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Descent Into Darkness - Review

3 beersBecause safe is a state of mind.

The first warning happens right in front of the Pompidou Centre when a tourist’s camera, while he is recording his thoughts on one of the best-known sights in Paris, is stolen by an unidentified male.  Hauling ass through a crowded street, the man – weighed down by camera gear – panics and yells after the thief, who keeps ducking and weaving through the stream of people.  The shouts finally draw the right attention and someone, another unidentified man, stops the thief, getting the camera back to its rightful owner.

And all I can think is that this journalist – with his heavy accent – got lucky.  It is, in fact, the end of whatever good luck he had when sent on this journey to define and document the European Dream.  What follows in the darkly demented video travelogue – truly saving the best of its horror for the final few minutes – is more than just a series of bad decisions and bad luck.  It is a pile of evidence, by way of POV, that explains precisely how much in Hell we truly are.

Descent into Darkness: My European Nightmare is a slow burn of a horror title.  It draws us into its crafted madness with touristy charm and then smashes us over the head with its brutality.  

Sorgoi Prakov (Rafael Cherkaski, who also directs this found footage film) is a super nice guy.  You should remember that.  His smile is wide and his complete blissfulness is infectious.  Hailing from a European country, he is assigned to pack on the camera gear – including head mount and microphone – and travel through Europe, making a heart shape with his trajectory, and document the European Dream.  This is his assignment. 

And his first stop is in Paris.  It goes splendidly – especially the nightlife – and Sorgoi documents it all.  Even if he goes overboard and decides to dial back some of the more lurid aspects of his evening affairs, his camera documents what will, in fact, become a sea change within him.  The film’s brief glimpses of dark humor turns to misspent hours (drugs, criminal activity, and so on) which, in turn, begins to impact Sorgoi, altering his choices, and our responses to his situation, and the world view around Sorgoi, who remains a man on a mission, looking for an answer that doesn’t exist. 

And then, with no further choice in the matter, the camera begins to document the world at its shittiest.  And we are left cold and haunted.  There's a thin, thin line between love and hate.  We acknowledge this fact.  Descent into Darkness; however,  depicts just how easy it is go insane.

Poor Sorgoi.  Without money and with no communication from his producer, he is left aimlessly to wander the streets and deal with whatever comes his way.  Co-starring Simon-Pierre Boireau, Elodie Bouleau, Roland David, Charles Dhumerelle, Xavier Kerf, Corentin Koskas, Denis Larzilière, Loïc Lefebvre, Philippe Pasquini, and Omar Salim, Descent into Darkness captures the world as it is and, yes, it is as terrifying as you can guess. 

Cherkaski doesn’t give us a break.  He is relentless and the camera doesn’t shy away from the nightmare either.  Descent into Darkness: My European Nightmare is exactly that.  And it will chill you to the bone. 

The found-footage horror film celebrates its worldwide release on Amazon Video, POV Horror, and all Android devices on December 15, 2017. 

Watch the world burn and then just try to sleep.  I dare you.

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Descent Into Darkness - Review

MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime:
92 mins
Director
: Rafaël Cherkaski
Writer:
Quentin Boeton, Simon-Pierre Boireau
Cast:
Simon-Pierre Boireau, Elodie Bouleau, Rafaël Cherkaski
Genre
: Horror
Tagline:
My European Nightmare.
Official Site: https://www.facebook.com/POVHorrorOfficial/
Synopsis: A journalist from an Eastern European country arrives in Paris to start a tour of European capitals. His intention is to make a documentary about the European dream. Between fascination and difficulty of adaptation, Sorgoï struggles to complete his project and his expedition drives him to a devastating state of madness.

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Descent Into Darkness - Review

 

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