Witches and Vampires and folklore! Oh my!
by Nav Qateel
Set in 1989 Hungary, forced to take time off school, Lara (Eleanor Tomlinson) accompanies her father, Dr. Hill (Stephen Rea), as he travels to a run-down castle in the town of Styria, so that he can study the castle wall paintings before the place is demolished. While walking in the woods surrounding the castle, Lara is witness to a car veering into a tree. A battered and bloody Carmilla (Julia Pietrucha), crawls from the car before its driven away by her assailant.
Lara helps the mysterious beauty by hiding her in the castle, and the two girls strike up a friendship that slowly turns destructive. Their friendship coincides with a spate of young women committing suicide, with rumors of the dead coming back to life. Lara and her father are now in mortal danger, with Lara suspecting Carmilla might be responsible for their predicament.
- Angels of Darkness
- Directed by
Mauricio Chernovetzky & Mark Devendorf - Cast
Eleanor Tomlinson, Stephen Rea, Julia Pietrucha - Release Date
1 March 2015 - Nav’s Grade: C+
*****
With a wonderful fog-filled setting that surrounds the large Gothic castle, and shot with muted colors to help add to the effect, Angels of Darkness at once feels like it should be home to Count Dracula, no less. It’s the ideal location to help tell the tale of witchcraft, vampires and local superstitions.
Dr. Hill is some sort of expert in archaeological artwork. He has only a week to study a couple of walls that were beautifully painted by a renowned artist, at a time when the castle was being used as a sanitarium. What I found strange and unrealistic about this, is that fact that Dr. Hill knew the artwork would be eventually lost forever, yet he didn’t have a camera, nor did he attempt make any other sort of archeological record of this irreplaceable, and presumably, priceless, piece of artistic antiquity.
The main focus of the story is the relationship between Lara and Carmilla, and how Lara appears to be connected to the castle and the local village of Styria, in a way that she can’t initially figure out. Lara has suffered from the same dream for years, and it’s not until she arrives at the castle that she begins to realize where the dream originates from. We also learn that Lara’s mother hailed from Styria, something her father has kept a secret to protect her.
The performances by Eleanor Tomlinson and Julia Pietrucha were particularly good, with Pietrucha really getting into her multi-layered role. Tomlinson has been building up a steady list of credits, with a couple of major titles to her name.
Technically, Angels of Darkness is decent, as directors Mauricio Chernovetzky and Mark Devendorf did well with their modest budget. And other than the pacing being a tad slow in places, I found the film kept me engrossed. Angels of Darkness certainly won’t be for everyone, but for those that enjoy films with a more subtle approach, then you’ll find this effort most rewarding.
