The Dark (5 Stars)

This is the eighth film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival.

This is a film that wasn't what I expected. The description in the film catalogue gave me the impression that it would be a zombie film. Even the picture shown above makes it look like a zombie film. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Mina is a teenage girl who lives in a woodland area called Devil's Den. After being sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend she retaliated and injured him badly. In revenge he buried her alive in the forest. He should have buried her deeper. She crawled out of the shallow grave, returned to her cabin and killed him. Then she killed her mother, because she knew about the abuse and did nothing. Ever since she has been living alone, killing and eating anyone who comes near the cabin.

The newest victim is a man called Josef Hofer who's being hunted by the police. He's kidnapped a blind teenage boy called Alex, although for some reason that I don't understand the boy is a willing prisoner. Stockholm Syndrome? Even though he's left lying in the back of the car Alex still says he wants to wait for Josef to return.

Mina discovers Alex in the car after killing Josef. Instead of killing him she feels affection towards him and wants to help him return to his mother. Alex is blind and doesn't realise how ugly and disfigured Mina is. A romance develops between the two.

The film leaves some questions open, but somehow it doesn't bother me. It says enough to make the story moving and emotional. As Todd Rundgren once sang, "Love between the ugly is the most beautiful love of all". This is a highlight of the film festival.