[Against The Dark]
Plot:Katana master Tao (Steven Seagal) leads a special ops squad of ex-military vigilantes on a massacre mission, their target:vampires. On the post apocalyptic globe, sucked dry by bloodthirsty vampires, a few remaining survivors are trapped in an infected hospital. Tao is their only hope and he knows the only cure is execution. Now it's time for the last stand against the flesh-eating vampires and there's nothing left to lose but the last of humanity.

Cast:Tanoai Reed, Jenna Harrison, Skye Bennett, Daniel Percival, Emma Catherwood, Danny Midwinter, Steven Seagal.

My Thoughts:Yes, it is indeed..."dark".

Review:One isn't sure what to expect when going into a film where Steven Segal is battling vampires, or anyone for that matter. His most recent string of films have been straight to dvd'ers with pretty low budgets. "Against The Dark" though pits the action star for the first time against the supernatural. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic U.S. which has been overrun by "the infected" (vampires), who will feed on anyone they can get their claws on. Segal however is part of a band of vigilantes known as "hunters".

They have taken it upon themselves to rid their particular area of vampires. Similar to how Segal would take up arms and kung fu skills to battle gang members or mobsters who are terrorizing his "hood" in one of those action films of his. As this goes on outside, a group of survivors are trapped inside a hospital, with the infected lurking outside. Tao (Segal), shows up at the hospital with his crew and offers to help the trapped people defeat the vampires. But the vampires are quickly evolving, and their rapidly growing IQ's might pose a more lethal threat to the humans inside than at first thought.

The one problem with this movie, it's filmed in total CSS. As in..."can't see shit". The camerawork is bad enough, but the way the movie is shot makes it hard to see anything going on when it comes to action sequences such as fights, chases, etc. Really horrible cinematography here. I don't know if that was a mistake, or was done on purpose due to a low budget. Either way, it hampers the film big time. The plot itself works, it's simplistic and straight-forward, but the believability factor is once again called into question because it's a Segal film.

And thus the usual stuff occurs, vampires have someone on the ropes, Segal shows up to save them. Vampires have someone right where they want them, Segal shows up to slice and dice the vampire, no problemo. He doesn't get bitten, or slashed, or even grazed. And I'm not giving away spoilers here because if you didn't know that Segal can dodge ANYTHING in his movies then you haven't seen enough of them. The vampires themselves are pretty standard as far as make up effects are concerned. There's the typical fangs, blood around the mouth, and crazed eye contacts used to "vamp" up the actor.

I wasn't really impressed with the film because as I said above, it's filmed way too darkly and the action scenes aren't gonna wow anyone when they make it so easy for the main character. Even if he is a Katana Master/EX-military man, for gods sake these are vampires. Supernatural beings. Atleast make it a little difficult for him. The characters who make up the supporting cast aren't very bright, which is another flaw within the movie. They make all the wrong decisions at the wrong time, one woman even reaches her hand out to a young boy who may or may not be a vampire.

This results in her getting bitten and now having to stay behind while her tragedy-mate helps her daughter escape the faciltiy before she fully turns and ends up attacking her own kid. Of course one would have to ask why a single mother would make such a stupid and risky decision considering all of the responsibilities she has as a mom but hey, who's keeping track of the common sense points here?

Certainly not I. The films ending is very cliche, and can be ripped from atleast a hundred other action/horror/sci-fi films where the human race is on the run from something vicious and hungry. Segal lives, rescues what's left of the hospital survivors, the military carpet bombs the vampire hot spots, thus nuking them back to the stone age, and we're teased at the very end that the vampire plague might not be over. Whether it is or not is irrelevant though, I just don't want another installment into the "Against The Dark" series.

Positives:A modestly unique storyline.

Negatives:The writer and director make it look too easy for Segal, the film is shot too dark, and too many dumb characters from a common sense standpoint outside of Segal's character.

Overall:One and a half out of four stars.





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