DONNIE DARKO is one of the first cult films that I caught wind of before it blew up into the cult him it had become. I remember seeing it for the first time, and being blown away by the film. I still consider it to be one of the best films I’ve ever had the pleasure of viewing. Now eight years later we get this sequel S. DARKO I, like many other people though DONNIE DARKO director Richard Kelly would write and direct this one as well, but that unfortunately is not the case. What we get is just a spin off that falls flat on it’s ass.
S. DARKO takes place seven years after the events that took place in DONNIE DARKO, Donnie’s younger sister Samantha ( Daveigh Chase) has run away from home and is traveling with a friend of hers named Corey ( Briana Evigan) from Virginia to California in the hope of becoming a professional dancer. When their car breaks down in a small desert town, the two girls have to hold up for a few days in a motel while the car gets fixed. It’s here in this small town where Sam starts to experience things similar to that of her brother. She has weird dreams that start to come true, a meteorite destroys a local farmer’s windmill, there are crazy bible thumping zealots, A gulf war veteran who seems to know a lot and of course there is that rip in space and time, along with a frank the bunny mask to go with everything. All this spirals into one big giant mess and in order for things to be right Sam must figure out a way to use her gift and put things back in order.
I really don’t know where to begin with this film. I don’t like to jump on the bandwagon and say I told you so, but here I am saying it. There was not one thing I liked about this film, except for some of it’s effects and imagery. The script could of been something good, but it really didn’t do the original film any justice at all. While DONNIE DARKO was a confusing film itself, after watching it two or three times the viewer understands the meaning of this film. With S. DARKO we get it, but we don’t care for it. It confusing and all over the place, but it takes the same subtext and ideas from DONNIE DARKO and just puts them into another story. There is no memorable dialogue, and the story is boring and dull. Plan and simple.
The films acting is not that great at all, and while I don’t want to go after each performance with a hatchet; the feelings I got from each performance was that the actors seemed to be struggling with their lines though the drawn out scenes involving pages of dialogue, where it showed that that the actors have memorized all the dialogue and just seemed to repeat it being themselves and not their characters. This of course also reflects on the directing as well, which at best was mediocre.
The films production value was not half bad but with a budget of ten million dollars you think they could of made it look better than DONNIE DARKO when it came to the effects. DONNIE DARKO was produced for half a million dollars and looked like a ten million dollar film. Not to say that all the effects were bad, some were really good. But the context in which some of them were used didn’t really justify the story like they did in DONNIE DARKO.
Overall, S. DARKO seems like it was a film made to capitalize off of the success of the original. As many of you know I don’t like to write reviews bashing films that are bad, but what I really want to know is what the producers of this film were thinking when they green lit this script. Richard Kelly himself denounced the film, and normally I would just say he’s another director who does not understand the business and a bit zealous because he sold the rights to one of his films and now he has to deal with the consequences. But in the case of this film, I agree with his decision. S. DARKO does not do DONNIE DARKO any justice. It’s a weak sequel with weak characters and an even weaker plot.
The DVD contains a few special features which include Commentary with the filmmakers, Deleted scenes, The Making of S. Darko, and Utah Too Much.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
