Thursday 9 August 2012

Review: Dark Paradox (2007)


First I´d like to thank Brian Clement for providing me with a screener.
Men have killed for it.. Women have died for it... Now, The Encyclopedia Nefastus, a source of ancient, un earthly evil has found its way into the hands of Barry, an unsuspecting writer, inspiring him to write horrific, bloody, stories for his mysterious publisher. As his work becomes more and more violent, he finds himself unable to escape brutal acts of despicable sadism all around him. Fleeing the city for more peaceful surroundings, he finds himself becoming increasingly paranoid, believing someone is watching him. When his writing seems to invoke grotesque manifestations, he finds himself drawn further into the horrifying conspiracy of the sadistic cult that has returned to finish what was started sixty years earlier... Dark Paradox is written and directed by Brian Clement and it´s even more ambitious than his previous The Dead Inside and it have connections with that film (these are nicely done). The influences of H.P Lovecraft is strong and I can also feel that Lucio Fulci´s The Beyond has been a source of inspiration. The acting is pretty good and for the most part the cinematography does look good. There are also some really nice and moody scenes and striking visuals on display. The soundtrack is great. The plot is very good and unpredictable due to a couple of nice twists along the way. Very little gore and the goriest scene consists of truly bad computer gendered effect which I find a bit sad. There is some T & A in this.
This review is based upon a DVD-screener provided by the director.
Rating: 6 out of 7. There is less gore (almost none in fact), more emphasis on plot and atmosphere and this works for Brian Clement. There are some really good looking visuals,
It would be very interesting to see what Brian Clement could do with a little bit bigger budget

/JL

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