Reviews & Press

Reviews:

A SUPER-CONCENTRATED BURST OF SUSPENSE AND TERROR – Film Threat
“Excellent engineering–the gradual dimming and deactivation of lights, in sequence no less, contributes to a very effective atmosphere charged by sheer creepy. The gore-soaked–and surprisingly horrifying–atmosphere that follows is less a gore-for-gore’s-sake effect and more the concentrated effect of a condensed runtime. Even the ending is a spectacular twist.”

CREATES AN ATMOSPHERE THAT IS BOTH CREEPY AND FRIGHTENING – Bloodtype Online
“One of the best things about writing for the site is that I get to see the occasional short film that I otherwise wouldn’t of had a chance to see. This is a cool short film that manages to create more atmosphere than most of the bigger budgeted movies that I’ve seen in the last couple of years. The story is very simple, which is sort of required when the runtime of you film is only 20 minutes. But through the use of lighting and sound the movie creates an atmosphere that is both creepy and frightening.”

ORIGINAL, SCARY AS FUCK, AND JUST PLAIN BRILLIANT! – Bastards of Horror
This short film turn out to be a nice surprise… It’s a story about a kid who finds a book (Book of the Dead) in his basement and is told by his older brother that it was a older relative’s and he was into Satanic rituals. Now of course the younger brother blows this off and waits for no one to be home to invite his friends over for pizza and horror movies. Well, on a dare the youngest friend opens the book and sees something that changes him and strange things begin to happen in the house. Lights begin to go out and ‘darkness’ swallows up the kids one by one screaming for their lives. The short film is original, scary as fuck, and just plain brilliant! This is one of the best low budget short films I’ve seen and that is saying a lot… so go find out more about this kick ass film at www.myspace.com/ofdarkness as I give it 4 stars!

A POWERFULLY CONCENTRATED HORROR SHORT – Synergy Magazine
Of Darkness is a powerfully concentrated horror short, it is twenty minutes of carefully executed suspense and terror. The plot is simple and yet through the creative use of lighting, sound and excellent cinematography a mood of “edge of your seat” suspense is created. It is rather surprising what can be achieved on a low budget using a carefully designed film which focuses on the use of light and darkness, innovative use of camera angles and some solid acting from a team of fairly youthful actors.

PERFECTED THE ART OF MAKING A SHORT HORROR FILM – The Horror Review
“…Overall, Of Darkness is one of the best produced short films I’ve ever had the pleasure of reviewing. The feel of the film left me as scared as I was when I was five years old and saw Poltergeist for the first time. Gary Irwin has perfected the art of making a short horror film…”

TWENTY-MINUTES EVERY HORROR FAN SHOULD EXPERIENCE – Scars Magazine
“This is by far the best indie film I’ve seen. A brilliant concept that left me with chills! Of Darkness is proof that a horror film doesn’t need a masked killer or tons of gore to be terrifying, the fear of the unknown can be much worse. This is twenty minutes every horror fan should experience. You’ll be sleeping with the light on after you see this film!”

TAPS INTO THE UNIVERSAL FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN – Horror-101
“…Of Darkness manages to tap into the universal fear of the unknown. The viewer never knows what exactly happens when someone is encased by the darkness. The film doesn’t really have any effects, save for a few quick shots of the aftermath, but it’s what we don’t see that adds an eerie, threatening aspect to the short that many horror films today unfortunately lack.”

INVENTIVE AND EFFECTIVE HORROR SHORT – Film Fanaddict
“…OF DARKNESS is an excellent short that manages to be both entertaining and scary in its all-too-short twenty-one minute runtime. This is even more impressive once you take into account that the film’s budget was roughly what most horror films spend on catering.”

20-MINUTES OF PURE SUSPENSE DRIVEN HORROR – The Film Chair
“…Of Darkness takes cues from The Evil Dead and continues the way the Raimi film would have had it taken itself seriously enough to be truly frightening. In fact, Of Darkness achieves the haunting suspense more recent films like The Ring and The Grudge failed to accomplish with bigger budgets and more special effects…”

CHILLED ME TO THE BONE – Fatally-Yours Review
“…The film works on one of the basest fears, the fear of the dark and the unknown. It’s the fear of the dark that paralyzes so many people, young and old. Of Darkness uses this fear to terrorize the audience. It’s a simple yet effective horror that chilled me to the bone.”

ONE OF THE BETTER HORROR FILMS PERIOD – Creep A-Go-Go
“…Some may be turned off by the lack of onscreen special FX, but it’s that lack of seeing what’s happening that is key to this film. Of Darkness is not only one of the better horror short films I’ve seen in a while, but one of the better horror films period. “

CREEPY, INTENSE AND TO THE POINT – KillerReviews
“…The true pleasure in watching OF DARKNESS is not so much about what happens, but how it does. Using little more than lighting and sound effects and camera angles, director Gary E. Irwin and writer Matt Casale have fashioned a nice, doom-laden little chiller that plays on whatever childhood fears of the dark you might still have in the back of your mind…”

OF DARKNESS OFFERS QUICK STORY OF FRIGHT – FilmGuru.net
“The key to the film is in the direction. With almost no special effects, director Irwin uses lighting to his full advantage. The vanishing light herds the children together, pushing them back like a rising tide. The darkness is only darkness, but the implied horror is more intense than anything that special effects could create.”

I HONESTLY CANNOT IMAGINE ANYONE NOT LIKING THIS FILM – Horror-Fanatics.com
“I haven’t been this excited over a short since viewing Paul Solet’s- Grace. Of Darkness is a creepy little tale of terror that will keep you enthralled up until the very last scene.”

SCARIER THAN 90% OF FULL-LENGTH HORROR MOVIES – The Aisle Seat
“The unknown – the idea that something unseen is lurking out there – now that’s scary! It’s a fear that filmmaker Gary Irwin exploits nicely in Of Darkness, a 20-minute movie that is scarier than 90% of the big-budget, full-length horror movies of recent years. “

OF DARKNESS IS A THRILLING RIDE – Cinescare
“Director Gary E. Irwin and writer Matt Casale single-handedly reiterate that computers and makeup do not a good horror-film make. They, in fact, take the genre back to its essential and still-effective roots: fear of the dark.”

EFFECTIVE SHORT THAT UTILIZES THE HITCHCOCK FORMULA – Arrow in the Head
“Granted, they didn’t have the budget for some nutty specter, but leaving it in the dark, never allowing the audience to see what’s killing everyone makes it more effective and frightening. I wish more directors would use this approach, big budget or not. All too often people are spoon feed every image and fear in film, never allowing imagination to take place.”

A CREEPY AND EERIE SHORT FILM THAT WILL LEAVE YOU HORRIFIED – Film Arcade
“Of Darkness” is a short film that I have been looking forward to seeing in a while. I came into this film with a set of high standers after hearing this has torn up the film festival circuit. The film has played many film festivals while picking up Best Short Film honors at the 2008 Frightnight Film Festival, 2007 Full Moon Horror Festival, 2007 Atlanta Horrorfest, 2007 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and 2007 Dread Central & VersusMedia Short Film Competition…..”

OF DARKNESS IS A TREAT; A GENUINELY SCARY SHORT FILM – IndieTalk
“Exquisitely produced on a presumably modest budget, the film, directed by Gary Irwin and written by Matt Casale, really succeeds because the filmmakers clearly know what scares audiences and they have the ample talent to deliver the goods. Beyond mere entertainment, “Of Darkness” could be a lesson in How To Make A Scary Movie 101.”

Press Links:

Scars Magazine Interview
Interview w/ Matt Molloy & Gary E. Irwin in Volume 2, Issue 2 of Scars Magazine

Cinescare Interview
2 part interview with “Of Darkness” Director Gary E. Irwin

Film Arcade Interview
Great little interview with Anthony over @ FilmArcade.net and “Of Darkness” Director Gary E. Irwin

Bring on the Blood: New York City Horror Film Festival
“Of Darkness” noted as a Standout film at NYC Horror Fest 07

Spend the Weekend With Some Real Cutups
Of Darkness” gets a shout out in the Washington Post

Gross Movie Reviews picks of 2007
“Of Darkness” named one of best short horror films of 2007, by Bastards of Horror

Horror Bob’s Top Ten of 2007
“Of Darkness” named as one of the best short horror films of 2007, by Horror Reviews

Dead Pit Radio Show (July 2007)
The guys over at Dead Pit Radio review “Of Darkness”

Festival of Horrors Volume 2 Review
Badlit.com reviews OF DARKNESS and the rest of the shorts featured on Festival of Horrors Vol. 2