Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today, we are continuing our Fall Themed Horror season with another movie with a slightly ambiguous time setting. Kevin Phillips’ Super Dark Times is a psychological thriller movie with some strong horror leanings.
A subject that always comes up with movies like this is whether or not they can be classed as horror. To be honest, I suppose I am cheating a little here. If you are talking about traditional, jump scare filled, killer chases victims horror, then absolutely not. Horror has a far broader definition than that, though. Whereas Super Dark Times is, predominantly, a thriller, there are plenty of horror elements to keep most fans entertained.
Super Dark Times – Synopsis
Super Dark Times follows the story of best friends Josh, played by Charlie Tahan, and Zach, played by Owen Campbell. The pair spend a lot of time together and like to hang out with another pair of local boys. The group ride bikes, chat, and generally do what teens do. The bliss of innocent childhood fun is quickly disrupted after a horrible accident leads to a situation that threatens to splinter the group. Causing the once close Josh and Zach to go in separate, drastically different, directions.
Super Dark Times is, predominantly, a slow burning psychological thriller. Taking its time to establish the setting and characters, the plot builds slowly before racing to the finish line like a steam train. We see the story unfold from the perspective of our main character Zach. After finding himself witness to a traumatic event. The story follows his attempt to get his life back on track. Weaved in to this is a romance subplot just to add a few different elements to the plot. It’s fairly compelling stuff.
I called this a “coming of age” movie and, in my eyes, it really is. The teens here are somewhere in the middle of the popularity spectrum and are hitting that point in their lives where things start to change for them. Super Dark Times is an interesting look into the problems teens can face in their later school years. The characters have to face the all too common issues of navigating school work while dealing with complex new emotions and burgeoning relationships. The only difference is, these teens have to do that while also facing the consequences of the trauma caused by the accident they witnessed.
Small Town American Horror
Super Dark Times is set against a backdrop of 90’s small town America. The area is so small that the kids can ride their bikes everywhere and frequently do. This lends a sense of intimacy to the movie that makes you feel as though you recognise the location. Naturally, I am Welsh so I didn’t grow up around this type of place but it could be any small town from American movies or TV series. We were all raised on shows from the USA, we all know this town. People who grew up in communities like this will instantly enjoy the sense of familiarity offered by the location.
Events that occur in the movie feel tightly contained and there is a sense that everyone knows everyone else. This does a nice job of adding to the tension and keeping the viewer on edge. Zach’s paranoia is easily understandable and the almost claustrophobic nature of the setting adds to this. You can’t run or escape from the things that happen in a place like this. Something will always remind you and the whispers in the class rooms or workplaces might as well be shouts for how quickly they spread.
Small town America has always been a fantastic horror movie setting. Stephen King recognised this, as do many other horror movie makers. In fact, we even put together a list of excellent horror movies set in small town America. The small size of the area creates an almost oppressive feeling of being contained and under a microscope. Along with this, the cold, autumn feeling of the movie adds to the character’s sense of desperation. Josh remarks about how he hates the winter and the cold. The rapid onset of said winter provides a backdrop of snow covered fields. It also places something of a timer on how long the boys can keep their secrets before spring comes, the leaves blow away, the snow thaws and they are revealed for the world to see.
Flashback to the 90s
Super Dark Times is an absolutely gorgeous movie. A visual feast that looks every bit as dreamy as the postcard like setting hints. Shots of the boys riding their bikes over long bridges are some of my favourite in horror. A lot of indie movies think they look this good. Few actually do. Much of that is down to the time period the movie is set in and the innocence said time period offers.
The movie takes place in the 90s. When in the 90s isn’t made clear but, given the video games being played and some of the music, it is safe to say it is around 97-98. This offers a really nice aesthetic. From the bikes to the bomber jackets, from the large phones to the televisions. This is a movie that will sing to people who grew up in that era. Being a 90’s kid myself, it’s somewhat funny to see a movie recreate it so perfectly. It evokes memories of video games played at that time, music listened to, and the pre-internet age of calling people on landlines and riding your bike to their house to see if they were home.
There is something of an innocence to that age that we are all a bit guilty of buying into. Everything seemed a bit simpler then and that plays heavily into the drastic shift the kids in the movie experience. The death of innocence. One minute they are riding their bikes and having fun, the next their lives are changed forever. I am a huge Midwest Emo music fan and Super Dark Times looks, at times, like a Midwest Emo album cover. It’s something I really love about it. This could be the movie version of a Mineral, or Midwest Penpals, song. It’s fantastic.
Decent Acting
Acting is great, pretty much, throughout. I was not a fan of Amy Hargreaves as Zach’s mum. There is an over the top element to her performance that made me feel as though she was trying too hard to school these young actors. Elizabeth Cappuccino, as Allison, is fine but doesn’t really stand out. Owen Campbell is great as Zach and does an excellent job of expressing the emotions and paranoia of the character.
Special mention has to go to Charlie Tahan’s brilliant portrayal of Josh, however. He is fantastic and thoroughly believable as the troubled teen who is both socially awkward and seemingly wary of the people around him. Some of the subtle things he does really make you chuckle and he does a great job of acting strange. Tahan absolutely stands out among what is a very talented cast.
It is worth pointing out that the majority of actors here were adults when this film was made. I have seen people praising the cast for being decent actors while still being school age. With the exception of one or two actors that isn’t the case. It doesn’t take away from their performances at all but it does bring me to the fact that this is super common in American films. Zach, Allison, and a bunch of the other kids in the school are very clearly in their 20s. It does detract from the visual a little but at least it doesn’t remove children from school to make a movie.
An Uneven End
My biggest complaint about Super Dark Times is the last 30 minutes or so. The movie has a runtime of 103 minutes and, for most of that time, it is slow paced. The story unfolds, the characters react, time moves on, and nothing major happens. All of a sudden, everything escalates at a tremendous pace to the ultimate conclusion. This, for me, drags the movie down a fair bit.
The actions of one character, in particular, towards the end of the film make almost no sense. The character’s mental decline is not expanded on and happens, mostly, offscreen. It is unexplained and doesn’t feel at all organic. There is no gradual progression of events, no exposition to explain how the character is feeling and no explanation for why the character does what they do. The ending feels rushed and extremely sudden.
It doesn’t help that all of this leads up to a final segment that I imagine will disappoint many viewers. The whole thing feels out of place given the previous events of the movie and it ultimately doesn’t fit. It’s as though they had to wrap the story up, realised they maybe didn’t expand on the character enough but went with the first draft ending anyway. More time was needed developing characters and that is detrimental to the conclusion.
Should You Watch Super Dark Times?
It is worth keeping in mind that this is far more of a thriller than a horror. If this sounds good to you then you should definitely watch Super Dark Times. It’s a dreamy postcard love letter to 90’s small town America and a captivating depiction of the shattering of innocence. Well acted, beautifully filmed, and consistently enthralling. The only thing letting this movie down is an overly rushed ending that makes little sense and doesn’t hit the high notes that come before it. Still a great film and well worth checking out.
