Depicting the takeover of a small town by an army of vampires Darkness was partially financed by its makers selling their blood at the local plasma bank. The gore-drenched film went on to become one of the premiere titles ... more »in the underground horror wave of the early 90s. Now for the first time ever Barrel is proud to present this underground classic with a professional film-to-video transfer struck directly from the original elements featuring digitally restored picture and sound all in a new never before seen edit Darkness: The Vampire Version the official definitive director's cut!Special Features: New digital film-to-tape transfer of the newly created director s cut mastered directly from the original elements under the supervision of director Leif Jonker 16X9 widescreen enhanced presentation Three feature length audio commentary tracks featuring the director special FX artist composer and cast & crew Vampire Bootcamp New half-hour documentary featurette with cast & crew interviews Behind-the-scenes footage of the climactic meltdown sequence Extended rough-cut of the climactic meltdown sequence Photo gallery Remastering demonstration World of Sin a new music video from Apostasy Original theatrical trailers Alternate audio track over the entire BONUS MATERIALS featuring alternate music and sound as well as commentary from Leif Jonker and others.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR UPC: 690816600893 Manufacturer No: BEDVD008« less
"After purchasing and watching this movie, I can see why there is such a cult following. The movie was obviously made with very little budget, but the quality blew me away. The movie follows a town that gets taken over by vampires. They attack innocent people and drink lots of blood. The similarities to other vampire movies stops there, however. The acting in this movie is non-existent, but the action explods off the screen. The gore and death scenes are great, and I was shocked (Thats real blood, people). Chainsaw weilding maniacs, and ghouls of the night.
This movie took WAY too long in production, but the special features, and movie transfer are WELL worth the wait.
Great (Dare I say "B") vampire genre film.
Keep in mind this IS very low budget-so if you're expecting "Blade", you will be dissapointed.
"
Worth seeing, but pick it up CHEAP.....
Jerry Nuckolls | Phoenix, AZ, USA | 06/21/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I gave this flick 4 stars for the gore. It is plentiful and convincing enough, especially given the budget(?). I had never heard of this flick, so I don't know if it really has a cult following or not. Maybe in Germany, but they'll watch ANYTHING. If you have a soft spot for low-budget splatter, and are very forgiving, you'll probably like this. It's kind of like a modern version of a Fred Olen Ray flick, but with no boobs. The gore and action are spread liberally throughout, so it never gets boring. There are a few(okay, many) glaring examples of poor or lazy scripting(like the dumb broad who watches in horror as her boyfriend is torn apart for like 4 minutes instead of running, yeah right), but nothing out of the ordinary for this type of movie. As a child of the 80's, the cheesy thrash metal, longhairs, and mullet models that made up the cast(and probably the crew) really took me back and made me feel nostalgic. The plot, such as it is, is this: a group of teenage stoners return from a concert to find a vampiric invasion of their sleepy jerkwater town well underway. Since one of the local teenage hicks has been battling the leeches for like 3 days already, he joins up with them, and they try to stay alive while searching for their friends and families. The whole thing takes place over 4 or 5 days. Like I said, the gore is good, and if that's all you're looking for, you will be pleased. But if you hate it when cheapjack flicks use day for night, this will irritate you to no end. Also, the transfer is kind of crappy. It seems choppy and slightly pixelated, as though they didn't really have the right equipment. It's not the worst I've seen, though. Maybe the source materials were just that bad, I dunno. This DVD has plenty of extras. I thought the reunion docu was actually pretty cool, it seems that this movie was something of a local phenomenon in the town where it was made. The teaser trailers for Darkness 2 & 3 seem more like wishful thinking, but, hey, good luck, dudes. Any way, this review is for the single-disc version. I can't see shelling out for a 2-disc version of this, even though I liked it. I paid 15 bucks for it, try to get it for 10 or less, and you should be quite happy with your purchase."
Worth watching...
Don Cheeto | Bakersfield, CA | 01/19/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"...okay first of all it is supposed to be a vampire movie, but the vampires act more like zombies. They bite the hell out of any and all bodyparts, they walk like they're zombies, and act like they are zombies. This movie was not bad, except they over did it with the blood. Too much of it is not always a good thing, and it gets old after a while. I would say this is about a three and a half star movie. It is a good addition to your horror library, but not an integral one. I would say rent it first, then if you feel it justifies a purchase then by all means. I don't regret I got it, but I wish I could tell you it is a must have."
A Lot of Fun
Sir Jub-Jub | Sir Jub-Jub's Lair, Alaska | 04/24/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is an excellent two disk set filled with tons of extras. The film is a gore soaked saga pitting a group of young people against an ever growing vampire hoard. Filled with tons of bloody, spurting, gooey deaths, it should be a delight for gore-hounds. The film moves at a nice fast pace and is never boring. Where the DVD really shines is in the extras. Multiple commentary tracks are included with the cast and crew. This commentary illustrates the love these people share for the film as well as being very insightful on the makings of low budget, renegade cinema. Also included is an original cut of the film that is also worth watching to see how "Darkenss" morphed over the years into the current version. We are also given a nice set of interviews with many of the cast as they look back on their experiences making the film. All I can say is this movie is a lot of fun-check it out."
Got blood?
C. Christopher Blackshere | I am the devil's reject | 02/05/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Welcome to the Splatterparty! This is one nasty little bloodbath, showered down upon us with sick and grueling depravity that only underground horror can provide. Gorelovers, grab a fork! Writer/director Leif Jonker and his friends actually financed much of this cult gem with their own blood, using the money they earned from their donations at the nearby plasma bank.
$5,000 budget? Are you kidding me? I heard Rob Zombie's Halloween remake had a budget of around 15 million.
Now it does have the expected problems that come with a super-low budget horror flick. Horrendous acting, amateurish directing, bad transfer. But really I think this adds to the charm. The narrative jumps around alot, which didn't seem to serve much of a purpose. We're often given indications--23 minutes to daylight, or 9 minutes to night. But it would still look like broad daylight. Kinda silly, but all is forgiven. And when some people have a delayed reaction to the heinous onslaught occurring just in front of them, you can't help but yell "Run dummy!". Oh well...
Luckily there is enough awesome to make you forget about the ridiculous. Darkness is a pretty straight forward vampire story, stuck back in the 80's. We've got mullets, Hard Rock Cafe T-Shirts, & some cheesy metal. The violence jumps right in and never stops. I'm talking about blood, blood, blood. And more blood. It sometimes feels more like a apocalyptic zombie tale. Other times maybe a gory cannibal flick. Trust me, there will be lots of flesh rippage and gooey carnage.
This has an incredibly vicious ending. Badass stuff! It kinda reminded me of the flesh melting scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. But better! No CGI here though, some phenomenal special effects, regardless of the budget.
Darkness: The Vampire Version is great low budget vampire flick that has achieved international cult status. Way too cool!
Highly recommended to the gore lovers. And even to Twilight fans. You must be converted.