When I was told that The Harsh Light of Day was a horror movie, I forced myself to watch it past midnight on a particularly inclement evening, with the lights low, the shutters and doors closed; the perfect ambient cocoon to heighten those shivers-down your-neck, heart-in-your mouth moments.
With the opening scenes rolling, I began to wonder if supernatural creatures were insidiously invading my home. I’ve seen that dimly lit forest scene where you feel like you’re racing through before…was my True Blood DVD switched with The Harsh Light of Day? Perhaps this being labelled as a “genre-splicing journey” is taking it a touch too far.
I had high expectations for Oliver S Milburns debut movie. With the success of the Twilight phenomenon and the True Blood series (OK, so I’m a fan), I was intrigued to see what new twist or myth would be introduced to us in Hollywood’s latest indulgence into the occult. Absolutely nothing new I’m afraid to say. Vampires still do not like light, love blood and move at the speed of light. Not even my perfect cocoon was going to help this movie along.
The story starts out with author Daniel Shergold (played by Dan Richardson) celebrating his first publishing deal and the evening ending with his wife Maria, being brutally assaulted and then murdered, and he left with his spine broken. Yes, I’m sure Daniel Shergold loved his wife, but her murder didn’t evoke any major feelings of sadness for me (and I cried when Bambi’s mum died). I wasn’t sharing his pain, I wasn’t sharing his loss, I wasn’t sharing his grief. It all happens so early on that there was just not enough time for a character build up. Milburn’s attempt at creating that build up came in the form of Maria (who I can only describe as “gagging for it”) seductively leading her husband up the stairs for an ensuing sex scene. There was far too much skin and even a shot that lingers on her breast just a moment too long before fading out. Was the genre-splicing horror/porno? They were valuable minutes wasted, that could have been used in engaging the viewers to form a bond with Daniel and Maria.
My interest was piqued however, when a grief-stricken wheelchair-bound Daniel was introduced to Infurnarni, who he learns can help him avenge his wife’s death. Giles Andersons’ Infurnarni is dark. He is a ball of mysterious and sinister energy. When he says he can help Daniel make the murderers pay, you believe him. The themes of revenge, humanity and the moral turpitudes of modern society are explored well, which for me is this movie’s saving grace. The viewer is drawn in to question what they would do in a similar situation; Would you sell your soul? Would you seek revenge? Would you allow anger to consume you? Although Dan Richardson tries to portray those bewildered emotions, I was just never convinced. The script was sketchy, and the sound quality poor. When the music was supposed to intensify a moment, I found myself struggling to hear the speech. It was just overpowering.
For 82 mins, I wondered when this movie would pick up or just finish. “Hell is anything better than they are”. No, Hell has got to be anything better than putting myself through this movie. I know this comes across as harsh, but I really struggled with seeing how this movie stood out even with the key components stripped down bare. When you have a movie with so little cast, it can be really powerful (I’m thinking Hard Candy) but the majority of the cast was unconvincing and the cinematography weak.
With a bigger budget (it only cost the same as 2 seconds of the new Avengers movie), could it have been executed better? “Everything has a price.” Yes Infurnarni, it most certainly does.
The Harsh Light of Day is out on DVD 1st October 2012.
Director: Oliver S. Milburn
Writer: Oliver S. Milburn
Stars: Dan Richardson, Giles Alderson, Sophie Linfield
Runtime: 79 min
Country: UK
Film Rating: 
