Stars: Marin Ireland, Michael Abbott Jr., Julie Oliver-Touchstone, Lynn Andrews, Tom Nowicki, Michael Zagst, Xander Berkeley, Charles Jonathan Trott, Mindy Raymond | Written and Directed by Bryan Bertino
Bryan Bertino gained widespread acclaim with his debut feature The Strangers. However, neither of his following films, Mockingbird and The Monster found the same reception. The Dark and the Wicked sees him pulling out all the stops to try and rebuild his reputation. Not having been a huge fan of his previous films, I might not be the right person to ask. But if this film doesn’t put him back on the map I don’t know what will.
Louise and her brother Michael can’t remember when they last visited their parent’s farm. But they’re going back now. Their father (Michael Zagst) is dying and doesn’t have much time left. Their mother (Julie Oliver-Touchstone; Bounded by Evil) tells them not to.
Bryan Bertino gained widespread acclaim with his debut feature The Strangers. However, neither of his following films, Mockingbird and The Monster found the same reception. The Dark and the Wicked sees him pulling out all the stops to try and rebuild his reputation. Not having been a huge fan of his previous films, I might not be the right person to ask. But if this film doesn’t put him back on the map I don’t know what will.
Louise and her brother Michael can’t remember when they last visited their parent’s farm. But they’re going back now. Their father (Michael Zagst) is dying and doesn’t have much time left. Their mother (Julie Oliver-Touchstone; Bounded by Evil) tells them not to.
- 7/5/2021
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
To mark the release of The Dark and The Wicked, out now, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on Blu-ray.
On a secluded farm, a father (Michael Zagst – Divine Access) is bedridden and fighting through his final breaths while his wife slowly succumbs to overwhelming grief. Siblings Louise (Marin Ireland) and Michael (Michael Abbott Jr.) return home to help, but it doesn’t take long for them to see that something’s terribly wrong with their mother (Julie Oliver-Touchstone – Preacher) —something more than her heavy sorrow. Gradually, they begin to suffer a darkness similar to their mother’s, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that an evil entity is taking over their family.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
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The Small Print
Open to UK residents only The competition will close 19th July 2021 at 23.59 GMT The winner will be...
On a secluded farm, a father (Michael Zagst – Divine Access) is bedridden and fighting through his final breaths while his wife slowly succumbs to overwhelming grief. Siblings Louise (Marin Ireland) and Michael (Michael Abbott Jr.) return home to help, but it doesn’t take long for them to see that something’s terribly wrong with their mother (Julie Oliver-Touchstone – Preacher) —something more than her heavy sorrow. Gradually, they begin to suffer a darkness similar to their mother’s, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that an evil entity is taking over their family.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Small Print
Open to UK residents only The competition will close 19th July 2021 at 23.59 GMT The winner will be...
- 7/5/2021
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
There’s little that’s new in Bryan Bertino’s Texas spooker, but an emotionally literate script and clever direction give it an edge
The Dark and the Wicked is a nastily effective, lo-fi, psychological haunted house horror about a malevolent force that takes up residence in a remote Texas farmhouse (shot at director Bryan Bertino’s family home). There is possibly not a single scary moment here that will be new to horror fans, but Bertino directs with such technical flair that I yelped at most of them – and half-missed the others, eyes squeezed tight shut.
Louise (Marin Ireland) is on a visit back to the farm where her bedridden dad (Michael Zagst) is dying. Her brother, Michael (Michael Abbott Jr), is here too, a hulking lunk in a lumberjack shirt who seems emotionally avoidant, rarely making eye contact. Everything about the farm feels creepy as hell: the sheep bleating in the barn,...
The Dark and the Wicked is a nastily effective, lo-fi, psychological haunted house horror about a malevolent force that takes up residence in a remote Texas farmhouse (shot at director Bryan Bertino’s family home). There is possibly not a single scary moment here that will be new to horror fans, but Bertino directs with such technical flair that I yelped at most of them – and half-missed the others, eyes squeezed tight shut.
Louise (Marin Ireland) is on a visit back to the farm where her bedridden dad (Michael Zagst) is dying. Her brother, Michael (Michael Abbott Jr), is here too, a hulking lunk in a lumberjack shirt who seems emotionally avoidant, rarely making eye contact. Everything about the farm feels creepy as hell: the sheep bleating in the barn,...
- 2/24/2021
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
The Dark and the Wicked (Bryan Bertino)
How then does a life-long atheist like Louise (Marin Ireland) and Michael’s (Michael Abbott Jr.) mother (Julie Oliver-Touchstone) become a believer in God? She hears the voice of the Devil. She witnesses evil incarnate and accepts her inability to combat its seemingly inevitable goal. And if she cannot stop it from terrifying her with whispers about how it is going to take the soul of her dying husband (Michael Zagst) to Hell, what besides God can? Only when they can no longer act on their own behalf do the faithless turn to Him for help. Maybe she prays. Maybe she collects...
The Dark and the Wicked (Bryan Bertino)
How then does a life-long atheist like Louise (Marin Ireland) and Michael’s (Michael Abbott Jr.) mother (Julie Oliver-Touchstone) become a believer in God? She hears the voice of the Devil. She witnesses evil incarnate and accepts her inability to combat its seemingly inevitable goal. And if she cannot stop it from terrifying her with whispers about how it is going to take the soul of her dying husband (Michael Zagst) to Hell, what besides God can? Only when they can no longer act on their own behalf do the faithless turn to Him for help. Maybe she prays. Maybe she collects...
- 11/6/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The devil is in the details in “The Dark and the Wicked,” a horror film that teases out the evil presence descending on a grieving family on a Texas farm, with the same ambiguous, psychological heft of Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw.” His evocation of a familiar, domestic world mysteriously sliding into chaos feels all the more blood-curdling because the protagonists’ distress and helplessness are emotionally relatable.
Following its selection by the Tribeca, Fantasia and Sitges festivals, the film will be released theatrically stateside in November, and stream on Shudder in the U.K. and other select territories. Bertino can count on the enthusiasm of a niche but loyal genre fanbase for whom he built a reputation with three distinctively styled horror-thrillers — “The Strangers,” “Mockingbird” and “The Monster” — which also enjoyed a degree of critical recognition.
At a remote farm in Thurber, Texas, the end is near for...
Following its selection by the Tribeca, Fantasia and Sitges festivals, the film will be released theatrically stateside in November, and stream on Shudder in the U.K. and other select territories. Bertino can count on the enthusiasm of a niche but loyal genre fanbase for whom he built a reputation with three distinctively styled horror-thrillers — “The Strangers,” “Mockingbird” and “The Monster” — which also enjoyed a degree of critical recognition.
At a remote farm in Thurber, Texas, the end is near for...
- 9/18/2020
- by Maggie Lee
- Variety Film + TV
As someone who has enjoyed all of Bryan Bertino’s directorial output over the years, with The Strangers being one of my favorite modern horrors of all-time, The Dark and the Wicked might just be Bertino’s greatest cinematic achievement to date. A masterful exploration of grief and faith that often ratchets up the tension to unimaginable levels, The Dark and the Wicked is one of the most confidently crafted horror films of 2020, and is easily one of the best that this year has to offer as well. It takes a lot for a film to crawl right up under my skin, but The Dark and the Wicked did it with minimal effort, and it left me shaken and unsettled by the time the credits rolled around.
At the start of the film, a pair of siblings – Louise (Marin Ireland) and Michael (Michael Abbott Jr.) – return home to the family farm,...
At the start of the film, a pair of siblings – Louise (Marin Ireland) and Michael (Michael Abbott Jr.) – return home to the family farm,...
- 8/29/2020
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
*full disclosure: online access to the Fantasia Film Festival was provided by the fine folks hosting the event. Director/writer: Bryan Bertino. Cast: Marin Ireland, Michael Abbott Jr., Xander Berkeley and Julie Oliver-Touchstone. The Dark and the Wicked had one of its first showings at this year's Fantasia Film Festival. The film is from filmmaker Bryan Bertino (The Strangers). His latest was filmed on his own farm. And, this title focuses on one Devilish character and as the Bible says: "be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (Peter 5:8)." That lion stays just off-screen as The Dark and the Wicked stays in very dire and serious territory. A father (Michael Zagst) is dying and much of the film focuses on this patriarch and his fading health. Meanwhile, every characters' beliefs will be challenged in this release and so might the viewer's.
- 8/29/2020
- by noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
No matter how staunch your atheism, there still exists a surefire way to get you believing in God. It’s not hearing His voice or seeing His work, though. Those can easily be laughed away or chalked up to coincidence. God is an abstract catchall in which His faithful are conditioned to place their faith. They rely on Him as their savior while atheists rely on themselves. His deeds are inconsequential to those recognizing how “good” can always be explained by their own actions first. It’s therefore only when darkness creeps in that we question the validity of our behavior since reason no longer applies. Grace makes us smile. Miracles give us time. God lets us create. It’s destruction that conversely gives pause because loss has no concrete answers.
How then does a life-long atheist like Louise (Marin Ireland) and Michael’s (Michael Abbott Jr.) mother (Julie Oliver-Touchstone) become a believer in God?...
How then does a life-long atheist like Louise (Marin Ireland) and Michael’s (Michael Abbott Jr.) mother (Julie Oliver-Touchstone) become a believer in God?...
- 8/29/2020
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
“She told us not to come.” Such is the refrain of Bryan Bertino’s “The Dark and the Wicked” or, at least, of his two main characters, siblings stuck in a house of horrors that they really, really shouldn’t have returned to. No, they shouldn’t have come, but Bertino’s striking opening act makes a fine argument for why they did, while creepily teasing why it’s going to end so very badly for them. Still,
That doesn’t stop star Marin Ireland from doing her damndest to pull it all together, as her performance alone teases a more effective film, one in which the shaky bridge between its religious-tinged trauma and very human grief transforms into something with real power. Even when the film gives itself over to gross-out gags and hints at an overall mythology that never emerges, Ireland holds steady, turning in a spine-tingling performance...
That doesn’t stop star Marin Ireland from doing her damndest to pull it all together, as her performance alone teases a more effective film, one in which the shaky bridge between its religious-tinged trauma and very human grief transforms into something with real power. Even when the film gives itself over to gross-out gags and hints at an overall mythology that never emerges, Ireland holds steady, turning in a spine-tingling performance...
- 8/29/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Concourse Film Trade, the global sales arm of Matthew Shreder and James Andrew Felts’ Concourse Media, has acquired international sales rights to the comedy from Traveling Picture Show Company’s (Tpsc).
Steven Chester Prince directed Divine Access, which stars Billy Burke, Gary Cole, Patrick Warburton, Joel David Moore, Sarah Shahi, Dora Madison, Barak Hardley and Adrienne Barbeau.
Prince, John A. O’Connell and Michael Zagst wrote the story about Jack Harriman, who becomes an instant celebrity after he humiliates Reverend Guy Roy Davis on a public-access TV show and subsequently experiences natural and supernatural forces while on the road.
Tpsc Films’ Kevin Matusow, Carissa Buffel and Prince produced with Blackball Entertainment’s Billy Burke, and Terry G. Jones. G-Men Media’s Clay Glendenning and Jeff Way served as executive producers.
Freestyle will release Divine Access theatrically and on VOD On May 13.
Steven Chester Prince directed Divine Access, which stars Billy Burke, Gary Cole, Patrick Warburton, Joel David Moore, Sarah Shahi, Dora Madison, Barak Hardley and Adrienne Barbeau.
Prince, John A. O’Connell and Michael Zagst wrote the story about Jack Harriman, who becomes an instant celebrity after he humiliates Reverend Guy Roy Davis on a public-access TV show and subsequently experiences natural and supernatural forces while on the road.
Tpsc Films’ Kevin Matusow, Carissa Buffel and Prince produced with Blackball Entertainment’s Billy Burke, and Terry G. Jones. G-Men Media’s Clay Glendenning and Jeff Way served as executive producers.
Freestyle will release Divine Access theatrically and on VOD On May 13.
- 5/4/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
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