A grieving mother rents a large, isolated house and employs an occultist to undertake a gruelling set of magical rituals so that she can contact her dead, 7 year old son.
The idea of making a film of which most of the running time focuses on magical ritual is excellent, the occult being a topic that has always fascinated me.
As other reviews state this is a slow burn but it is very well made and the two main characters (both played excellently by Catherine Walker and Steve Oram) make for compelling viewing. He, the occultist, is rude, foul mouthed and frankly common, whereas she is well spoken and well educated. They are like chalk and cheese but this is what helps make their relationship so interesting. The house itself is creepy, the location is bleak and the fantastic musical score just elevates the moodiness.
There is in horror movies a saying that less is more and this is true for most of its running time. However, when demons are actually visible near the end I felt that it did lower the film very slightly, not quite the brilliant ending that I was hoping for but decent none the less.
Review of A Dark Song
