‘Dark Windows’ Review – A By The Numbers Thriller With A Particularly Fun Third Act

Dark Windows owes a bit of a debt to 1980’s Prom Night and 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer. It’s presented as a film with slasher tendencies but it’s more of a thriller dealing with characters that did something really bad and are now seemingly being punished for covering up said incident. Essentially there is nothing really new here and this slow-burn chiller mostly spins its wheels during a relatively short 80-minute runtime. That being said, if you can make it through the character-building and false scares, the film’s third act is given a shot of adrenaline that turns out to be fun but it’s simply a case of too little, too late.

Dark Windows begins with a teasing prologue that clearly is from the film’s climax before flashing back with a title card that reads “A few days earlier.” Tilly (Anna Bullard) is on the way to the funeral of her friend Ali (Grace Binford) who was a sober passenger in a car that a drunk Tilly and her equally drunk friends Peter (Rory Alexander) and Monica (Annie Hamilton) were also occupants of. There is of course a crash but we only see bits and pieces of it until the full extent of the accident is revealed later in the film. Someone in the car dies and you just have to use your movie plot 101 knowledge to figure out who that is.

Wracked with different shades of guilt and grief, the trio of friends decides to clear their heads with a retreat to a country house owned by one of their grandparents which, of course, is located in the middle of nowhere. As the friends try to use the time to decompress and let matters back at home subside a bit, someone has stalked them to their secluded getaway and they clearly have revenge on their minds.

Credit should be given to writer Ulvrik Kraft and director Alex Herron for actually devoting time to developing the friend group and showing how each of them is dealing with their role in the loss of their friend. Tilly feels the need to express her regret and sadness and feels guilty moving on with her life while Monica is putting up the shield of making sure the group has a good time to get their minds off of the tragedy. Peter, who we learn has a drinking problem tied to his father, has decided to use the sauce to dull his pain. For a film that only runs 80 minutes, you get a true sense of who these people are and all of the performers are more than adequate in their roles.

While character building is appreciated, so much of the movie’s runtime is devoted to it that the film forgets that it also needs to generate thrills. Not much happens for much of the story. There are tiffs between friends over how to deal with grief while more arguments ensue over what really happened in the car. The film tries to make the “why” the car crash happened some kind of mysterious plot point but it doesn’t really matter in the end. The bottom line is three characters were drunk and being idiots while one wasn’t. They all bear equal responsibility but the story clearly thinks one is more guilty than the other.

Once it becomes clear that something strange is afoot at the country house, it all begins with standard scare tactics that we have seen before. There is no cell service, windows are open that were once thought closed, there are several bumps in the night, and they even find that someone has created a shrine complete with candles for Ali in the living room. At least the movie doesn’t waste time with the characters suspecting that one of them might be crazy and doing creepy stuff to the group. They quickly realize they’re not alone so points for not wasting the audience’s time with trivial fights among the friends.

The last half hour, if you can make it there, is worthy of your attention. While the film hints at a supernatural presence that might be causing the terror, the audience knows we’re moments away from finding out there is a masked stalker causing all the mayhem. Things get particularly good once the killer begins pursuing the group through the house and the woods nearby as it becomes a fun game of cat and mouse between the killer and their prey. Since there are so few characters, the body count can’t get too high but I must say I’ve never seen death by Vodka presented in such a fashion. Major kudos for creativity in that regard.

The killer’s identity comes as no surprise. If you’re paying attention during key parts of the film, you have probably got the person behind the mask pegged. The motive isn’t all that impressive because it’s so easily telegraphed but the killer’s brand of justice in the end does generate some uneasiness that is likely to please horror fans.

Despite a fun third act and finale, Dark Windows is a bit too derivative and familiar to really break any new ground. The movie really needed to get to the thrills of its final moments sooner to truly engage so the end result is a mostly forgettable experience that doesn’t leave a lasting impression.

Dark Windows is currently playing in select theaters and is also available via On Demand courtesy of Brainstorm Media. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p_aFjkASA8]