Was drawn into seeing 'Darkness Rising', with as said for many films seen an intriguing if not exactly novel premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

'Darkness Rising', simply put, turned out to be a terrible film and waste of potential with next to no redeeming values and so much done catastrophically wrong. One of the worst films seen in a while, which is saying a lot for somebody who on the most part has been encouraged by their film/television watching and has more often than that been quite generous. Decent idea, horrendous execution.

Lets start with one positive. The scenery is atmospheric, if wasted by the schlocky way the film is shot and particularly edited.

However, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their irritating and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrate. Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The acting is pretty bad to put it lightly and the effects are ropy at best.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, not to mention far too exposition-heavy, while the pace is uneven, dragging in a lot of the first half, which goes on forever and fails to get going, and never is it exciting after a truly irrelevant beginning. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness and the lack of tension and suspense. Too many elements are introduced, and then dropped, barely explored or don't go anywhere, sometimes even all three.

A lot of the film completely fails to make sense, both in underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations. There is a lot of choppiness and lack of coherence. The threat is poorly used and poses very little threat. The film completely peters out with an ending that felt like an afterthought.

All in all, terrible. 1/10 Bethany Cox

DARKNESS RISING is an indie horror that starts out on a strong footing with an excellent cameo from horror great Ted Raimi playing a guy hunting for his missing daughter in the woods. Raimi is one of my favourite genre personalities and seeing him was a real treat. Unfortunately, it turns out that this five-minute introduction is a flashback and Raimi disappears for the rest of the present-day story, which is about a trio of friends exploring an abandoned and supposedly haunted house. Katrina Law, of TV's SPARTACUS, stars. The whole thing is lightly-scripted and poorly-plotted, never a good combination, and as it turns out a real patience-tester.

The film opens with a mystery. Madison (Tara Holt) returns to her childhood home the day before it is supposed to be demolished in hopes of finding answers to when her mother murdered an infant. She takes along looting Izzy (Katrina Law) who may be her cousin or just a friend. Also is Jake (Bryce Johnson) her boyfriend and psychologist (no sense hiring 2 actors to make it ethical). Yes, the house is haunted and we eventually get some answers like what makes Sarah scream.

The production uses jump scares, dolls without eyes, barking German Shepherds, contact lenses, and a voice distorter in order to create a tale that lacked character build-up. Katrina Law was the only breath of fresh air in the house as our other two characters lumbered along. It starts off interesting enough, but then we are trapped with a 3 man play.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.