The Dark and the Wicked is set on a rural farm and centers on an adult brother and sister come to visit their sick father only to realize that something is wrong with their mother as well.
It’s slow out of the gate but picks up speed, turning from a dark family drama into a holy hell, someone call a priest supernatural thriller that’s well-paced and spooky in all the right places.
The movie builds real tension and suspense with scares that hit you like a linebacker out of nowhere. You are drawn into the intense story of the sister and brother and what they are experiencing within their family and forget for a moment that it’s a horror movie. But when the horror hits though, it hits hard.
The cast including Marin Ireland and Michael Abbott Jr. is fantastic. Ireland really made you feel for her character Louise. The actress’ ability to ugly cry on cue is amazing. I also have to give props to Lynn Andrews who played the father’s nurse.
Writer-director Bryan Bertino has officially left me impressed once again, I mean he is the man behind The Strangers after all. He took an already frightening, tragic situation of a loved one on their death bed, and injects multiple types of horror (supernatural, emotional, body, etc..) turning it into a movie that will leave you wanting to sleep with a light on and triple-checking your door locks.
The effects are well done and understated. There’s no gore just for the sake of gore. They get across what they need to get across but it doesn’t look campy, over the top, or super fake like you see in a lot of films these days (thank god).
I will warn you, if you’re an animal lover, you might want to skip this one or cover your eyes in those scenes (I did). There is some disturbing, graphic content involving animal deaths and injuries.
So, as for my verdict, The Dark and the Wicked is taking home a 5 out 5 from this pleased horror fan. The Dark and the Wicked arrives in theaters, on Digital, and On-Demand on November 6, 2020, from RLJE Films.
