Giuliano Giacomelli
•Karen suffers a hard blow when she finds out that her grandmother is in her final moments. To fulfill her grandmother's last wish, Karen moves to the mountain cabin where her grandparents had lived for years and where she had spent her childhood with her sister. A few days after moving into the cabin, Karen receives a visit from her younger sister Wendy. The two will meet Pearce here, the cabin's caretaker and horse maintenance worker, who, behind his appearance of a friendly and kind man, seems to hide his true identity. "Dark Memories" is one of the many films distributed solely for the home video market and which, although it presents some positive aspects, does not differ much from the bad results obtained, in general, by products released solely for the rental market. The film, directed by Rubi Zack, decides to take the route of the psychological thriller proceeding slowly and narrating Karen's life and her relationships with her boyfriend Jeff, with her sister Wendy, and with the strange but kind caretaker Pearce, to conclude (the last ten minutes) with a crescendo of tension and twists that make the entire work sink into banality. Undoubtedly, the first glaring error of the film is given by the unconvincing and unprofessional screenplay that does not manage to capture the viewer's attention due to the hallucinating narrative slowness, terribly boring the unfortunate one who decided to waste time watching this film; moreover, the screenplay, due to several holes, leaves several things hanging or skips over some events avoiding giving explanations that the viewer would have appreciated. Another weak point is precisely the ending, which, too intent on surprising the viewer, turns out to be unconvincing and unsuited to the situation, completely ruining a film that should have had its strong point precisely in the conclusion. Good, however, the cast, populated by quite known actors and endowed with good talent, among them Gina Philips in the role of Karen, an actress still little known who had already played the leading role in "Jeepers Creepers – The Devil's Song" and who once again proves to have talent; another known face in this film is that of Tom Sizemore in the role of the caretaker, who, although he does not offer the best of himself as he had done in "Strange Days", nevertheless proves to be an excellent actor. In conclusion, "Dark Memories – Terrifying Memories" is a film of little importance, little interesting, little engaging but which boasts the presence of a good cast. Watchable but easily neglectable.
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