Struggling to care for her terminally ill mother, Laura reluctantly reconnects with her estranged brother, Chris, for one last score. Their target: a remote English manor rumoured to house a priceless artifact. Disguised as a documentary film crew, Laura, Chris, his girlfriend Lisa, and their cameraman Andy gain access under the pretence of filming a historical feature.
Directed by Blake Ridder (Help), Manor of Darkness stars Sarah Alexandra Marks (Escape), Kim Lysette Spearman, (As I Am), Louis James (River of Blood), Rui Shang, Blake Ridder & Stuart Wolfe Murray (Makeup).
Manor of Darkness is a convergence of numerous horror tropes all thrown together into one big melting pot. It borrows bits and pieces from all sorts of different films; haunted mansions, cursed objects, time loops, Pandora’s Box of doom, devilish pacts, religious metaphors…It’s a lot to take in. Aside from the rather generic plot points, the film is mostly a B-grade romp that starts very slowly but does eventually build into something tasty.
The first act introduces us to the characters and their dubious pasts—a group of anti-heroes more than anything; thieves and scammers looking for their next score. This act does suffer a bit of a pacing problem and lends very little to the second and third acts. The major issue is that the characters are not very likeable, with the exception of Rui Shang’s Andy. They’re all really too pretty to be petty thieves and don’t really sell the whole ‘we’re a criminal crew’ vibe.
The second act fares little better, with everything building towards the finale, which finally materializes in the third. It just feels like the film takes forever to get to the gory, gruesome, or even scary bits. The score is decent but very familiar or common, the cinematography is fine but nothing breathtaking, the acting is OK at best, and the writing is passable until Andy decides to disrobe to fight demons.
I’d honestly given up on the film until the murder actually starts and Stuart Wolfe Murray arrives with the most perfectly sculpted beard I have ever laid eyes upon. That trim alone was worth the wait. The third act is pretty good, with all the actors finally being able to let loose a bit and show some emotion and range. The effects are better, the score reaches its peak, and the pace finally fires on all cylinders. Some may find it too little too late, and I would be hard-pressed to disagree.
In truth, it’s a fun final act that takes too long to arrive. The film has a lot of unnecessary fluff that is meant to be character development but is mostly tedium. Taking more time to explain the manor and the curse would have paid greater dividends over building up characters prior to the actual plot. I felt like a child eating all the things on my plate that I didn’t like first and saving the best piece of meat for last.
Thanks for reading and as always, stay sordid. The trailer and the poster are posted below. The film is already out on digital platforms for your viewing convenience.
