Left in Darkness (DVD)

Celia's (Monica Keena) life sucks. It all started the minute she was born, when her mother expired. Then her deadbeat dad disappeared, leaving the raising of Celia to Grandpa (Tim Thomerson). Her only childhood pal is imaginary, and when she grows up her real best friend Rachel (Tarah Paige), takes her to frat party for her 21st birthday. Now, that's classy. Celia winds up getting drugged, raped, and killed.

For most movies, this would be the tragic end. But for Left in Darkness, a supernatural horror tale, it's just the beginning. Celia finds herself reunited with her imaginary friend, Donovan (David Anders), who, it turns out, is her guardian angel. He never left her – he was even there, he reveals, when Celia lost her virginity! Talk about TMI. Now that Celia is dead, a host of creepy creatures called Soul-Eaters want to claim her soul and drag her down into the darkness. Celia must find the light that leads to eternal peace, but there's no GPS for that… she has to find it on her own, and there are all kinds of rules.

Left in Darkness gets a nod because it relies more on mood and atmosphere than in-your-face gore to create an unsettling atmosphere. There's no nudity (unless you could the gratuitous shots pointed straight down Keena's considerable cleavage), and blood is wisely kept to a minimum. There's no CGI, which was smart considering the budget. The acting is halfway decent, and the story is slightly off the beaten path.

Unfortunately, when director Steven R. Monroe took the reins of what could have been an intelligent thriller, he seems to have thought his audience would be dumb as a box of rocks. Just 30 or so minutes into the film, there is a flashback sequence reminding us of something that happened earlier! Screenwriters Philip Daay and Jane Whitney also deserve a boo and hiss for writing overly repetitive, obvious dialogue.

The M-TV-meets-Tony Scott on speed editing style grates on the nerves, as does the music which tires to hard to create scares where none really exist. This is truly a prime example of the "Don’t worry, we can fix it in post" philosophy.

In sum, Left in Darkness is recommended – only barely, but it does deserve credit for avoiding CGI and not going with the usual [insert your own: evil videogame / J-ghost / haunted cellphone / frat party slasher] teen horror story clichés.

Special Features:

In the Darkness: The Making of Left in Darkness — Heed the spoiler warnings (thank you, Anchor Bay… now if we could just get you to add captions for the hearing-impaired, you'd be golden) then check out this reasonably entertaining, if stock, making-of featurette. There's plenty to learn here about the actors and characters, how the in-camera effects were achieved, information on the monster makeups, and film clips intercut with behind the scenes footage.

My 21st Birthday featurette — Cast and crew's memories (or lack thereof) of their 21st birthday celebrations. Super-short, but ultimately pointless since nobody had any great stories to share.

Audio commentary with director Steve Monroe and line producer John Duffy — Here we learn that it's producer Steven J. Cannel's granddaughters in the opening credits sequence. Aside from that, the commentary basically consists of the pair stating the obvious, lamenting their short shooting schedule, congratulating themselves and the cast, and technical details.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson