In Search of Darkness: A Journey Into Iconic 80s Horror (2019)

While it’s certainly not for casual viewers, this four-hour long documentary about ’80s horror movies will delight genre fans to no end. Mind you, it’s a bit disappointing that, by covering so much ground over its running time, there’s not a lot of time spent on any individual movie. However that’s about the only drawback: Me, I grew up on a steady diet of ’80s and ’90s horror movies rented from the local mom-and-pop video store down the street, so this felt very much like a nostalgic trip through my own memories: Seeing all the horror artwork covers featured throughout the movie felt like I was visiting those long-gone video stores that provided so much content for creepy little kids like me, and it reignited a passion for ’80s horror since I’ve watched it. Some of the talking head participants are the usual horror-doc suspects (like Mick Garris, Tom Atkins, Diana Prince, Barbara Crampton, etc), and while they don’t add much in terms of analysis, their passion for the genre (not to mention their direct, hands-on experience creating some of the genre’s most memorable entries during the time period in question), shines through and makes the overall viewing feel like a common, shared experience among fellow freaks and geeks.

Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)