Dark Iris (2018) Reviews

• Too much ambition results with poor SFX, acting, writing and directing

  TheTopDawgCritic2018-03-25

  Here we have a film created, produced, written, directed, edited and cast by novice Derek Talib. As you can imagine, when a seasoned film-maker takes on all these roles, the film is usually a fail as it's too much ambition to wear that many hats. In this case, when an inexperienced novice actor wears that many hats, then you know it's going to be a mess, and a mess it was. Not sure if the budget was a few thousand dollars, but this was very low budget - almost like a high school drama project. The SFX was outdated, the acting was stale and poor and lacked direction, the writing was very loose and had pacing issues. I'm guessing this film was made just to add credits to Derek Talib's resume. Too bad they don't give credits for fake reviews as well, because Derock-29340's 9/10 (Derek=Derock lol) would have garnered him another bonus point for his resume. It's pathetic when you have to write your own review to try and fool viewers. It's a generous 2/10 from me.

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• Not the worst I've seen, but darn close

  arglebargle-478932018-01-29

  The current 6 star rating for this movie is fraudulent. The one positive review comes from someone who has reviewed nothing else, so I can safely assume it's a shill for the director. The special effects (what few exist) are on par with films from the 1940s. I think I can safely say I could have done a better job with After Effects than we see in this movie. The acting is -- at best -- on par with stage drama at a mid-sized college. Throughout the entire Agent Fry acts precisely like an annoying 13 year old girl. (Imagine the stink-eye scene from "Juno" or Jennifer Grey's character as this sister in "Ferris Beuler's Day Off") making snarky faces and juvenile remarks. In fact, the entire script was sophomoric. The writer (director AND producer... this is generally the sign that it's going to be bad) didn't even bother trying to figure out police procedures to work with the story. Included in the story were two MI6 agents, neither of which was British. One was Russian. My guess for the casting is that the actors were friends of the director. The only reason I didn't give this 1 star is that there are actually worse films (like "Manos").

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• Indie thriller shot in Ohio

  Leofwine_draca2018-01-18

  DARK IRIS is an indie thriller shot in Ohio. It's listed here as a science fiction movie but it really isn't as the budget is way too low for that. Instead it seems heavily influenced by the TV series ALIAS as a young ordinary woman discovers dark secrets about herself, secrets which set her on an odyssey of adventure. The film is grim and gloomy looking and goes down the old 'government conspiracy' route. Half the running time is made up with actors running around pretending to be FBI agents.

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• Haunted hunt

  TheLittleSongbird2018-12-29

  A modern day Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde sort of story is hardly a new idea, and a lot of the story elements have been done before a lot and better, but regardless it's hardly an uninteresting one. Executed decently, 'Dark Iris' could have been atmospheric and with enough to keep one engaged. Actually wanted it to be both those things, certainly did not want it to fail (have never done that for anything watched and reviewed and never will). Sadly, 'Dark Iris' is neither atmospheric or engaging, not doing anything with its potential which is just infuriating. Have definitely seen far worse films, at least 'Dark Iris' started off decently and my intelligence wasn't insulted. This is something that has happened before in film or television but not an awful lot and it takes a lot for me to feel that way, despite how some of my previous reviews sound. My lowest possible rating is reserved only for films that show no effort with no redeeming merits, and a relatively rare rating given out recently by me. 'Dark Iris' struck me as a film that actually did try, if anything it was a sign of somebody with a good deal of ambition running before walking, something that will be mentioned later. 'Dark Iris', as aforementioned, doesn't start off too badly. It is a shame that it quickly goes downhill and never recovers. One of 'Dark Iris' biggest problem is its over ambition. Meaning that although it's commendable that somebody, in this case Derek Talib, takes on more than one job (nearly everything), and there are successful examples of that, this came over to me that it was somebody who lacked the experience to take on all these jobs and even seemed taxed by them individually too. There is a constant sense of over-ambition and inexperience, hence what was meant earlier by running before walking. 'Dark Iris' looks worse than a failed student film project (especially in the shoddy last minute-looking effects that would look out of date 50 years ago, while even for the concept the film's look is far too grim), and am actually feeling rather sad saying that. The direction seems ill at ease with the material and loses control of it, it comes through loud and clear that it was directed by a novice. The writing is constantly awkward, sophomoric is a very good way of describing it, and another example of struggling to keep a straight face. The story is confused and dull, too many things left vague, and there is no tension, suspense or unsettlement at all, thrills and surprises are none too. Basically non-stop blandness and actually thought it never did pick up and that it was the second half where it was especially dull and lacking in clarity. None of the characters were worth caring about, was endlessly annoyed by their dumb decision making, their repetitive actions and how the types of characters were a weird mishmash. The Agent Fry character was especially irritating, am not talking slightly here, we are talking throughout to an insultingly large degree. The acting is also indicative of inexperience and like they did the film for a favour or an experiment, the leads have no presence at all and the supporting cast try too hard. Marylee Osborne is especially bad. The chemistry is non-existent meaning any drama is interminably static. In conclusion, have seen worse but an over-ambitious mess done by a crew, and a person in particular, that lacked the experience and expertise, as well as budget, to carry all these components individually and together off. 2/10, as it at least tried. Bethany Cox

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• Sci fi thriller....

  ivymissing2018-10-07

  ...that doesn't hit its mark. Sadly the story has been done before. It was decent for the small budget but you have to rate it against other mainstream films.