The Darkest Hour

The Darkest Hour is one of those films that probably looked good on paper but by the time the reality of the actual filming was taking place, it was a case of make do as best you can. This isn’t a situation where they ran out of dosh halfway through though, more that the vision and look of the film was too much for the modest budget before the camera’s even rolled (if camera’s do still “roll” these days). The premise isn’t bad; A couple of young businessmen (Emile Hirsch & Max Minghella) are on a trip to Moscow to seal a deal when mysterious lights begin dropping out of the sky. Beautiful they may be, but if you get too near them you get frazzled (portrayed in a non-violent type way). What the lights are actually doing here isn’t all that important (some gumph about mining the Earth’s core) more who out of the young and mainly unknown cast will survive. There’s a few smart moments in the film involving mirrors and flashbulbs, but as the “killer” is a mainly unseen presence throughout it’s all a bit unthreatening. Add in a storyline full of plot holes and some pretty abysmal acting throughout (what has happened to Hirsch’s career?) and you could be forgiven for thinking that this is a complete turkey. It’s not quite that as there is some impressive cinematography to enjoy and it’s good to see a film these days where the protagonists actually struggle to work out what is going on and don’t all suddenly turn into action heroes. Oddly enough though this also has a detrimental effect on the film as it takes the group so long to work out how to finally kill one of the pesky electric critters that there isn’t much running time left and the ending comes somewhat abruptly. With a darker edge and a bit more thought storyline wise this could have been an enjoyable B-movie. As it is, it’s a bit of a mess, and the appearance of the electric Gremlins at the end will lead to mirth more than fear.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
A decent idea, but let down by poor effects and a charisma free cast. Rating: 4/10