I Will Follow You Into the Dark (2012)

5/10

Could have done with being twenty minutes shorter

bowmanblue25 July 2014

Mischa Barton plays a young woman whose parents both die. Aggrieved, she renounces God's existence and challenges him to prove there's something more to life than what we know and see. I guess he does. He seems to send legions of things that bump around her flat to haunt her. Then he gets these goolies to kidnap her new - unbelievable perfect - boyfriend. The moral: never mess with God.

So, poor newly-atheist Mischa must look for her stolen bloke in a haunted apartment block where she reckons he's been imprisoned. Now, most horror films like this are about ninety minutes. This one runs at nearly two hours. And here lies the first problem. Namely, that much of the film is either pretty establishing shots/montages, or Mischa walking slowly around one empty hallway or another - sometimes something jumps out at her, sometimes not.

This film is slow. And how you perceive it will depend on how much you like it. It's the very definition of a 'slow burner.' If you're desperate for something to happen, it may well drive you mad and you'll find that absolutely nothing happens for long periods of the film. However, if you like your horror slow, creepy and tension-building, then you'll probably enjoy this.

Just don't go expecting a roller-coaster of a ride style horror film. Unfortunately, although I like to think I can appreciate a slow-burner or two, I found there was nothing new enough here to warrant watching it again. It falls into that 'seen in all before' category.

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5/10

A little bit of light could have made things a lot clearer. Instead they went with a lot.

face-819-93372611 March 2014

Warning: Spoilers

This is a tough one to nail down. Basically Micha Barton's Sophia is a girl who has always had an eye for real beauty, but at her father's death bed she is given to suddenly have all of her basic beliefs torn to shreds, and she can no longer tell her own feelings from those that are just the result of a lifetime of being told that things are one way. Now this is a fragile girl who lives alone like most of us chose to, and she is afraid to lose what little she feels she has left as most people are. There is some good acting in here, and a lot of good camera work. The lighting is sort of the key to many scenes, and I have to fail it simply because it was not used enough (there are times when it is used to represent life, and others that it is used to represent the shifting from light to what is in the dark) it just felt like the flashlights could have been better spook tools instead the whole movie ends up not being scary at all. The first shot had me actually in, I saw Mischa Barton walk into the dark and thought things were going to get started, but then the movie stutters, and stalls. For a while things just feel forced, and the characters are pushed on us, then there is some nice warming in the new relationship stuff, but the artsy nature of the direction will leave you wondering if most of these things are or did even happen. There is a point in the "spooky" part of the movie that made me lose it a bit: the entire group agrees that they need to go down stairs, and get out, then they all walk happily away from the elevator. There are a few more moments like this where you have to ask "How long will she just stand there moving the flashlight back, and forth hoping that something is going to change? Walk please walk." There is a movie in there that can be Enjoyed, I just don't think that most people will ever find it, or be willing to dig deep enough. So I don't really recommend this one to anyone, there are some rehashed old plots mixed up, and you are paid off with another rip off at least that's how I saw it.

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3/10

Self-Indulgent Drivel

Polychrome99 March 2014

I usually try to avoid movies where the writer and director are the same person. There's a reason for this - and this film is a prime example. You NEED that second opinion - there are long, boring scenes that no competent director would have left intact. The basic story could have been done better, but there was so little development other than artsy montages. The production values were actually pretty good, but the story was weak and the plot incoherent. I think the scenes were not chronological - but it was not obvious if they were flashbacks, dreams, or what. The acting wasn't bad either, but without character development I just didn't care about these people.

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1/10

M.Barton

ayedoubleyou29 March 2014

In the last moments of this movie i was thinking: "the only thing that could save this film is if it was a troll, a huge joke..."

but it wasn't. Someone seriously thought that this would sell. I don't know if the budget for this film was spent on Barton (the Only recognizable name on the credits) or if this was a troll, and the "Gotch-a" is at the end of the credits and i left too early. either way, whether or not the movie was a joke- it was bad... ...now, One could rant on and on about what was wrong with this movie, but i'll summarize; -It was too dark, you could not see anything but a beam of light coming from a flashlight 30% of the movie. -the acting was horrible. acting is easier said than done, i realize that, but if you aren't good at acting, then why are you in the film? and such... save some money, skip this film, see The Fog....or better yet. save some sanity...don't see either...

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5/10

sort of Ghost Meets The Shining

blanche-214 July 2014

Mischa Barton was considered a rising star after her TV show "The OC" but ran into some personal issues in 2007 that derailed her. She has some good film credits, a stage background and a pretty face, but after seeing "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," I'm predicting a so-so career. Or maybe it was the director or the script.

"I Will Follow You Into the Dark" is about a young woman, Sophia, who loses both her parents within six months of one another. Her father was a minister, and right before he dies, he tells her that he's decided that there is no life after death. When she speaks at her father's church, she repeats this, tells the congregation she has come to the same conclusion, and challenges God to prove her wrong.

Bizarre little things begin to happen to her, but one day she meets a funny, charming young man, Adam (Ryan Eggold). She's afraid of losing anyone again, so she resists him, but they wind up falling in love. One day Adam disappears, apparently into this haunted building, and Sophia is determined to get him out.

My biggest problem with this movie is that it was photographed in the dark and I couldn't see anything for a large portion of it. My second problem was the story didn't make a lot of sense to me. There's a famous building that's haunted. People have disappeared from there. There are no stairs. So why would anyone live there? Why does Adam live there? Who would live there? That being said, the last 30-40 minutes are scary and made me nervous. The acting throughout was only okay. I thought the script was bad and the photography worse. As far as the romance, it wasn't developed enough so that anyone cared.

A waste.

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4/10

Message vs. Product

kosmasp9 November 2014

It's one thing to judge this just by the message it is transporting or by the way the movie realized that same idea. I think the idea behind the movie is really good. And while this is one of the better efforts the former OC girl is involved with, this still lacks a lot of things great horror movies have.

Mischa Barton and the other actors in this look good, the framing and shooting of the movie does not need to enhance anything there. Some scenes could do with some enhancing in the acting area though. The dialog could be a bit better too. If you can overlook all those things, you may be able to see this in a better light than it actually represents though ...

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2/10

Yo.. I Think Its Like A Ghost Love Horror Fantasty ...Err.. Something!

loyaltyofaleo31 October 2013

Warning: Spoilers

SPOILER: THIS S*** Doesn't Make A Lick Of Sense... Literally Not One... Cut Scenes That Never Took Places, FlashBakcs We Can't Remember Cause.. Well, They Never Happened, And A Love Story That We Musta Missed Because Last Time I Checked She Was Ignoring Him For "2 Weeks" Without A Callback... Are You Serious?.. Like

:SPOLIER:

Did She Really Give a Eulogy At Her Father's Wake Cursing God?.. In A Church?.. Oh Word?.. That's Cool.. What Else Happens... A Buncha Flashbacks That Never Happened.. Oh Wait I Told You That, Surely There Must Be More To It... How Bout

:SPOLIER: The 6 Minutes That WEll, Let's Just Say I Was At The DMV For A Shorter Period Of Time Then The Entire Final Scene Took Place... And If Thats Not Enough...

:SPOLIER: The B**** Decided To Take A F***in Nap... That's Right... She Took A Nap In A Haunted Hotel, While Searching For Someone In What One Could Only Assume Was A Good 7 Minutes After Beginning The Search In The First Place... Wakes Up To Another Crazy B**** In The Tub And Decides... Your The Only Person Here I Can Trust.. Hold This Watch AND Wake Me up...

NAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH My Ninja... Nah

Movie Is Based Solely On The Success Of Misha Barton.....'s Name

BIG NAME = Movie

F*** A Plot F*** Logic F*** Reason

Just Grab A Big Name And Some Fancy Flashlights And Your Good Bro.

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5/10

Not the epic supernatural love story you may think it to be.

MovieCritic33-622 April 2014

I can honestly say my expectations were set too high for this film. I was expecting a supernatural love story and instead I got a big mess of a film, with a plot so vague I hardly know what to make of it.

The film starts off promising with a present to past reflection leading up to the current events. No doubt this tactic was to keep the audiences' attention to the end of this film. I feel without it all interest would have been lost, because there is nothing within the first 20 minutes to indicate anything supernatural about this film otherwise. That said, there isn't too much of anything ghostly until the last 40 minutes or so of this film.

The love story isn't strong enough either to make an impact on the viewer. The love story never really develops and the main story focuses more on the main protagonist dealing with some eerie events which begin to plague this young woman following a eulogy challenging anything supernatural to prove to her there is something beyond death. These events are what lead her to find refuge and love with a man she basically just bumped in to.

Into the Dark has a few things going for it, a talented cast, and a successful atmospheric tone. The only weakness is the screenplay itself; it is much too ambiguous for my liking and there is never a clear explanation for anything. Excluding our lead, all of the other characters are underdeveloped and certain events occur to all of them that just leave you scratching your head asking "what was the point of that? ".

I recommend this film only to those who are willing to ignore a weak screenplay, and are looking for a mindless supernatural romance film. Into the Dark runs roughly 110 minutes, and does have a bit of everything, but the film just can't seem to keep it's focus on any one thing.

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7/10

A well made supernatural thriller

waqarr4011 September 2013

Into The Dark (2012) sees Sophia Monet (Mischa Barton) experience a range of inexplicable and increasingly disturbing occurrences, following the death of her father.

Originally titled I Will Follow You Into The Dark (named after a Death Cab For Cutie track), Into The Dark is a romance, come supernatural thriller, which contains some interesting ideas and a few key scares.

Sofia sits by the bedside of her dying father, the last of her surviving parents. He is conscious and articulate; vocalizing his difficulties in accepting the illness which is rapidly taking control of him. He urges her to find love, telling her that she will not be complete without it. More significantly, he shows doubts with regard to his religious faith, stating "This may be all we really have." This statement unnerves Sofia, who is taken aback at such a claim being made by a man with whom she has associated the church her entire life.

A staunch atheist, Sofia echoes her father's doubts at a eulogy for him, displaying no great love for religion, nor any respect for the crowd that have gathered to pay their respects. "There are no ghosts, or demons, or loved ones waiting for us on the other side." he assuredly states. For those of us familiar with haunting movies, we all know that taunting what may or may not lurk beyond our perception is never a wise move. Needless to say, it doesn't take long before those spirits come a knocking.

A photographer, and visual artist (an oddly common profession in these films), Sofia stays up working late on her intricate time capture pieces. She remains sullen and morose as a friend attempts to coax her out. Worrying about her own health, she visits her doctor and, on her way home, (literally) bumps into Adam Hunt (Ryan Eggold: 90210), who is on his way to a tour of a haunted asylum. She joins him and the two form a flirtatious relationship. Whilst their excursion to the asylum is uneventful, however, the same can't be said for Sofia's apartment, which begins to take on strange and new forms, culminating in Adam's disappearance.

Despite the presence of two leads who are more associated with sunny teen dramas than genre features, Barton and Eggold hold their own throughout. There are scenes which create an unsettling mystique, such as when Sofia is pinned down to her by an invisible force in the middle of the night. Writer / Director Mark Edwin Robinson shows great potential within the genre, and it would be interesting to see if he continues his foray into genre territory.6.5/10

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3/10

If You Want To Find Him And Bring Him Back, You're Going To Have To Join Him First.

wandernn1-81-68327419 August 2020

Warning: Spoilers

We start off with an Edgar Poe quote. Off to a good start!!! Haha..

So we're dealing with boundaries of life and death here!!! A dimly lit hallway, flickering lights.... And Sophia? Her Dad passes away.

Sophia chooses the site of the memorial service for her father in a church for her site to challenge GOD to prove his existence. Ahh here we go. I can see where this is going....

So Sophia has doubts about God since her father was a devout follower and her father still passed away and I guess her mother did too a while back.

+1 Star for Oops, her boyfriend says she smells like roses after she said she hasn't showered! That's awesome!! Same thing I tell women all the time especially when they are like homeless and living on the street! That's really how it is!!!

Holy Moly obsessed with pictures much??? She's got a wall of pictures of a lot of kissing going on. That's kinda weird. Then she goes and stands in one spot for hours while the world whirls around her. That's really weird!!!

She bumps into Adam...in the street. Oh she's a photographer that's why all the pics I guess. Sophia and Adam start having some type of relationship. Adam even comes to watch her moves at her ballet class. What a hokey.

Adam again doesn't want her to shower. Hell yeah. Sweaty womans are hawt!!! He rushes her up on the rooftop to watch a beautiful sunset, and moves in for that kiss!!! Omg how romantic!!!! ::)

Haha Sophia has a male roommate and come to find out Adam has a female roommate so ain't we all just content.

Sophia finds out that her father BEGGED his nurse/ maid to help him end his life. Oh is this some sort of flashback? Must be.

A Picture in Sophias home falls off the wall and shatters. Sophia then notices when she wakes up she has scratches on her chest. Strange events are starting to happen.

She goes over to Adams and he invites her to stay the night. Of course they start making out. Who the hell didn't see that coming?? Then suddenly we get like years of lovey dovey scenes....not sure what that's about. Was that time passing??? Flashbacks? Visions???

Then suddenly she wakes up and has blood on the sheets where I guess Adam was sleeping?? Roommate Astrid doesn't know whats going on either. When the police come, the blood is no longer there. Both Sophia and Astrid saw it tho. Weird events are happening.

They invite over Sophia's roomie and his 'friend', who say hey maybe Adam will come back the next day or something. They decide hey lets just go get some drinks or something and wait. But weird bumpy things happen in the elevator just going down to the lobby. Or wait where did they go? That they need flashlights to see??

-1 Star Because this is not XFiles....

Sams friend wants to leave. Where the hell are they anyway? I missed something. They are in some dusty locale and they find an old school phonograph playing. They shut if off and it starts back up on its own. Sam's squirrly friend gets scared and runs around through all these sheets that for some reason are hanging up in whatever place they are at. Then she falls through the floor,. Apparently the floors are very weak in this building. Oh and there are no stairs in this building right??? When they get the friend up and start running to the elevator which is now not working at all, they remember there is no stairs. Then the flashlights start failing. Lighters keep getting blown out. Oh nice some guy just dragged Sam off. Astrid gets locked up behind a door that won't budge! Sophia finds an old man, or old people in a room full of beds. Where are they??

The old man explains they were once alive, so I guess they are ghosts. And if she can see him then someone she is close to is in the midst of passing. He says that if she wants to find her man, she's going to have to join him first.

Astrid is exploring too and finds creepy creaking rocking chair spook. Astrid runs across Sophia again? Tells her to rest for a bit??? Seriously??? Resting a bit gives way to flashback scene Sophia and Adam?? lol sophia wakes up and AStrid is taking a bath in a bathtub???

-1 Star for that really dumb writing...

Okay now we get down to the brilliant part. Sophia has Astrid drown her so she can become a ghost and go look for Adam?? Well at least as a ghost she finds a working flashlight!!! that's certainly important! Astrid is supposed to count to 300 and then revive Sophia wiht CPR. I'm sure that will work just fine. Flatliners was a good movie too!!!!

Okay Sophia has been underwater a long long time!! Sam finds Sophia and Astrid and Astrid chokes Sam out for trying to revive Sophia. AStrid passes out. Suffering from some sort of possession??? Sam recovers and tries to revive Sophia.

At least we finally see some light around Sophia. She sees Adam. We have a ton more flashback scenes of her and Adam being all lovey dovey again. I did like the long shots of Los Angeles skyline. So Sam stops CPR...and Sophia is still out, and we fade to black??

Sophia and Adam are on a beach. They are both dead. What a terrible, terrible ending. LOL

-1 Star for the Ending of a pretty bad movie.

3/10

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8/10

A beautiful Story of love, Life and faith

yolyflower513 October 2013

A beautiful story that will touch every soul that sees it! Shot in a mixed genre of supernatural and romance (Ghosts meets Sixth Sense) the film dwells on the undeniable and universal theme of love where that starts and ends and the Afterlife. It's a brave film that takes big chances with enormous topics and it's meant to evoke a response and conversation-which it certainly did for me and my friend- we talked about the film for two hours afterward. It's a film you have to see more than once and highly recommend it to you.

Hollywood has narrowed it view of films to be within a politically, ideologically and New Age correctness and those films outside its parameters are ostracized. This film will touch you. Kudos!

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great setup, unhappy fade

MonsieurMS7 July 2018

It was easy to get into this. It wasn't so easy to get out. This started pretty well and it seemed well paced, well acted and nicely scripted. Then, however, it added a sappy romantic angle that leaves lots of questions, but few answers. Then, it just stopped. (Trying not to spoil it...) Overall, this was all anticipation with no payoff. The abrupt ending seemed to be about a 180 degree turn from what was generally happening. It had its moments. It was ultimately unsatisfying.

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1/10

Sigh...

shreeree12 July 2020

Warning: Spoilers

I hated this film from the moment of her speech at her father's funeral. All I could think is she better be glad I hadn't been there because I would have stood up and asked her what makes her so special? Why should God take time of his busy day to make her, a none believer a believer when he has billions of people who blindly believe in him without some great big personal miracle. Believers see miracles everywhere. It's the believing that causes the spiritual eyes to be open. To some God has already proved he existed when we wake up each morning. You can die out of the blue for no foreseen reason at all in your sleep. So if you look at it spiritually, the first blessing that God exist is when you wake up that morning, it doesn't matter if you don't make it through the rest of the day, waking up is your first blessing. So as I tried to continue watching this movie but I had an eerie feeling watched it when it was first released. This means it wasn't that memorable the first time or I have known it from the first scene. If you want a reason to believe there is no God, and he would terrorize you into to being a believer instead of let's say curing your dad of his what I think was a mental illness than this is the film for you.

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3/10

A tale of two films

DomsDad26 July 2020

This was really A Tale of Two films. The first half was intriguing and engrossing. And I wanted to rated highly. I am a Mischa Barton fan. The second half of film just fell apart into total ridiculousness.

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9/10

For the romantics and horror at the same time

walkinparadise4 August 2020

Unexpected ending but good Little thriller for the movie itself. If you love someone and truly do not want to let go - you won't; if there is a will there is a way.

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9/10

Had no idea it would be this good

caparain5533559 February 2014

I remember Mischa Barton from the OC but had no idea she had this kind of acting in her. I'm not the guy who usually gets too into romantic movies, but this was the perfect blend of paranormal thriller (like 6th Sense) and Romance movie, and I was really into these characters. You can't help but fall in love with Sophia (Mischa Barton) and this movie gets so tense once it really gets going into the scary territory. Sophia falls in love with Adam (Ryan Eggold from Blacklist) after she swore she wouldn't let anyone hurt her again, and once she does, he goes missing. So of course she goes on this search to find him, and is willing to risk her life in the process. I won't spoil this, but the ending was the last thing I ever expected to happen, I think some people might not be on board with it, but I thought it was really smart. Highly recommend

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10/10

wow!! chills!!! Thrills!! a sleeper!!!

flitz3512 September 2013

Warning: Spoilers

Until yesterday I haven't heard of this movie. I very critical when watching a horror film. Ghost stories are my favorite and very rarely I say that a movie was close to perfect. This one was and I am SHOCKED this was a success in the theaters. I couldn't of wrote a better story myself.

Then acting was superb. Not one thing about this movie had a trace of being a B type film. I like movies like The Conjuring and Insidious but I tell you Into The Dark is A+ and I am going to watch it again just like any of my favorite films. Just so you know I just finished watching it and had to immediately rave about this gem.

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9/10

Loved it!! See it!

diplomatedoc13 October 2013

I Will Follow You Into the Dark is a remarkable film that I was pleasantly surprised seeing after reading some of the most hateful comments by dried out frustrated and possibly overworked (why all their acrimony? Did Director Mark Edwin Robinson hit a nerve?) Critics.

The film starts in a place where most of us have been or will be at sometime in our lives- at the side of a dying loved one. Sophia Monet (Mischa Barton) has had all she has ever loved taken away and is in a situation many can relate to- being afraid to love and lose again.

We feel the depth of her soul, wanting to hole up and keep isolated so she can never be hurt again. But as fate would have it she finds the perfect man in Adam played by Ryan Eggold (Blacklist NBC, 90210.) We follow their growing relationship despite Sophia's self-protecting best judgment.

The film is shot in colors and tones that take us visually and musically into a spirit world that is as unknown to us as it is chilling! It's a ride you won't forget and a movie you won't stop talking about.

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9/10

Definitely Worth the Watch

Charged_Fan1 November 2014

If you're into this genre, I believe you'll find this well worth your time--especially if you're a Mischa Barton fan! I was afraid I might be a bit disappointed after reading some of the reviews I found here, so even though I'd looked forward to seeing this movie, I'd tempered my expectations going into it. But I needn't have worried as I very much enjoyed it! The only criticism I found to be at all true was that perhaps there wasn't much development of the secondary characters—yet I didn't feel that took away from the overall story.

I thought it was very well paced and more than sufficiently scary. I love a good scary movie, but I'm much more into the psychological kind of scary than the slasher kind of blood and guts movies. So anybody expecting the latter would be disappointed, but if you like a movie that makes you think a little bit and puts you more than a little on edge, this is it (it didn't help that there are some pretty strong winds outside right now, and at one point while they were on their search in the movie, a broom I keep on my front porch got blown over and clattered against both the door and handrails out there, about 10 feet from where I was watching this movie!).

And I don't understand the critics of Mischa Barton. Although I'll admit I am a fan of hers anyway, hence wanting to watch this movie in the first place, I honestly thought she did a very good job in this movie! I also really liked her in Walled In as well as Homecoming—so I'm finding her to be a surprisingly good actress for this genre of movies. But it doesn't hurt that there was a love story here as well since I also think she handles that well too, along with the introspective type of roles that more dramatic romances have as opposed to the rom-com type of stuff. I can't say I knew Ryan Egghold prior to this, but I thought he handled his role fine too, as did the secondary characters despite not having too much to do overall.

I won't give any spoilers here, but despite enjoying watching scary movies alone (as I just did this one), I almost wish I'd watched it with someone so I could debate the ending that I felt was left a bit open to interpretation. Or at least, I know how I believe I interpreted it—but I could see it being explained another way too! So as the one reviewer mentioned discussing it with his fellow movie-watcher for two hours afterward, I could easily see having such a conversation. So all that is to say, unless you're expecting a blood and guts movie or want a really fast-paced scarefest, I believe many fans of this genre would find this worth the watch! And although I only rented this for now, I plan on buying it so I'll have it for my permanent collection as I would and will definitely watch it again.

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