The dark & the wicked

For his fourth film, after The Strangers (2018), Mockingbird (2014) and The Monster (2016), Bryan Bertino returns to the horrific genre he masters to perfection. We must recognize that The dark & the wicked is not only really disturbing but also original by its willingness to mix witchcraft and local folklore. It is interesting to see that the writer and director Bryan Bertino seems to take a malicious pleasure in making the spectators tremble and to create here a really disturbing universe.

If The Dark and the Wicked proves so effective it is because it is based on the feeling of fear of losing someone close and especially on the way it approaches the theme of the passage from life to death. Thus we discover from the very first minutes of the film, an isolated farmhouse in which a man is slowly dying. His companion, prey to hallucinations, hangs herself after losing her head. Louise and Michael watch helplessly as their mother dies and their father is in a disturbing state. Things couldn't get worse if supernatural presences seemed to take a malicious pleasure in taking possession of this farm and giving Louise and Michael real nightmare visions.

Far from trying to use artificial strings to create a truly disturbing atmosphere, writer and director Bryan Bertino manages to permanently destabilize the audience by gradually bringing in supernatural elements showing the presence of a supernatural and demonic force ready for anything. Based on the theme of mourning and loss of one's own bearings, The Dark and the Wicked shows to what extent certain forces are beyond our understanding. In the image of this priest from a rural parish who seems close to dementia and no longer has faith in his beliefs, the film offers us a nightmarish and truly frightening painting punctuated by perfectly mastered music and sound effects.

While it is increasingly difficult to find excellent horror films that are as original as they are effective, The Dark and the Wicked will haunt viewers long after they discover this film. With its lack of a happy ending and its willingness to remain permanently original, this film undeniably stands out as a classic of the genre and a perfect movie for Halloween. Thrills guaranteed.

The Dark and the Wicked
Written and directed by Bryan Bertino
Produced by Bryan Bertino, Adrienne Biddle, Sonny Mallhi, Kevin Matusow
Starring Marin Ireland, Michael Abbott Jr., Xander Berkeley
Music by Tom Schraeder
Cinematography : Tristan Nyby
Edited by William Boodell, Zachary Weintraub
Production companies : Unbroken Pictures, The Traveling Picture Show Company, Inwood Road Films
Distributed by RLJE Films
Release date: August 28, 2020 (Fantasia), November 6, 2020 (United States)
Running time: 93 minutes

Viewed on November 10, 2020

Mulder's Mark: