Popular reviews

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  Review by Biscoito18 ★★★★ 9

  This film is not for every horror fan. Not only is a slow burn with practically only two characters, but it also relies heavily on the power of imagination. If you seek jump scares or gore, stay away.

  The real horror is inside the protagonist Sophia, brilliantly played by Catherine Walker. The horrible feelings that she hides inside, including the crave for revenge and the emptiness, are nothing compared with the horror that would be finding nothing that could heal her hounds after putting so much hope in this last chance for healing.

  The house used for the ritual is very well filmed. You are always guessing what is happening across the room or down the corridor. The real events…

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  Review by Marianna Neal ★★★½ 1

  This is NOT a horror film for everyone, and there are two reasons why. First of all, it's definitely a slow-burning movie where the focus is on the situation itself rather than a chain of events. Second, A Dark Song really approaches the ritual with a lot of attention – it's not a glamorous portrayal of witchcraft, it's drawn out, it's unsettling, it's dirty, it goes for realism, and it doesn't yield immediate obvious results. If you have an issue with either of those – I don't think this film is for you.

  That being said, I really enjoyed A Dark Song, particularly because of how different it was from other supernatural films based around rituals. It's a beautifully shot,…

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★

  Treats the occult like a procedure, diagramming steps almost like a physician might lay out a path of treatment. Sort of unravels once it decides to start answering some of its questions but still novel and patient.

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  Review by soupydoupyy ★ 9

  I feel like I might be a dumb person because literally everyone else loves this movie and I was struggling to keep engaged with this film. And I LOVE movies about magick and the occult and seances and foreign accents.

  What happened for me was that right from the get go the guy character was just a fucking annoying loud mouth git who kept yelling at the poor woman. And then there's a point where he does something REALLY shitty and gross to the woman and I was just out of it. I was done. The movie really just bummed me out.

  And the seance stuff dragged oooon and oooooon.

  And I don't even know what the fuck to make…

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  Review by Freyr ★★★★ 4

  There have been some really wonderful debut horror films in the last few years, and A Dark Song falls into that lot, by way of Irish writer/director Liam Gavin. Most notably he showcases a penchant for calculation in both his filming and his writing, where every scene is staged carefully to elicit a certain feeling or perspective, and the incredibly detailed rituals and processes of the plot are laid out painful detail. Together, it creates a film that establishes the world that it lives in, the rules and the methods, and carefully works within its own boundaries and guidelines, no matter how fantastical they grow to become.

  The first thing I noticed out the gate is that the film is…

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  Review by Communicants ★½ 1

  90% sure someone a few rows behind me got a handjob in the last third of the movie, so at least someone had a good time in the theater that night.

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  Review by Slig001 ★★★★ 1

  A great slow burning horror film that takes ideas seen so many times in the genre, but spins it fresh with a realistic approach. A Dark Song takes place almost entirely in one location and has just two central characters; a grieving woman and an occultist, who are brought together as she wants help conducting a ritual for her own ends. The film is very well paced. The subject matter, which mainly concerns magic and the occult is fascinating; and the film always gives just enough to keep things interesting without ever really explaining anything. The house where everything takes place is very well shot and makes for a great central location. The film is very tense and has some…

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  Review by Ian West ★★★½ 2

  Magick yo.

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  Review by Fake Shemp 3

  The shitty ass poster on Prime does not in any way do this justice.

  A fantastic little weird creepy movie.

  Why had nobody told me about this?

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  Review by Matthew Christman ★★★½

  A fresh approach to occult horror that actually made me wish it were MORE focused on the grueling, cumulative endurance test aspect of the thing, which i was not expecting going in.

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  Review by Jesse ★★★½ 1

  If the occultist you hire makes you strip down just so they can see you naked whilst they masturbate in front of you….saying this is part of the “ritual” they might not be completely legitimate. 

  I love that A Dark Song explores how desperate someone might become in order to deal with grief and speak to a loved one who had passed on. They will go to extreme ends to make some sort of peace.

  This film is a stripped down version of Hereditary and never gets to those levels of frights. But instead builds to a slow unnerving conclusion that almost makes this film more fantasy than horror. But there are a couple moments that sent chills down my spine and made me appreciate the overall goals of the film.

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  Review by Matt ★★★★ 12

  The epitome of an underseen and underrated film. Masterful sound design and perfect pacing deliver a quite incredible story that is on the surface simple, yet as you'll no doubt guess it conceals something far deeper. The occult, religion (same thing lolz) and raw human emotion all collide to give a stunning climax - one of the best I've seen in a long time. Oh and did I mention for a movie set predominantly in an oldish big house - it's very easy on the eye.

  Superb for your spooky season marathons...