ALONE IN THE DARK

In 1967, traces of a civilization that lived ten thousand years ago and then mysteriously disappeared, the Abkani, were found. This people believed in the existence of two realities in our world, one of light and one of darkness, and managed to prove it by opening a passage to the world of darkness, from which monstrous creatures emerged before the door was closed. Following the discovery of artifacts belonging to this civilization, the government paranormal agency Bureau 713 became interested in providing clarifications about the extinct Abkani civilization and their theories. But when the government decided to cut funding for this research, Professor Hudgens, the project's head, continued the research in secret, conducting experiments on some orphans, hybridized with the creatures discovered by the Abkani. Later, Edward Carnby, a member of Bureau 713, finds himself involved in the affair following the disappearance of those who were once the children on whom Hudgens had conducted the experiments and of whom he was also a part. With the help of the beautiful anthropologist Aline Cedrac, Carnby will try to solve the mystery. As can be inferred from the plot, with "Alone in the Dark" we are faced with a complex fantasy-horror, or rather, perhaps complex is not the right term, "confused" would be more appropriate! In fact, in less than 90 minutes, many themes are attempted to be addressed and the genre is switched without any skill, leaving the viewer with only a huge sense of confusion and annoyance. We go from the complete initial didacticism that promises sparks, thanks to the promises of "horror-archaeology," to the most clumsy and ridiculous B-movie action film, with chases, impossible somersaults, and cartridges emptied galore. At the end of the film, the viewer remains extremely perplexed: have we witnessed a horror film that winks at "Alien," or the tacky version of "Tomb Raider"? Or the tacky version of "Tomb Raider" with added monsters in the style of "Alien"? In any case, we find ourselves immersed in a haphazard film, too rushed in many passages (especially the terrible ending) and absolutely incapable of minimally involving the viewer. The origin of the film is the recent trend of converting the most successful video games into celluloid (we have already seen 2 "Resident Evil," 2 "Tomb Raider," "Alien vs Predator," "House of the Dead," and many others), and so the "Alone in the Dark" saga (born in the early '90s by Infogrames and still up to its fourth chapter) also gets its conversion, which however is very far from the original atmosphere of the video games; the story takes characters and some ideas from the fourth chapter of the console series, but completely alters the atmosphere and setting, because it centers everything on action and develops the plot in many different locations, unlike the tense and oppressive atmosphere created by shadows and creaks and the single eerie location (a gigantic 19th-century mansion) of the video game. The director of this film is Uwe Boll, a director (highly recommended) already responsible for the conversion of "House of the Dead" and currently working on another film based on a video game, "Bloody Rayne." If Boll had already amply demonstrated his total incompetence in cinema with his previous film, with "Alone in the Dark" he confirms it; it must be admitted that compared to "House of the Dead" there is a greater stylistic care (but here there was double the budget compared to the zombie film!), but it is impossible not to notice that professional shortage that permeates everything and everyone. In fact, if a comparison is made, "Alone in the Dark," even if technically more cared for, can result even worse than "House of the Dead," because the latter is a messy trash with a campy air that on several occasions makes you smile for the incompetence with which it was made, while "Alone in the Dark" appears much more pretentious and the seriousness, combined with the general confusion it conveys, makes it only boring and inconclusive. The cast is composed of young recycled stars who perhaps seek the opportunity to re-emerge definitively (but certainly they did not find it in this film which had disastrous results at the box office); the protagonist is played by an increasingly expressionless Christian Slater (the most unlikely tough guy in Hollywood!), Tara Reid ("American Pie") plays Aline Cedrac, and Stephen Dorff ("Blade") plays a member of Bureau 713. The special effects are well-made and the creatures are animated discreetly, even if they look too similar to the alien monsters of "Alien." Highly not recommended.