DVD Reviews

Dark Forces

Dark Forces was made in 1979 and released in 1980 under its original title, Harlequin.  The film is quite dated in appearance and unfortunately wasn’t popular enough to warrant a proper restoration.  It is an interesting film however, which includes some cute special effects, which I’m sure looked really good at the time.

The story of Dark Forces centers around the family of senator Rast, a very powerful man on the political scene. But his power is nothing when compared to the mysterious stranger (Harlequin) who comes to "visit" him one evening. Possessing miraculous magic and psychic abilities, the quirky but seemingly benevolent Harlequin quickly grabs a spellbinding hold over the senator and his family. But a power-lusting political backer is also vying for control over the senator and he would stop at nothing to maintain control of that power.  Will the Harlequin’s magic win out or will everyone see him as he really is?

Dark Forces marks the start of a good long feature film career for Director Simon Wincer (D.A.R.Y.L, Free Willy) and writer Everett De Roche  (The Quest, Visitors) who had worked together previously on the film Snapshot.  Though not a great outing by either it did show off their early talents which have since greatly improved.  The acting in the film isn’t too bad considering the source material they were working from.   Unfortunately the F/X in the film are quite dated by today’s standards but were probably top notch when the film was made.  I personally enjoy old F/X just as much as new ones but that’s just a personal preference.  I have found that DVD with its crisp and clear picture has made some of the old films look quite bad, but I still love them. 

The video on this release is… well… not that great.  Though presented in anamorphic widescreen which is great, the film print from which this DVD was created was obviously in rough shape.  The film has quite a bit of flaws, specks, dust, faults in the print, etc which showed up horribly whenever there was a black or dark screen/scene.  Not quite as noticeable during brighter scenes, they were still distracting enough to notice.  The colours of the film seem to have been enhanced as they’re extremely vivid and do tend to bleed a bit. In fact the enhanced colours can be distracting as the colour red, most of all, can sometimes be overwhelming.

The audio is presented in Dolby mono here that seems to be mixed a tad bit low.  This forces the viewer to turn up their receiver in order to hear dialogue clearly.  Not a terrible mono track but nothing great either.  The audio is presented in English, Spanish and French languages.  All are in roughly the same condition.   The extras are where this DVD gets its highest marks.  Included on the DVD are an isolated music score by Brian May.  This is a nice addition for those who are interested in musical scores but most others should probably just pass.  The DVD also contains a commentary from director Simon Wincer and producer Antony I. Gennene.  There was quite a bit of good information in this track and the listener learns a great deal about the film and what the filmmakers were trying to achieve.  There are filmographies for the actors and 53 production stills. Finishing off the extras is the mandatory trailer, and trailers for Syngenor, Strange Behavior, Thirst, and Patrick.

Overall this film really isn’t much to jump at but I enjoyed it.  Of course I do tend to enjoy these campy old horror films anyways so take that however you want.  The good amount of extras on this release does temp but they are offset by the sub par audio and video presentations.  Only recommended for fans of the film or hardcore genre addicts.  All others might want to stay away.

Review By Rob Harding