Runtime: 87 minutes
Directed by: Martin Goldman
Starring: J.J. Barry, Carolyne Barry, Kate McKeown, Frank Bongiorno, Kim Hunter
From: Raffia Productions
What an odd regional horror film this was. Recently I saw a few minutes of the film & realized it would be worthy of a full viewing. As Arrow Video released Dark August as part of their American Horror Project Volume 2 set, the print at least looks great. Thing is, the film is the peculiar arty sort of picture which won't appeal to all, for certain. Yet there were things I enjoyed.
The rural Vermont setting (admittedly, most of Vermont is rural; I've visited the state many years ago) is an asset; it always looked lovely and set the mood for this chilling tale. The husband and wife team of J.J. Barry & Carolyne Barry portray the lead couple Sal and Jackie. At the film's beginning, we see an old man place a hex on Sal; Sal accidentally ran over that man's granddaughter. You're going down the wrong path if you expect something like Pumpkinhead. Instead, this curse consists of a hooded figure he sees in the background and occasional “medical events.” Kim Hunter-the one name in the cast-is a psychic who attempts to help Sal; what she says sounded like mumbo-jumbo to me but perhaps I'm mistaken and it's my biases against psychics and tarot cards... yeah, those appear in one scene.
Even by my standards, this has a methodical pace. That said, this focuses on grief (“elevated horror” wasn't the first to do this), has hangout vibes, a spooky atmosphere, an odd musical score which usually was done by traditional instruments but when bad things are heading Sal's way, expect brash 70's synths. The ending is ambiguous-yep, this definitely is a product of its decade-and there is a German Shepherd who does not have a great fate... at least there's some strong character work and a folksy attitude; from reading other reviews on Letterboxd I know there's a segment who will adore this far more than even I did, while others will find it comparable to taking a Soma pill. I don't regret giving this low-key effort a shot.
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