In Search of Darkness: A Journey Into Iconic '80s Horror (David A. Weiner, 2019, UK)

In Search of Darkness: A Journey Into Iconic ‘80s Horror is surely a labor of love. Made with the help of crowdfunding from horror fans, the film is a 4-hour+ odyssey through 80s horror. The film goes through each year of the 1980s, identifying the standout films of that year and devoting around 3 to 5 minutes per film. Accompanying these film capsules are numerous talking heads, which must run into the hundreds, including many people who were actually involved in the production of said films. Between each year, there is typically another segment outlining a particular trend from 80s horror.

The choices of films to focus on are strong. The film leans heavily into the iconic franchises, including Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, but also devotes ample time to lesser known titles from each year. True horror fanatics are unlikely to find anything truly new here, but casual fans will find a lot of new films to check out. The insight and analysis presented are mostly surface-level - don’t expect any deep philosophical dives. The segments are meant to be highly digestible, and given their short length, there is not a significant amount of ground covered on any one film. The end result feels less like a film essay on horror and more like the TV specials we saw in the 90s covering the “100 Scariest Moments” in movies.

That said, director David A. Weiner has done an admirable job assembling all of the talking heads. You can feel his enthusiasm for the project, and that radiates throughout the talking heads as well. Apparently, the film has spawned a number of sequels, including a version which explores 1990s horror (horror’s lost decade). We are interested in watching other films in the In Search of Darkness franchise.

7/10