Another Hole in the Head 2025 Film Festival Coverage
Where Darkness Dwells review
A missing hiker case turns into a personal hell for an ambitious reporter.
Festival movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Where Darkness Dwells
Directed by Michael May
Written by Alexandra Grunberg and Michael May
Starring Tara Perry
Where Darkness Dwells Review
Where Darkness Dwells does one of my favorite things you can see movies do. It contains a few distinct feeling sections while seamlessly blending them together into one narrative. What begins as an investigation becomes a “don’t go in the woods” horror movie. That eventually turns itself into a psychological “what is real” story. The movie follows one character through those shifts. It blends together so well that you’ll find yourself in the midst of a new type of horror before you realize a shift has occurred. The result is a consistently engaging journey well worth taking.
Trish Bostwick (Tara Perry) is an ambitious reporter. She’s not getting the opportunities she wants…but does find the chance to prove herself when a missing person’s case comes her way. Trish travels to a secluded asylum to investigate what happened. Her journey takes some unexpected turns…leaving her to question what’s real and what is a product of her apparent creeping madness.
The first sign that something strange is going on in Where Darkness Dwells comes from how clean and ordinary the asylum is. When you hear the words “secluded asylum” you picture dank hallways with creepy employees and disturbed patients. Where Darkness Dwells upends that expectation by having Trish walk into a place that seems oddly on the up and up. There’s even someone there being as helpful to her as one probably could be given her obvious deception in search of information. Putting her in a place that seems right just feels wrong. It’s a clever way to handle things. Unsettling in a different way.
It’s the woods around the asylum that finally break Where Darkness Dwells into something more expected in a horror film. It’s also the most effective part of the movie…so don’t take “expected” as a negative. Trish ends up with an unwanted passenger and a good deal of car trouble. The whole woods sequence that makes up the middle of Where Darkness Dwells is fantastic. After being thrown off kilter by the unexpected state of the asylum story…the “don’t go in the woods” section that follows hits like a truck. It’s unnerving in a different way. Strong enough to carry its own feature length film…and a fantastic transitional story beat in this one.
What follows is the “what is real” part of Where Darkness Dwells. Trish makes it out of the woods and into something worse. Another effective portion of the story unfolds…this time as a psychological thriller. It’s also when things get weird. In a good way.
Tara Perry gives a strong performance in the role of Trish. The character is taken through a descent into madness that forces her to question everything. Before she can even get to that she finds herself in one of the better “don’t go in the woods” stories in a while. That middle section of Where Darkness Dwells is a real standout that will thrill those looking for an effective horror story. The overall mystery is worth delving into…but the way in which Where Darkness Dwells delivers Trish’s journey is what really makes the movie sing.
Scare Value
Where Darkness Dwells quickly establishes its main character and her situation. It then sends her through three distinct parts of one overall journey. Some parts get a bit too visually dark…but the stranded in the woods with strange noises and figures deal works like a charm. A final turn towards psychological horror makes closes out the story in a “what is real” fashion. The total package flows seamlessly together into an engaging and entertaining horror story.
