Another technically competent film trying to substitute metaphors for monsters but nowhere near as smart as it thinks it is. There is attempt at depth with blue-collar social commentary, estranged family dynamics, and hints at past traumas, but the script is nigh incoherent with an ending so abrupt and vague I wondered if my video stream had cut without giving me the last 15 minutes. The main character's performance is a standout and reluctantly engaging in defiance of the blandness of the rest of the film. All the technical elements of direction and cinematography pretty polished for an indie film and the sweeping shots demonstrate the gorgeousness of BC. When the film actually gets to its climatic moments, there are fleeting glimpses of a creepy film in setting and execution, but never follows through. As a family drama it is almost passable but as a horror movie it fails and this is one of those films where the director should have earnestly left its creature unseen in the shadows.
Devil in the Dark