Written by: Michael Den Boer on April 23rd, 2010
Theatrical Release Date: UK, 2008
Director: Lee Akehurst
Writer: Lee Akehurst
Cast: Christopher Dunne, Christopher Dane, Sarah Akehurst, Helen Millar, Brett Findlay, Kay Taylor
DVD released: January 12th, 2010
Approximate running time: 85 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo English
Subtitles: N/A
DVD Release: Cinema Epoch
Region Coding: Region 1 NTSC
Retail Price: $24.98
Synopsis: An aging customer service rep named Ned is approached by one of his co-workers about a business opportunity that would require a substantial amount of money up front. The co-worker uses Ned’s attraction for his girlfriend, who also works as a customer service rep to help them swindle Ned of his life savings. On the surface Ned appears to be a quite family man. While in reality the skeletons in his closet tell a story of a trouble man who can quickly become violent if pushed too far.
The film’s main character Ned and the reason behind his psychotic outbursts are quickly established. All of the film’s big surprises center around the other characters who populate this film. The film’s pacing tends to drag for long stretches, especially during the middle of the film as it tries to set things up for the twist ending which brings three of the film’s main characters journeys full circle.
The kill scenes are adequate enough with a few of them trying hard to be overly nasty in tone. From a production stand point the film’s limited resources are accentuated by the films underwhelming visual style. Performance wise the cast are adequate at best with the only performance that leaves in lasting impression being Christopher Dunne in the role of Ned. Ultimately Dark Rage is a mediocre thriller that is virtually devoid of tension.
The DVD:
Cinema Epoch presents Dark Rage in an anamorphic widescreen that preserves the film’s original aspect ratio. This transfer has not been flagged for progressive playback. The image look clean, colors and flesh tones fare well and outside of few darker / night time scenes look soft, the image for the most part looks crisp.
This release comes with one audio option a Dolby Digital stereo mix in English. There are no problems with distortion or background and dialog is clear.
Extras for this release include a image gallery with music from the film playing in the background and a promo image gallery of titles that are available on DVD from Cinema Epoch. Overall Dark Age gets a strong good audio / video presentation from Cinema Epoch.