Days of Darkness

Introduction

After having a romantic evening in the mountains, Steve and Mimi return to their car to find it covered in ash from a massive meteor which has streaked through the Earth's atmosphere and burnt up. When Steve goes to unlock the car, a strange lumbering man wanders towards the couple and, whilst fighting him off, is bitten. As more of these creatures approach, a stranger comes to their aid and shows them a safe place to go to.

Led to a military bunker and initially greeted with hostility by those who consider Steve to be 'one of them' due to his bite wound, the couple meet the others hiding out, amongst whom are an evangelical preacher, a porn star and her daughter and two car salesmen.

Steve is forced to spend a night in the basement with one of the refugees who has turned into a zombie who is restrained by his neck and, during the night, Steve studies his behaviour and, whilst prodding him with a pole, inadvertently castrates him.

With the compound surrounded by the living dead, tensions run high between everyone inside and in particular between Steve and Mimi when he finds out his virginal girlfriend is pregnant.

Video

Although the opening shots of the asteroid are a little unconvincing, the zombie effects are very good and make up for an introduction that led me to fear the worst. The transfer is clear, with decent definition in the low-light scenes and a suitably grim palette, reflecting the post-apocalyptic theme.

Audio

With only Dolby Digital 5.1 to choose from, there's really no need for a stereo option as the surrounds are used sparingly but effectively, with some good jumps.

Extra Features

Just a trailer.

Conclusion

As a mix between Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 or 1978) and Dawn of the Dead (1978), this doesn't come close to either but is an effective and well made character study in the face of horror with the focus more on the survivors than the undead.

Days of Darkness comes very close to B-movie territory, with some very odd humour that seems out of place especially when Marian Tomas Griffin's ex-adult film star talks of her past with bestiality and the number of men she f**ked the week after she discovered she was pregnant "but I didn't abort". I'm not sure whether the castration scene was supposed to be amusing or wince-inducing but it wasn't either - it was interesting and slightly funny but seemingly not played for laughs.

The acting is adequate and no more - you'll never find any of these cast members up for Oscars - but they get the job done, as does British ex-pat Jake Kennedy, whose direction is workmanlike, without any of the flair of the likes of Romero.

This is an interesting zombie movie that's worth a watch but a rental is probably the order of the day rather than a purchase - it's available individually or as part of the Rise of the Flesh Eaters Boxset.