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Based on the trailer of the Dark Entities, it seems like I was about to uncover an adorable, cliche gem in the form of a haunted house movie (check out 2011’s The Selling) or a borderline version of The Conjuring. The absence of a cohesive storyline combined with laughable visual effects makes this film a less-than-optimal piece of real estate. To make things worse, the film’s visuals and effects were underwhelming, too. The film does not touch the sublime.
During the years 1977 the same time as The Conjuring 2 era, we find ourselves with Dark Entities where we follow Winters siblings who, after their parents passed away, moved into a mansion. While many siblings would cry and mourn their parents becoming another child’s play house, all the kids have to remember that money is the real play toy. In this case, the play toy or better said, inheritance was poured into refurnishing the house, only to discover that the place came with some roommates. This movie does feature an unusual blend of an antique shop owner turned paranormal vision and a prof, excuse me paranormal prof must bring some chaos.
Sand Sharks is one case where I found some form of entertainment by watching it. The plot is sheer insanity and exactly the type of cliche you expect to find from shark movies. Unfortunately for Dark Entities, two hours is too much for a serious film with zero plot.
Broadly speaking, the summary of the film is that after the parents die for some reason, the siblings move into this house that is for some reason haunted by a guy. It doesn’t seem like there are any interesting subplots, there’s almost no lore or backstory, and honestly, not a lot takes place in terms of haunting. The film is undistinguished for how simple the story is and does not seem to concern itself with the fact that it is revisiting genre cliches. There is next to no relationship development, there are zero laughs, and the characters are so generic that it would be hard to argue they even have any horror stereotypes. And this is nothing against Dark Entities, but this is the second review in a row I’ve done that features a super creepy box with a cursed ring in it. In fact, neither the box nor the ring is creepy at all. The box in fact looks like it was picked up from a Dollar Tree store as opposed to being some cursed antique.
Dark Entities has a setting concern, too. The house that serves as the filming location is extremely nice and homey all while being in the best condition and decorated with wonderful art pieces. However, they seem to treat it with neglect. It is wonderfully painted and the art is lovely. Now, I don’t know if there was a clause in the contract about not relocating furniture, but lord have mercy. The extent to which they seem willing to go is so undamaging that it appears to border putting constraints on the movie which is a sad state to be in. For instance, one of the most terrifying things that can happen to a person in this film is getting pulled partially under a bed. Not once, but more than once. It is quite amusing and in a manner, it is scary in an absurd type of way. Still, like many other facets of the movie, I do not believe the humor is meant to be deliberate.
Another strange part of the series is the rather awkward dialogue pieces. In the first few minutes of the film, older sister Vera (Elena Ontiveros) asks her brother Ethan (Jackson Lee Winters) if he recognizes the people in a photo showing it TO THEMSELVES. I assumed that since Ethan looks around 11 years old in the film, he might have memory issues. However, Ethan just says, Of course silly, and bobs his head to the siblings in the photo. I understand this is supposed to introduce the audience to the characters. However, just like in that other scene where brother Wes reduces his voice and says very strangely, “Hey sis!” to tell that Vera is his sister. Like the previous example, many people would never say, or at the very least actually mean what they are saying.
Continuity issues in storytelling also affect the movie in ways that just make the story baffling. The siblings, for instance, wonder whether they can just destroy the possessed ring, and the ghost specialists advise them against that, cautioning that things get out of control. The ring is pick axed in the last ten minutes of the movie. In another, more disturbing example, they struggle to get the ring off Wes (Brandon McLemore) and then during the most subdued G-rated séance ever they just reapply the ring for testing purposes.
The strangest scene in the entire film happens when Vera shows ghost experts around the house and decides, for no particular reason at all, to take them upstairs. She guides them to the attic door and informs them that they do not have access to the room. Vera then proceeds to explain that the door has been locked, but using the key they have does nothing. Immediately after, the paranormal expert stretches his hand out to remove the crocheted blanket that had been placed in front of the door. The blanket which was, indeed, laid over the door as they claim they shut the attic door underneath the blanket instead of draping it over the door. Had the film been less serious this would have been genuinely funny but I honestly do not believe the intention was to make one laugh.
It’s truly challenging to determine whether the problem is in the script, or in the chemistry and comfort of the actors. Never mind, I will just go right ahead and say it. This whole movie feels like an episode from Siblings or Dating. I do appreciate the approach of siblings surprisingly more than the traditional couple plus child angle. But, the energy in the movie is so strange. The older main actors seem to have zero family bond with each other, which is very uncomfortable to watch.
The film also does not possess any notable practical effects whatsoever. By this, I don’t mean to suggest that I expect extreme kills or buckets of blood in all my cinema, but there are no jokes or plots in the film either, so why could it not be livelier on the effects side? On the other hand, not having those ghostly figures look human might be a start. I completely understand covering children’s heads with sheets to avoid mass slaughter, but these children appeared to be going trick or treating in the 80s.
As the saying goes, “Best to leave on a high note.” a mistake that needs correcting is the movie does not seem to realize when it needs to stop. While watching the Dark Entities movie, I felt as if it was ending two times, but it never did. There are instances where fake endings are interesting like ‘did not expect that,’ but this is more like, oh, it’s still going on. Truth be told, Dark Entities could have been a much better experience had it been as much as 40 minutes shorter, and the parts of the film that contain the awkward dialogue would be so much less jarring. With some cuts, this could be a substantially better film.
One of the brighter spots on the dark chilling claim was the casting of an antiques dealer Alfred, played by Philip Neil Parker, as well as a paranormal professor Angela Moore. Both players add some life to the performance as they appear to actually know where the camera is. The additional help that fills the gap in many areas of the plot works well, too, even if the mid-section does seem to drag on a bit. The film prides itself in some cool-looking company shots, including some vintage cars, an impressive collection of clothes for Vera, and even some other so-called timeless horror classics where some shots are taken of, among others, The Shining.
In summary, Dark Entities is okay, but not particularly captivating. It has a few promising moments, but we could achieve more with the plot and tighten up the editing so that unwanted scenes don’t make it into the final cut. I would recommend this film to someone who is a super fan of The Conjuring, but has already watched it to death and doesn’t care that this film is much worse.
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