. There are also some pretty slick shots early on, as well as mixing things up through a couple of different styles. As is almost always with these types of creature features, the decision to go with the less-is-more approach in showing the creature is a smart idea in upping that tension, as well as potentially hiding any weaknesses in the creature effects.

The problem with Dark Was The Night is that you need to keep the audience’s attention once you have it. For myself, things started to lose steam as the movie progressed. The film progressed at a glacier’s pace, without pushing new information and details for the viewers to chew on. Instead, we get the same brooding and runaround with Shields and Saunders, pulling the emotion card again and again without anything new added to the mix. And while there is action, it’s either tepid in its approach (a missing animal here, a bloody limb behind a house there) with townsfolk talking and doing little in response, or it’s the film’s climax, which could’ve been so much more had the film not stopped to cut to a group of characters hidden in the church basement. The final insult is the ending’s cop-out for commercial purposes. Yes, it’s been done to death in countless other horror films, but it largely cheapens those films that have pulled those stunts, just as it cheapens this film. It’s even more aggravating that the case proudly boasts how this film “could be the next horror franchise”. How about worrying about telling an effective and complete story instead of immediately commercializing your work?

Had it done a complete story and capitalized on the talent and potential in front of it, Dark Was The Night could have been a great creature feature. The genre has been lacking truly great films lately in that vein, and this one could’ve been an excellent choice. However, after the initial setup, the film slogs half-frozen through its runtime, reiterating the same ideas and themes, without doing anything to speed things up or giving the viewer something to cling to other than what’s already been presented. Durand and Haas are solid, and while I enjoy the idea of a protagonists with ghosts in their closet, you need a solid story to build around that before it wears out. After that, you’re left in the dark.

Video/Audio:

Presented in 2.40:1 AVC-encoded 1080p, Dark Was The Night is appropriately dark in places. Perhaps too dark. Thanks to the filters used in post (particularly the blues), there are places where details are swallowed by darker areas, but this is more of a stylistic choice. Still, the filters can be a bit annoying. Grain is kept to a minimum, save for certain interior shots, but it’s unobtrusive and still lets details such as skin shine through. Otherwise, the colours are nice, saturated and consistent, with no edge enhancement or compression.

Sound-wise, the film comes equipped with a Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Sound is balanced, with the score not overpowering the dialogue or other effects. Dialogue is crisp and clear, with no distortion. Ambient effects are put to good use, and the bass punches in when it needs to. Like the video, it’s acceptable overall, given the budget.

Supplements:

First up is a behind-the-scenes featurette entitled A Trip To Maiden Woods. It’s your basic collection of on-set interviews mixed with on-the-set clips featurette, although there are some interesting tidbits here. Participants include director Jack Heller, writer Tyler Hisel, producer Dallas Sonnier and actors Lukas Haas, Sabina Gadecki, Kevin Durand and others. Topics such as the emotional element and characters are touched upon, the look of the film, the characters, as well as the design of the creature and VFX work.

The last extra is a Q & A with the film’s cast. Shot at the 2014 Screamfest, the panel features the principal cast and Heller talking about the film. Unfortunately, the audio isn’t the greatest (whomever was talking during the recording needed to shut up), and many of the answers are abruptly cut off (thanks, editing). The speakers aren’t identified, nor are the questions, specifically. Regardless, topics about shooting in the cold, discussion of characters, the production process and other bits are touched upon.

Frustratingly, Image neglects to put the film’s trailer on the disc, which is an annoying trend that studios really need to stop doing. It’s not like the disc isn’t to the point of bursting, guys.

The packaging features a slipcover replicating the front case, with a nice texture for the tree roots, as well as an embossed title.