Sick Product of a Sick System

Captivating movie !

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

I thought Melanie's character was not needed. She also delivered a less than 'good' performance. I don't know if the Director thought he could cash in on her star power or what he was thinking by allowing her to be in this movie. I felt she sunk the movie faster than it was already sinking on its own. Her weak attempts at crying forced me to fast forward her parts in the movie altogether. The movie was on to something great then the writers or directors (maybe both) lost their way. Showing the other murders and far less of Melanie's character would have been great. The ambiguity of the prostitute in the next room was great because I wasn't sure if it was a man or a woman with a strap on. Some confusion on my part did set in when the reporter said that 6 transsexual prostitutes were murdered. That tells me it was a man. However, her/his phone conversation with the kid and going to Six Flags told me t was a woman. Confusing. HAD potential!

Dark Tourist took me on a ride I did not expect. The performances were so real I forgot I watching a movie. Frank John Hughes has an uncanny ability to present deep insight while structuring a story that allows you in... but not out. Michael Cudlitz in the new Charlie Bronson, a silent, powerful, talent who can think on screen without brooding. God only know what's in store for this miracle of expression, but I would bet big, big, things!The music by Austin Wintory is so profound, it found ways to creep into my being without drawing attention. What an underscore!Evocative, Provocative, Sensational!See this move! It will be an experience you're are not likely to forget!

Well I would say that this is a slow hot soak in a long cool movie, except the movie is just over an hour long. Take the fact that it is shorter than most TV pilots, and forget it. You get every bit of a full fleshed out well acted, and filmed movie here, there is true darkness out there, and this is just one tiny little snapshot. A well told story that unfolds slowly enough to keep you on course from the beginning. Michael Cudlitz is really good in this movie, which is no surprise as he has been acting forever, I actually do remember pretty near every time his face has shown up since Jump Street. Melanie Griffith plays broken very well these days, you just see her, and feel the pain. I Enjoyed this movie, at first I thought it was going to be something else, but that is what you are supposed to think. I would only recommend this movie to horror/psycho killer kind of morbid death tour kind of stuff. You people that are afraid that one day the Hardy Boys won't be there to stop the mad voodoo witch doctor should most likely steer clear of this here.

This review was written by Amanda Baverstock, a UK resident who saw the film in London during Fright Fest. A spot on review! With her permission, I am posting here."Dark Tourist is a dark slice of cinema. No doubt about it. It makes for truly uncomfortable watching but please, do not let that put you off because if it does then you will certainly be missing out on an emotionally cerebral and breathtaking performance from Michael Cudlitz. Here he portrays a man quietly being torn apart by deep-seated inner demons like no other actor can.Cudlitz is in pretty much every scene, something I hadn't even noticed until a friend pointed it out to me afterwords. Now that takes some doing! To own the film so effortlessly that you don't realize just how few actors were actually involved in this project. Cudlitz's performance is never contrived. 'Dark Tourist' puts to good use his voice in a superbly sentient narrative thread that runs throughout the film. It draws you in, closer and closer towards to the inner turmoil that is Jim Tahna.Michael has an acting style that utilizes subtle nuance and body movement so naturally it's a joy to watch and both build towards a perfect picture of a tightly wound man who's hurting beyond measure.Whilst Cudlitz is definitely the lynchpin of the film, Melanie Griffiths brings her unique brand of vulnerability to a role so sympathetically portrayed that the whole cinema actually gasped in despair during one pivotal scene. I won't elaborate. You'll know which one when you watch! And Pruitt Taylor Vince always has immense presence and in this film he adds a hugely important layer to the plot."Dark Tourist' is not pleasant viewing in any shape or form.This film will certainly leave you thinking 'What if'. What if the characters involved simply had someone who listened to them at a time when they needed it most? It will certainly make you uncomfortable because it reflects the general murky malaise society has towards understanding and treating people with mental health issues and it leaves you questioning what would happen if more people had the help they needed, when they needed it most.So yes. I thoroughly recommend 'Dark Tourist'. It's a film for people desperately fed up with formulaic cinema, filmmaking that is afraid to challenge and it flips the bird at writers and producers content in churning out bland cookie cutter films."