Low budget Horror movies usually come in one of two categories. Entertaining genius or unwatchable dogshit. Days of Darkness is an anomaly in that respect as it has enough entertaining qualities to avoid being considered as the latter. I was given this to watch by a work colleague, but it turned out that it was a joke, as it was considered to be dreadful, and its proud owner was on a mission to see how many people he could actually get to watch it. Since handing it back, I've told its next victim that it's actually really good, and when you get stuck in, it's on a par with The Walking Dead. Naturally, I was as full of shit as the DVD case, and this movie is continuing to do the rounds.
(Spoilers ahead)
Days of Darkness is a low budget American zombie movie which starts with a young couple camping in the Californian hills. The following day, they're driving down the mountain and have to stop the car, as someone who appears undead is in the middle of the road. A struggle breaks out and the guy is bitten before getting back in the car, They're saved by a stranger who despatches the zombie and leads them off to a secure compound. They're introduced to a number of other characters who have gathered there for safety from the hordes of the undead, which have seemingly sprung out of nowhere. These characters include a car salesman called Slasher, a religious nutcase, and an ex-porn star whose only purpose in the film is to make crude one liners including "You're worse than some of the animals I've fucked", and some comment about fucking a horse. Ironically, it's the ex-porn star's daughter who is the only character to get her tits out in the film. Normally, low-budget Horror's are full of gratuitous sex scenes, but Days of Darkness avoids going down that avenue, and instead provides us with an array of mutilated and alien genitals instead. Er... thanks for that!
It transpires that the zombies are created by people breathing in spores that have arrived on Earth via a recent comet. These spores combine with human DNA, sucking the life out of the host and making them into flesh craving zombies. The male zombies' dicks and balls drop off and are replaced by weird alien sacks containing a foetus. Non-zombie female virgins also get mysteriously pregnant due to the spores and are host to things that look like giant cockroaches covered in spaghetti.
Days of Darkness does suffer from its low budget. The zombies all look shit for a start. Most of them look like the director's mates he's picked up from the nearest pub and has given them a bit of fake blood around their mouths. The film lacks gore too. We have some pretty grim scenes showing a missing cock and balls, but there isn't the splatter-gore one would expect from a film like this.
It does have some redeeming features though. Some of the dialogue is quite funny, which is an absolute must for a film like this. Some of the special effects, especially with the aliens, are actually pretty good. Some of the acting is to a professional standard too. I also like how they've tried to add a different spin to a zombie movie with the alien stuff, as opposed to going for the generic approach as seen in countless movies.
Most importantly of all, Days of Darkness makes for an entertaining watch. It's not the best low-budget Horror film in the world, but to be fair to it, it's far from the worst. The end scene with the couple realising that the alien hates alcohol, and them staggering around drunk shooting zombies with shotguns, sums the movie up nicely. Remember kids, guns and booze fix everything!
If you're easily pleased, and enjoy the occasional dodgy Horror movie, this one is worth watching. Well, once anyway.
It transpires that the zombies are created by people breathing in spores that have arrived on Earth via a recent comet. These spores combine with human DNA, sucking the life out of the host and making them into flesh craving zombies. The male zombies' dicks and balls drop off and are replaced by weird alien sacks containing a foetus. Non-zombie female virgins also get mysteriously pregnant due to the spores and are host to things that look like giant cockroaches covered in spaghetti.
Days of Darkness does suffer from its low budget. The zombies all look shit for a start. Most of them look like the director's mates he's picked up from the nearest pub and has given them a bit of fake blood around their mouths. The film lacks gore too. We have some pretty grim scenes showing a missing cock and balls, but there isn't the splatter-gore one would expect from a film like this.
It does have some redeeming features though. Some of the dialogue is quite funny, which is an absolute must for a film like this. Some of the special effects, especially with the aliens, are actually pretty good. Some of the acting is to a professional standard too. I also like how they've tried to add a different spin to a zombie movie with the alien stuff, as opposed to going for the generic approach as seen in countless movies.
Most importantly of all, Days of Darkness makes for an entertaining watch. It's not the best low-budget Horror film in the world, but to be fair to it, it's far from the worst. The end scene with the couple realising that the alien hates alcohol, and them staggering around drunk shooting zombies with shotguns, sums the movie up nicely. Remember kids, guns and booze fix everything!
If you're easily pleased, and enjoy the occasional dodgy Horror movie, this one is worth watching. Well, once anyway.
