ladymidath I know Dark Reel has been getting some negative reviews but I think some of them are a little harsh. I know it has it's faults but it is still a solid film that does give some nice scenes and good acting. Edward Furlong plays Adam Waltz, a horror movie buff who has been dumped by his girlfriend who he followed from Virginia to Los Angeles. He wins a contest, the prize being a walk-on role in Pirate Wench, a schlocky movie being made by Connor Pritchett the head of the studio played by Lance Henriksen. Things become complicated by several murders on set which throws the film into disarray and soon Adam's role become larger and larger as the cast becomes smaller.Tony Todd as Detective Shields and his partner, Detective LaRule played by Rena Riffel are both good in their roles, but it is Lance Henriksen who really carries it. Tiffany Shepis as the lead actress, Cassie Blue is great. She shows some real personality in a role that could easily have become just another paycheck part. Edward Furlong is likable but could have been a little stronger in the role of a horror movie fan who finds himself in a real-life horror movie complete with ghosts and murders galore.Alexandra Holden as Scarlett May, the 1950's actress that is murdered at the very beginning of the movie and who comes back via her image on film stock is quite good.Jeffrey Vincent Parise as Derek Deeds the rude director and Jake Grace as the onion eating lead actor Rhett Johnson are a lot of fun to watch.Emmanuel Xuereb as Harris Briggs, the head of the creative department is very good and rather overshadows Edward Furlong.The film is not without its faults. I liked the musical score and the premise of the story, a murdered actress comes back to try and warn Adam about the murders that are being committed. The Opening scenes with Scarlett May being dismembered in front of the movie cameras is also one of the best opening scenes in any horror movie. But the movie drags a little and at times, the characters could be annoying. Still not a bad film if you have nothing else to do.

NateWatchesCoolMovies Dark Reel is severely damaged goods no matter how you look at it. It sucks because there's some good ideas trying their best to flourish beneath a mountain of sludge, but nothing of any value can breech the surface of this purely shitty B movie with scant traces of a decent outing. It starts off with a black and white prologue that looks like the only part of the film that wasn't shot with an etch-a-sketch. Scarlett, a young aspiring actress, is lured into a dark abandoned set warehouse under the pretence of an audition, and brutally murdered. Fast forward about six decades, where a young groupie (Edward Furlong, looking like a sack of poo warmed over) wins a walk on role in a sickeningly trashy B movie monstrosity, starring a legendary scream queen (Tiffany Shepis, also a legendary scream queen in real life). It's not long before so,done with ties to the murder in the prologue starts skulking around the set after hours and hacking people to pieces in ways that are as tasteless as they are cheap looking. The film has one redeeming quality, if you are a fan: Lance Henriksen. He plays Connor Pritchett, schlock movie producer and general whacko. Lance seriously plays the part like he has no idea what the script is, making up verbal diarrhea on the fly, undergoing titanic mood swings and displaying the coherency of someone with serious issues. It's fun to watch him crash and burn, and even in the most awful poop material like this, he still shines, as bats@$t crazy as he is. There's also a cop played by Tony Todd who acts just as unstable as Lance, and Todd rides the wave of his awfully written dialogue and poor direction like a sheepish pro. This is literally one of the worst movies I've ever seen, and the funny thing is that it didn't have to be. The premise itself is great, and even on the couch change budget it was stuck with, they could have at least tried. But no, they threw in the bloody towel and instead of a gem or even an admirable failure we get this monumental piece of festering garbage instead. I had to keep myself occupied in any scenes without Henriksen by hitting half speed fast forward so the characters sound like chipmunks. It says a lot about a flick when you have to do that. Avoid at any cost.

Nick Damian That's right...it's a bore.Ahhhh, it be a very big bore. The cast is lacking so much. When the best performer is a horror movie actress who is best known for her screaming and baring her chest, then you know that the film is a drag.Once a mighty well known actor, now looking quite sick or hungover - Edward Furlong is just awful to watch. His voice is a shriek in itself. His eyes are so puffy and his performance is so weak.The script is like countless before it that are also weak.Thinking of renting it? I think it's time to rent a good movie - like The Terminator or Aliens or best yet - Back To The Future.At 1 hour and 40 minutes long, it's 1 hour and 35 minutes too long and the ending is rather dull.

gavin6942 In the 1950s, aspiring actress Scarlett May is brutally murdered. Years later (2006), the crew of "Pirate Wench" is being slaughtered. What is the connection between these two events? Is there one? "Dark Reel" is a surprisingly good film, with a great ensemble cast and featuring the best work I've ever seen out of Tiffany Shepis. I love Shepis in pretty much everything she does, but I really think this one goes above and beyond her normal duties. Along with her, there's also decent performances from Edward Furlong (who is not aging well), Lance Henriksen (also some of his best work in years), Rena Riffel and Tony Todd.I found the stand-out performance to be from Jake Grace, who plays the onion-loving pirate Rhett Johnson. I don't know if I'm familiar with any of his other work, but I loved him here. More pirate action, more onions, please! The special effects were good -- quite good -- when it comes to the blood and guts. Some of it didn't look all that real, but some effects -- such as a sword through the back -- were impressive. Everyone really came together on this film.Not really sure what to say about this one. It's just really good. I can't critique it, because there's not much to critique, just a a solid horror story from beginning to end with plenty of mystery mixed in (good luck guessing the killer -- I changed my mind multiple times). Hopefully we see more things of this quality from this cast and crew. Oh, and "Gnome Killer 2"? Funniest movie I've ever seen!