You may have noticed that there's no title in the above poster. That's because the title I gave above, Dark of the Night, is the American re-titleling for the VHS release; it was originally released in its native New Zealand under the title Mr. Wrong. While this is a bit more plot-specific, it isn't helpful at all as the title to a horror movie, hence the generic retrofit. Then again, pitching this movie as a horror flick isn't helpful, either. Allow me to elaborate.
One of the most interesting details in Shaun of the Dead which nobody talks about is its deftness at telling a quarter-life crisis story. Its protagonists are all in their late 20's and early 30's, still reeling from college B.S. and stuck in unimpressive jobs, unsure of why they got there or where they're going. This point in a person's life is actually quite ripe for a horror tale, with a heap of uncertainty and anxiety surrounding one's life and doings. There's a lot of moving around and uncomfortable decision making, and it's entirely possible for one of those moves to wind the protagonist up in a haunted house. Dark of the Night is just like that, except it's a fabulous Jaguar sedan.
Meg (Heather Bolton) has just moved out of her parent's house, and snaps up the grand old car for a suspiciously nice sum. There's a nice montage of her admiring all nearby bells and whistles (apparently she'd never seen a dashboard cigarette lighter before), and other drivers give props from the other lanes of the road. Hunky-Dory-ness is quashed soon enough, however, as she hears mysterious wheezing from the back seat, and has dreams of being chased by the car and a woman walking through the rain. Her mother is fond of the car and wonders if Meg has found a boyfriend yet, just in time for Meg to meet Wayne, an old High School classmate of hers. The sprightly woodwinds on the soundtrack as she races down a hill after their meeting should tip the viewer off the movie is still far from blood-curdling terror.
However, while stopped at a light in the rain, she sees the woman from her dreams coming towards her car, getting in the back just as a man gets in the passenger seat without asking. While Meg is concerned about the silent woman the man makes thuddingly obvious passes at her - until the woman vanishes, followed by the man. He eventually emerges from far off (though we don't know why he left), and Meg is rattled enough by this to look into the car's history, eventually uncovering its previous owner: Mary Carmichael, a woman about Meg's age who vanished years ago.
I'm going to lay it straight for you: this movie isn't particularly scary, but I don't think it was supposed to be a terrifying thrill ride to begin with. Dark of the Night uses the set-up of a haunted car to paint a picture of twenty-something uncertainty, with Meg wrestling with life on her own and trying to deal with the poor purchase of the car. Actress Heather Bolton is excellent as Meg, somewhat modest and awkward but with a real drive to enjoy her newfound freedom. Her character is expertly written and realized, and the other performances and other aspects of the film are very well done. It's the first (and apparently only decent) film by New Zealand writer/director Gaylene Preston, and it's a unique and absorbing personal project that was funded by the New Zealand Film Commission. I've gotten the impression that film boards in Australia and New Zealand work like Canadian film funding agencies, whereby project get support if they're deemed as a valuable contribution to their country's art establishment. Canada is usually not too interested in funding flat commercialism, and I'd bet that New Zealand has a similar policy. The good news is that Dark of the Night is much more than that, observant, charming and beautifully filmed. If you weren't warned beforehand you may have ended up turning the movie off after 10 minutes, which is what I did the first time I tried watching it, but I'm glad I gave it another chance, and it has a cozy spot on my VHS shelf to this day. That's the only way to see the movie in an America-friendly format (with a chintzy-looking replacement title card), and I wasn't able to find it on YouTube. I did find a promo for its revival in a film festival, so enjoy and let this appealing little movie into your life, if you're so inclined.
One of the most interesting details in Shaun of the Dead which nobody talks about is its deftness at telling a quarter-life crisis story. Its protagonists are all in their late 20's and early 30's, still reeling from college B.S. and stuck in unimpressive jobs, unsure of why they got there or where they're going. This point in a person's life is actually quite ripe for a horror tale, with a heap of uncertainty and anxiety surrounding one's life and doings. There's a lot of moving around and uncomfortable decision making, and it's entirely possible for one of those moves to wind the protagonist up in a haunted house. Dark of the Night is just like that, except it's a fabulous Jaguar sedan.
Meg (Heather Bolton) has just moved out of her parent's house, and snaps up the grand old car for a suspiciously nice sum. There's a nice montage of her admiring all nearby bells and whistles (apparently she'd never seen a dashboard cigarette lighter before), and other drivers give props from the other lanes of the road. Hunky-Dory-ness is quashed soon enough, however, as she hears mysterious wheezing from the back seat, and has dreams of being chased by the car and a woman walking through the rain. Her mother is fond of the car and wonders if Meg has found a boyfriend yet, just in time for Meg to meet Wayne, an old High School classmate of hers. The sprightly woodwinds on the soundtrack as she races down a hill after their meeting should tip the viewer off the movie is still far from blood-curdling terror.
However, while stopped at a light in the rain, she sees the woman from her dreams coming towards her car, getting in the back just as a man gets in the passenger seat without asking. While Meg is concerned about the silent woman the man makes thuddingly obvious passes at her - until the woman vanishes, followed by the man. He eventually emerges from far off (though we don't know why he left), and Meg is rattled enough by this to look into the car's history, eventually uncovering its previous owner: Mary Carmichael, a woman about Meg's age who vanished years ago.
I'm going to lay it straight for you: this movie isn't particularly scary, but I don't think it was supposed to be a terrifying thrill ride to begin with. Dark of the Night uses the set-up of a haunted car to paint a picture of twenty-something uncertainty, with Meg wrestling with life on her own and trying to deal with the poor purchase of the car. Actress Heather Bolton is excellent as Meg, somewhat modest and awkward but with a real drive to enjoy her newfound freedom. Her character is expertly written and realized, and the other performances and other aspects of the film are very well done. It's the first (and apparently only decent) film by New Zealand writer/director Gaylene Preston, and it's a unique and absorbing personal project that was funded by the New Zealand Film Commission. I've gotten the impression that film boards in Australia and New Zealand work like Canadian film funding agencies, whereby project get support if they're deemed as a valuable contribution to their country's art establishment. Canada is usually not too interested in funding flat commercialism, and I'd bet that New Zealand has a similar policy. The good news is that Dark of the Night is much more than that, observant, charming and beautifully filmed. If you weren't warned beforehand you may have ended up turning the movie off after 10 minutes, which is what I did the first time I tried watching it, but I'm glad I gave it another chance, and it has a cozy spot on my VHS shelf to this day. That's the only way to see the movie in an America-friendly format (with a chintzy-looking replacement title card), and I wasn't able to find it on YouTube. I did find a promo for its revival in a film festival, so enjoy and let this appealing little movie into your life, if you're so inclined.
~PNK
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