I love films about prehistoric times; The Hughe's Brothers insanely overlooked Alpha, Quest For Fire, even Roland Emmerich's 10,000 BC has its charms. The time period is so under-explored in cinema so it's always nice to see an entry and while this year's Out Of Darkness might ultimately have not been quite what I was expecting perhaps not in its favour, it's still an atmospheric, gorgeous looking addition into the genre. Sometime in the Stone Age a group of mismatched early humans band together to fight some unknown elemental menace that might even be supernatural in nature, hunting them one by one in brutal fashion. A desperate, bloody fight for survival begins and there are numerous very suspenseful, evocatively shot chase and pursuit scenes against a beautifully painted backdrop of rural Scotland locations. Now my personal issues with this story are, spoiling as little as I can, the eventual reveal of what is hunting them is entirely not what the marketing or even first act build up hints towards. I was expecting an monster movie and the outcome is far more human and emotionally grounded, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but my own expectations were being led down a different path and I could help but feel a bit discombobulated, dare I say cheated by the resolution. It's still a well made film though with loads of atmosphere, terrific acting and breathtaking cinematography.
Review of Out of Darkness
