A strange little
find, DARK TOWN is one of those quirky low budget
horror flicks that tries hard to make the most of what it has. Sometimes it overreaches, but often it hits
its target. A story of urban vampires
converging on a home in a blackout, DARK TOWN is a frequently
incoherent film that rarely makes any sense. Yet, it’s strangely watchable and has more
than its fair share of gratuitous gore and nudity to keep one’s attention. Normally I don’t find vampires very scary, and
this case is no exception, but I still couldn’t take my eyes off of this movie.
Set in the slums of
a rundown L.A. neighborhood, DARK TOWN opens with slimey white landlord Curtis Armstrong finding a strange little
creature who resembles a girl in one of his buildings. She attacks him, and as far as we know, that’s
the end of Curtis. Or is it…? (cue evil laughter) Back at home, Curtis’ wife sets up a surprise
birthday party for him. It becomes clear
pretty early that this is a dysfunctional family.
First, there is the
daughter dating a black member of a local gang (he just escapes a shootout
before the party). Then there is the son
and his extremely annoying pregnant wife. Finally there is the third daughter, Jen, a
lesbian in an intense sexual relationship with another woman. Jen, of course, is conflicted about
introducing her lover to the family, much to her lover’s annoyance. After a very unnecessary (read: essential)
lesbian romp in the hay, Jen agrees to bring her girlfriend to the birthday
party.
So all these
various characters come together at the Armstrong home, just in time for a
black-out. That’s right, lights, phones,
all electricity goes down and they have nowhere to go. I recommend they try hopping in a car and
driving to Beverly Hills next time.
Anyhow, the family spends a few minutes
trying to get along when Curtis shows up. Curtis is, of course, now a vampire, but he’s
still a shmuck too. Before long he’s
turned much of his family into vampires – even his pregnant daughter-in-law! A local gang member, Rakeem, finds his way
into the home and before long finds himself alone with Jen in the house,
fighting off cannibalistic vampires who do more than suck blood, but in fact
chow down on their victims.
That’s about as
coherent a plot summary as I can come up with, because I really couldn’t figure
out who was who and what exactly was happening as the film progressed. What I could figure out was that this was a
horror movie that aimed to deliver the goods, and by goods I mean nudity and
gore. Along with plenty of humor and
not-so-subtle social commentary along the way (i.e. kill the whitey), DARK TOWN
manages to entertain for its 80-minute length. Not anything you need to run out and rent, but
if it’s on cable, check it out.
RATING: *** (out of
four)
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