So much average

Just perfect...

A Disappointing Continuation

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

During a violent war between the species, a group of master hunters tries to escort a group of survivors away from a hospital containing a horde of vampires inside before the entire area is leveled in a tactical strike, but the creatures keep making advances on the group as they try to survive.For the most part this one was a very enjoyable and entertaining entry. One of it's better features here is the fact that there's some inventive reworking of the vampire mythos which gives this some solid and enjoyable work for its premise. The idea of turning the virus into a more zombie-like creation, based around the spread of off an airborne virus and bringing about an absolutely ravenous mindset of not only attacking for blood but also ravenously ripping people to pieces that has nothing to do with drinking blood such is the mess left behind yet there's still numerous vampire traits on display which still leaves this one enjoyable enough. Likewise, there's even more to like here in the continuous action scenes and battles with these ravenous creatures packed with tons of fantastic Seagal-based action and very few down-spots, starting practically from the beginning. Given the early knowledge of the virus, this one jumps right in with the attacks during the credit sequences and then leading to the early scenes of the group wondering around the hospital filled with the mangled body parts strewn around that leaves for plenty of encounters in the hallways and the different rooms swarming with the creatures, there's quite a lot to like here while setting up the numerous attacks and encounters in the second half. Now that the hunters join in to offer some protection and give them more of a chance during the fights, these are much more professional in their battles with their quick slashing and gunplay featured in the morgue battle, the various rescues where they reunite the group once again as well as the various battles to get them out as they make their way towards the basement which is where the other great fun occurs during the parking lot as this one gets in some really thrilling brawls, some hand-to-hand fighting with the creatures and plenty of fine swarming and chasing which is so much fun compared alongside the frenzied race to get out before the air-strike. Alongside the great vampire look and the fun gore, these here make this one enjoyable enough to deliver a solid, if still flawed entry. Among these flaws is the fact that there's quite a lot of scenes here just showing them simply not doing much really interesting as all they do with this is eat up time in the blood- stained walls and corridors. This is mainly due to how short all the action scenes here are, which are just so quick that it doesn't really register with what's happening so the scenes with the daughter in the operating room, running away from the vampire who continually threatens them and finding their turned friend on the other side which is quite bland and really just seems over so quick that there's not a lot to like about them. The last flaw here is the fact that it doesn't know whether they're supposedly vampires or zombies, as their creation through a virus and complete disregard for keeping their victims in one piece fall more in line with zombie rules, yet there's the self-aware state and aversion to sunlight being vampire traits though it still doesn't seem to fall in with either one grouping despite calling them vampires in the end. These here are the film's flaws, but it's enjoyable enough.Rated R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, drug use and children-in-danger.

PLOT OUTLINE: In a zombie-infested future, a group of survivors are trying to make their way out of the hospital they have been using as a shelter before they become trapped. Meanwhile a group of "hunters", ex-military assassins on a mission to eliminate any zombies they encounter, converge on the hospital.Against the Dark is a direct-to-video action / horror film that is notable for a number of reasons. First, it is the first true horror film that 90s' action icon Steven Seagal has ever made (not counting his third film, MARKED FOR DEATH, which was borderline-genre material). The other reason is that the film has a novelty premise that is quite genius in its simplicity – take Seagal & pit him against zombies.Unlike many action film fanatics, I'm not really that much of a fan of Seagal. I do enjoy some of his films, most notably UNDER SIEGE, but I have to admit that Seagal, while an undeniable screen presence, is not really a good actor. He has only one expression (narrowing his eyes to show just how deadly serious he is), mumbles his lines in a whisper-quiet voice that forces you to turn on the subtitles in order to understand what the hell he is saying, goes through his films with a self-righteousness that proves to be quite irritating & is a massive fan of using ultra-violence to take down his enemies (along with a tendency towards breaking people's limbs).That said, the very same qualities that tend to drag down Seagal's action films (especially the ultra-violence) would work really well in a horror film. That was the reason I chose to rent the DVD for the review (I'm also planning to review as many of Seagal's films as I can).Well, to be honest, not only is Against the Dark a disappointing horror film, it is also one of Seagal's worst films (the single worst being ATTACK FORCE). The main reason for this is the fact that Seagal is not the star of the show. Sure, he is top-billed in the credits, but the actor only appears in the film for a maximum of ten minutes. Instead, it is up to the supporting cast to carry the film on their shoulders. Tanoai Reed, the cousin of wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, becomes the de facto star of the film, managing to take down numerous zombies & making it look easy. The other actors are surprisingly good, inhibiting their roles with a competence that is almost enough to elevate the film above the run of mediocre zombie films that have invaded the video store since the early 2000s.What stops it from rising above the tide is the routine script that the film has been stuck with. Seagal does tend to write the scripts for half his films, but left this one for someone else – I wonder what would have happened if Seagal wrote this script. The zombies are another weakness – one character refers to them as vampires while they are surprisingly easy to destroy, not to mention the fact that they don't pose much of an intellectual threat, instead being the usual stock horror villains for the genre – gone are the Romero shamblers, the Fulci gutmunchers & the Snyder speedsters.Moving back to Seagal, the actor spends the few minutes he's in swinging his sword in the direction of the zombies while wearing his trademark long leather coat (the same coat that he has worn in numerous other DTV actioners – probably due to the fact that he has put on some weight & doesn't want his fans to notice, an exercise in futility since his weight has been the talk of action fans for the past few years). Seagal also has the indignity of having his voice dubbed over. Veteran actor Keith David appears in the film as a military commander who desperately tries to prevent his superiors from bombing the hospital that the cast are in.The only people who would have a great time with this film will be the gore hounds. There are a number of scenes where the gore nearly drowns the screen.

What can you expect?People die, more people die, then somebody gets bitten and someone else dies. No special plot.No special turn of events.No special effects or snappy dialogue.Like almost every other zombie movie you've ever seen. A true masterpiece in the art of zombie movies which revolve around the same worn out plot, time and again.Do not expect anything else any more interesting.Why are zombie movies even made any longer? If you've seen one, you've seen 10 000.Somebody - please come up with something new to this bleak and tired genre.

I can accept Steven Seagal is never going to reach the popularity he had in the mid 80's and early 90's, but what compels him to make these cookie cutter direct to video releases in the last 5 years I don't know. Every year the movies he makes make less and less sense.Where to begin on this one...the back of the box says "katana master Tao (Seagal) leads a team of black op mercenaries with a massacre in mind, their target: Vampires." As we get the movie underway, within the first 5 minutes they explain that they're not really vampires but a hybrid between zombie and vampire. Think 28 days later....that's strike one because I wanted to see Seagal go head to head with Stephen Dorff or something.At first we meet Seagal's gang of mercenaries which turns out to be him, a dude and 2 chicks. They're supposed to clear out the place just the 4 of them? Unless they're the X-Men I don't buy it. Then we meet the group of about 6 random people trapped in the hospital where the entire movie takes place. Their mission is to get to ground level and out to a car.......and that's where the crap begins. The 6 "survivors" repeatedly run into the "vampires" who are so incompetent that none of the survivors die for the first 45 minutes. In fact, Seagal's crew doesn't do a damn thing after the initial slaying for another half hour. They show various camera shots of him walking around while the rest of the morons run for their lives. The dialogue comes off as so horrible you begin to want the group to just die already. In fact, none of the group buys the farm until Seagal's gang shows up. That's just awful security isn't it? In fact, the only member of Seagal's crew worth anything is Tagart, and sadly he's not on screen enough to save this film.I won't elaborate further because the idea of going over the rest makes my head hurt. The overall fact was it looked to be a monster movie but was in fact just an ordinary zombie movie and all Seagal does is flail away with a kitana sword. Like I said, is this the best role he could play these days? The only 2 highlights is David Keith (a real life friend of Seagal) and Johnny Cage (forgot the actor's name but he plays Cage) debating whether to blow the hospital up.Horrible....2 out of 10