In the Winter Dark (1998) User Reviews

frosty box office for this one

[ptb-8 · 3/10 · 10 April 2005]

Very disappointing rural thriller of the 'whats that in the dark' variety. Good actors Ray Barrett, Richard Roxburgh and Miranda Otto and Brit stalwart Brenda Blethyn have almost nothing to do or even create a character against in this supposed 'descent into madness' 4 hander set in a chilly valley of the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. It could even be set in the 1930s 40s 50s 60 70s or God knows when because it doesn't matter...in fact almost everything doesn't matter. It is sadly vague in style and content. Yes there is something killing the local livestock and these four actors are driving to and fro each other's cabins grimacing at each other and having cups of tea. If it was a comedy with worried looks one could imagine Joyce Grenfell and Googie Withers and call it DEAD OF (another) NIGHT. Astonishingly, this film was chosen to open the prestigious Sydney Film Festival in 1998 which annoyed the literate audience looking for something worth a conversation at the after show party. It is a dull film and never had much of a release after this opening night misfire as word of mouth was very ho-hum.

A failure

[thoms_shane-1 · 2/10 · 8 February 2007]

Its as if the script writer attempted to portray how inner demons can cause an outer hysteria. These glum characters all suffer from apparent psychological torments from their past and present which they choose not to acknowledge. This repression causes a manifestation of their inner fears into a supposed creature that is killing their livestock. Its a mask for their inner fears and its easier to look outer rather than inner.

With this film, far too much time has been spent on creating a "haunting atmosphere"...this time could have been spent on script revision and character building. Miranda Otto is capable of so much more and is quite a talented actress....however in this particular performance we only see an anxious character with violent dialog and no direction as to where, why or how ??.....The token old man narrative voice overs are seemingly placed randomly and fall flat every time. There can be no comparison to "Picnic at Hanging Rock"with this film. Not even Brenda Blethyn could come to the rescue. Overall a big disappointment, very boring and an attempt to build something up to a pointless nothing (it didn't even have any metaphorical value).

A good little Aussie film that below the surface quite a metaphorical film.

[mdb-15 · 9/10 · 14 April 2005]

I thought this was a great film. If your looking for car chases, shoot outs, cops and robbers then you won't like it but I think there are enough of those out there.

The movie is set around the killing of local livestock by a mysterious 'black' creature. What makes the movie a little unusual but well worth watching is that the characters are used as the backdrop to the livestock deaths and not the other way round. Over the course of the movie we learn some of the peoples past while they are trying to find what is killing their animals. In a nutshell the the events in the movie are quite metaphorical.

Watch and you will enjoy it. Don't expect a blockbuster but still a good movie.

The Longest Wait for Nothing

[davetree · 1/10 · 13 January 2012]

Aussie trash film tries terribly hard to build sympathy for its characters--but not hard enough.

With the dream state of the old farmer at the start, we think something might show--dream to present--to explain various happenings, dead birds and livestock.

Nothing happens except jumping into shitty trucks with crap rifles--was this made in Tennessee--along with a weird slut who's pregnant (is she going to give birth to the animal-eating monster?) along with a lot of Jimmy Buffet knock-off music.

Could have been lots of laughs, but NOTHING, nothing happens; half way through you realize the film takes itself seriously and begin to shut down into a state of stale popcorn.

This film is a total waste of time.

Buy this!

[quacksieuk · 10/10 · 16 April 2011]

This is a classic of Australian film-making.

Take a superb cast.

Mix in a wonderful screenplay drawn from a very intense book.

Then add a genius in the soundtrack/background sounds dept. and you have a film rich in suspense, paced as only a cast of this calibre can.

Don't expect car chases (although you get some rough and tumble stuff in cars).

Just expect a rare beauty that captures the starkness and loneliness of the Australian bush...and teaches us all something about the tyranny of distance!

Superbly acted and directed "internal" thought provoker.

[Sludgy · 9/10 · 20 November 1998]

Ray Barrett is quite perfect: always a competent actor he rises to sublime heights here with his portrayal of a tortured soul caught in all the ghosts of his past. Brenda Blethyn was perhaps a surprise choice for the wife but handled the part very well. Richard Roxburgh gets better with every sighting and his versatility is astonishing. Otto was better than in the similarly dark "The Well" which I thought failed as a movie.