[The Darkest Evil]
Plot:A new film adaptation of "The Dunwich Horror"...follows an evil man named Wilbur Whateley who sets out to acquire the Necronomicon in order to unleash the mysterious "Old Ones" upon mankind.

Cast:Jeffrey Combs, Griff Furst, Sarah Lieving.

My Thoughts:Cue The bad visuals!

Review:The Darkest Evil" is just one of two new Cthulhu/Dunwich Horror related movies to be released in 2009. The other is "Beyond The Dunwich Horror", which will star Lynn Lowry and Jeff Dylan Graham. This one however has it's good points, and it's bad points. Haven't seen "Beyond" yet. Neither film has been officially released as of yet, and personally I can't say which one I think people will like better.

At any rate, "The Darkest Evil" follows a group of occultists who seek the necronomicon, so they cna open a portal and release an ancient race of demons known simply as "the old ones". A group of professor/fact-finder types are called upon to stop them. The stage for the battle between good and evil has been set. Who will win? One cool thing about this movie is it isn't cheesy with the occult dialogue, plot points, story arc, etc.

It really uses some smart wording, and plays up the cthulhu/necronomicon part of things in a really nice and classy way. However, the constant occult banter can get a bit much over time, and that's where the movie hurts itself. It overtalks, overspeaks, and overexplains. It repeats itself a lot when it comes to the backstory of the necronomicon, the ancient race of demons, and the bad guys, the lead bad guy Wilbur being played by Jeffrey Combs.

I felt the films time would've been better spent with more blood, gore, and maybe chase sequences of some sort. Rather than explaining something in one scene. And then rehashing what was explained in a scene which follows that one. I thought the movie did a great job in laying out the story, mythology, and legend of the old ones and the book, but why reiterate it over and over again? The huge contrast between the villains and good guys was also pretty stark.

The good guys are all aristocrat types, while the villains are strange psychobilly-looking types. Granted psychobillies being villains in horror films isn't much of a shock, but a little less extreme would've been appreciated when it came to the good guys and bad guys in the movie. But to toss things over on another side of the arguement, the bad guys were far more entertaining on screen than the good guys were.

While the good guys just chatted a lot and talked forever, the bad guys made more moves when it came to trying to score points for their side, and acquire the book and complete their goals. Combs did well in his role as Wilbur, even thoguh it wasn't a very large one. Strangely enough. But the movies big problem is the ending when the final battle is waged and the winner will either destroy the world, or rescue it.

The visual fx on the cthulhu/lovecraftian monsters are just awful. AWFUL....and I'd also add WOEFUL in there as well. These lovecraft movies always seem to use cgi, or some horrid-looking visual effects to bring about the monsters. I just don't understand why someone doesn't spring for the proper funds to make these creatures atleast look respectable on screen.

But oh well, their call. All in all, the movie isn't that bad. But it does have some weak points which could've been cleared up pretty easily. I would recommend it to horror fans who are lovecraft obsessed, cthulhu obsessed, necronomicon-movie obsessed, Jeffrey Combs obsessed, or all four.

Positives:Strong script from a dialogue standpoint. Combs gives a good performances.

Negatives:Too much repetitive dialogue, and some terrible looking monsters at the end.

Overall:Two out of four stars.





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