Alone in the Dark (2005 film)

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Alone In The Dark
Directed by Uwe Boll
Produced by Shawn Williamson
Written by Elan Mastai,
Michael Roesch,
Peter Scheerer
Starring Christian Slater
Tara Reid
Stephen Dorff
Distributed by Lions Gate Films
Release date(s) January 28, 2005
Running time 96 min.
Language English
Budget $20,000,000
Gross revenue $8,191,971 (Worldwide)
Followed by Alone in the Dark II
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Alone in the Dark is a 2005 Brightlight Pictures horror film very loosely based on Infogrames' popular video game series of the same name. It is directed by Uwe Boll, and stars Christian Slater as supernatural detective Edward Carnby. The film's tagline is Evil Awakens.

Upon its release, Alone in the Dark received poor reviews from critics and video game devotees alike. It grossed $2,834,421 in its opening weekend.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Opening text crawl (background story)

The opening text crawl details the background story of the film. It has received some criticism for its length and unnecessary voice-over from Blair Erickson, who made some early drafts of the script.

[edit] Characters

  • Edward Carnby - Raised at an orphanage under Sister Clara, Carnby lost his memory when he was ten years old. At twenty, he was recruited by Bureau 713, gaining knowledge on the paranormal soon after. His current assignment is investigating his past along with researching the disappearance of the Abkani. Due to the experiments conducted on him as a child, he has the ability to sense paranormal activity and has increased strength and speed, which allow him to perform acrobatic moves that a normal human could not do.
  • Aline Cedrac - An archaeologist and museum curator. She is the ex-girlfriend of Edward Carnby and knowledgeable about the Abkani and their culture.
  • Richard Burke - The Commander of Bureau 713, formerly worked under the direction of Carnby.
  • Professor Hudgens - Conducted top-secret experiments in Bureau 713, which were shut down after one of the orphaned children escaped—Edward Carnby. Hudgens still works for 713 but now as a science officer. Hudgens is deeply interested in the history of the Abkani, and has gained insight into the "Xenos", nightmare creatures linked to the Abkani's mythos.
  • Fischer - Fischer leads the medical unit of Bureau 713. He is one of Carnby's few trusted allies and friends.
  • James Pinkerton - Former Agent of Bureau 713 who went missing in action in the 1980s. He and Hudgens were in charge of the investigation of the disappearance of goldminers at Brutan Goldmine. Pinkerton became an experiment for Hudgens, who attached a Xenos creature to his spine. His abilities included increased awareness, strength, speed and willpower.
  • Sister Clara - Sister Clara runs an orphanage and one of the orphans under her care was Edward Carnby. In the eighties, she was persuaded by Professor Hudgens to allow experiments on the orphans. She keeps this secret from everyone but is inwardly guilty for her immoral actions.

[edit] Game references and similarities

  • The game version of Alone in the Dark features an ending that takes place on the morning after and is open-ended, showing a mysterious cab driver pick up Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood and whose destination is unknown. The film version also offers an ending which takes place in the morning when something mysteriously startles Edward Carnby and Aline Cedrac.
  • Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare mentions Edward Carnby as part of a paranormal agency known as Bureau 713. The film version goes into greater detail as this is part of the focus of the film.
  • Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare features creatures that thrive in the darkness, have invisibility and can be harmed by light and electricity. The film version features creatures known as Xenos that can be invisible and can be harmed by light and electricity.
  • The film version features a storyline with elements found in the games. The kidnapping of the orphaned children in the film is similar to the kidnapping of Grace Saunders from Alone in the Dark II. The disappearance of the orphans is similar to the disappearance of Detective Ted Striker from Alone in the Dark II. The closing of the gateway of darkness storyline from the film is similar to Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare which requires the protagonists to close a gateway of darkness. The film version also features a scientist doing experiments on people which is similar to Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare.

[edit] An early version of the script

Blair Erickson came up with the first drafts of the script for Alone in the Dark. According to Erickson, Uwe Boll changed the script to be more action packed than a thriller. Erickson stated his disgust and his working relationship towards Boll on Somethingawful.com.

"The original script took the Alone In the Dark premise and depicted it as if it were actually based on a true story of a private investigator in the northeastern U.S. whose missing persons cases begin to uncover a disturbing paranormal secret. It was told through the eyes of a writer following Edward Carnby and his co-worker for a novel, and depicted them as real-life blue-collar folks who never expected to find hideous beings waiting for them in the dark. We tried to stick close to the H. P. Lovecraft style and the low-tech nature of the original game, always keeping the horror in the shadows so you never saw what was coming for them. Thankfully Dr. Boll was able to hire his loyal team of hacks to crank out something much better than our crappy story and add in all sorts of terrifying horror movie essentials like opening gateways to alternate dimensions, bimbo blonde archaeologists, sex scenes, mad scientists, slimy dog monsters, special army forces designed to battle slimy CG dog monsters, Tara Reid, "Matrix" slow-motion gun battles, and car chases. Oh yeah, and a ten-minute opening back story scroll read aloud to the illiterate audience, the only people able to successfully miss all the negative reviews. I mean hell, Boll knows that's where the real scares lie."[1]

[edit] Unrated Director's Cut version

An Unrated Director's Cut was released in Germany, France and Australia and was #1 on the German DVD market for three weeks.[2] This version of the movie, contains about eight to ten additional minutes of footage, and it was released on DVD in North American on 25 September 2007.[3] In the newest version of the film virtually all of the scenes with Tara Reid in them have been removed by Boll himself.[4]

[edit] Original movie and game tie-in concept

Originally, the film version of Alone in the Dark was to be released with Alone in the Dark 5, the fifth title in the series; however, the creators of Alone in the Dark, Eden Games, delayed the game and reworked it entirely from scratch. This appears to be one of the causes for the public backlash from gamers on how the film version of Alone in the Dark appeared to deviate from the Alone in the Dark game franchise save for the fact that the film was in some ways a sequel to Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. Uwe Boll stated his disappointment on the region 1 DVD commentary but also said that Atari had face shots of Christian Slater for the newest game - Alone in the Dark 5, which comes out in August 2008.

[edit] Reception

Alone in the Dark was panned by nearly every film critic. Rottentomatoes.com ranked the film a score of 1% as of December 2007 and lists it as the 2nd worst reviewed movie of all time. At Metacritic, it was a score of 9%. Reviews frequently blamed the film's excessive gunplay and absent plot on its videogame origins[1], however those aware of the game series were less forgiving of Boll's change of tone.[2]

Alone in the Dark was given several accolades highlighting this poor reception:

Alone in the Dark won three 2005 Stinkers Awards:

  • Worst Picture
  • Worst Director (Uwe Boll)
  • Worst Special Effects

It also won one Calvin Award:

  • Worst Picture

Alone in the Dark received two 2005 Golden Raspberry Awards nominations:

  • Worst Director (Dr. Uwe Boll)
  • Worst Actress (Tara Reid)

Despite this criticism, a sequel is set for 2009 in which Christian Slater will not return.

[edit] Soundtrack

The German band Solution Coma contributed the title song. A soundtrack was released on NuclearBlast America and had two discs.

Disc 1

  1. "Vredesbyrd!" – Dimmu Borgir
  2. "What Drives The Weak" – Shadows Fall
  3. "Cyberwaste" – Fear Factory
  4. "Touch Of Red" – In Flames
  5. "Devour" – Strapping Young Lad
  6. "Peace" – Agnostic Front
  7. "Landing" – Moby
  8. "Gone Forever" – God Forbid
  9. "Down Again" – Chimaira
  10. "Lost To Apathy" – Dark Tranquility
  11. "Blacklist" - Exodus
  12. "Imperium"- Machine Head
  13. "Stabbing the Drama"- Soilwork
  14. "Daylight Dancer"- Lacuna Coil
  15. "Panasonic Youth"- Dillinger Escape Plan
  16. "Rational Gaze"- Meshuggah
  17. "Wish I Had An Angel"- Nightwish
  18. "Mother of Abominations"- Cradle of Filth

Disc 2

  1. "Dead Eyes See No Future" – Arch Enemy
  2. "The Devil Incarnate" – Death Angel
  3. "Medieval" – Diecast
  4. "Daughter Of The Damned" – Fireball Ministry
  5. "The Weapon They Fear" – Heaven Shall Burn
  6. "Eraser" – Hypocrisy
  7. "Blood And Thunder" – Mastodon
  8. "The Great Depression" – Misery Index
  9. "Ghost" - Mnemic
  10. "Slaughtervain" – Dew-Scented
  11. "Souls To Deny" – Suffocation
  12. "Watch Out" – Raunchy
  13. "As I Slither" – Kataklysm
  14. "Outnumbering The Day" – Bloodbath
  15. "Deconstruction" – All Shall Perish
  16. "Minion" – Bleed The Sky
  17. "On Earth” – Samael
  18. "One Shot, One Kill" – Dying Fetus
  19. "99" – The Haunted

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Erikson, Blair. Behind the Scenes: Uwe Boll and Uwe Boll's Alone in the Dark. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
  2. ^ Alternate versions for Alone in the Dark (2005)
  3. ^ Lionsgate Double-Dips Uwe Boll's 'Alone in the Dark'?!
  4. ^ iFMagazine.com: Exclusive Interview: UWE BOLL PUTS AWAY THE GAME CONTROLLER

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Alone in the Dark series
Games
Films
Alone in the Dark • II
v • d • e
Movies directed by Uwe Boll
Original films
German Fried Movie • Amoklauf • Barschel - Mord in Genf? • Erste Semester, Das • Sanctimony • Blackwoods • Heart of America • Seed • 1968 Tunnel Rats
Video game adaptations