Dark Corners is one of the most confusing movies ever. The only way I could write this was to start from the beginning and work my way to the end. If this post doesn’t make sense, have no fear because it’s a byproduct of the movie. I haven’t lost my mind. Dark Corners will leave your brain clogged and lost. And you may well ask yourself at the end, Why did I watch that? What was the point? Wtf just happened?
For these reasons, this is my worst and most hated horror movie. Here’s the breakdown (contains spoilers):
The opening: The movie starts with an old woman in a rocking chair listening to her answering machine. Next scene is a chick in a church who’s ranting to a friend she can’t find. She sits down to smoke a cigarette and falls asleep sitting against the altar. Because she’s narcoleptic? She wakes up to find her friend slaughtered on the altar, and then she is killed.
Reality 1: The movie is split into to two different realities. You have real world and dream world. In real world, there’s a killer on the loose and blonde Thora Birch, who has nightmares, thus creating dream world. In real world, she’s trying to get pregnant, which serves no purpose other than to have a conflict in the “happy” marriage. She also visits a hypnotist to help her work through the nightmares.
Reality 2: Dark-haired Thora Birch is a train wreck. Most of the same actors are in both worlds playing different characters. Here, Birch is being stalked by what you discover is the serial killer. Oh wait, you can’t have the same killer in both worlds, right? Unless it’s Freddy, this is unacceptable. It is never explained how both cross over or why.
Randomness: There is so much random crap in Dark Corners. The two opening scenes come back into play but serve no purpose. There are things like a creepy kid standing on a car making throat-cutting motions and who later attacks dream-world Birch, but you don’t know why. There’s incessant phone ringing and alarm clocks that I found distracting, and a key Birch swallows in dream world. And without rewatching, I can’t tell you what the key unlocks. A creepy old woman in the doctor’s office tells blonde Birch not to sit in a chair in a corner, but again, you have no idea why. And the list goes on…
The End: Confused yet? Here comes the kicker. The serial killer stabs and mangles Birch in real world. Dream-world Birch ends up standing over real-world Birch as the husband walks in. It can’t be split personalities because he sees dark-haired Birch and real-world Birch slaughtered in her bed. So who’s the killer? The doctor. Yep, the doctor is dark-haired Birch in dream world.
Finally, it’s all over. The movie cuts and starts back over from the first time you see dream-world Birch, and it’s revealed that’s it’s supposed to be some form of Groundhog Day hell.
This movie is extremely frustrating and senseless. There are so many holes, and trying to figure out why or how anything happens is useless. I have watched this movie twice, and the latter may be my last time. You can argue with yourself about why things happen or try to analyze it, but it’s useless. There’s always a counterpoint that trumps the rational thought. I feel as crazy as the movie after watching it, and there has never been a movie that made me so angry after it was over. To those who watch it, good luck.
I’m glad it’s over.
Revenant Publications 