Dark Feed

Director(s) - Michael Rasmussen and Shawn Rasmussen
Starring - Bree Elrod (Shutter Island), Michael Reed (The Disco Exorcist), and Victoria Nugent (Polterghost)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Tagline - Insanity can be contagious"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Since Silent Hill found it's way into theaters, hundreds of films have used the sanitarium/hospital as a back drop for their films.  Sure, other films used these placed way before Silent Hill was released but due to the success the video game based film received many jumped on the bandwagon and tried to cash in on it.  I honestly see the appeal that both these locations have because both can be extremely fucking creepy.  However, most of these movies that use these locations are fucking terrible.  That brings me to this next flick Dark Feed.  The directors, the Rasmmussen brothers, reached out to me via email requesting to review their flick.  I was open to it and graciously accepted and a few weeks later I got a DVD in the mail.  Thank you guys so much for sending me the screener!

     The film follows a low-budget film crew as they film their newest horror flick in an abandoned hospital.  This day is different.  New on set is the screenplay writer who is excited to see his screenplay come to life.  As he meets everyone on set he quickly learns that today marks the first day on set for several other crew members.  Over time the screenplay writer starts to notice strange occurrences.  He begins to see a black substance randomly appear and disappear.  Also, the cast and crew starts to act differently with each other.  As time progresses the cast and crew start to attack each other and kill everyone.  The only ones that seem to not be affected by this are the ones new to set.  The writer is told all of this by the star of the film, Jack (Reed), who already killed his co-star and plans on killing him before he escaped.  Is this presence turning them all into savage maniacs supernatural or man-made?
     When I first saw the artwork for this film I assumed it would be another one of those haunted hospital flicks I mentioned earlier...and it was.  This movie is like those others in almost every way except one...I didn't suck.  At first the film was just like all the others.  Images of creepy dark hallways and water damaged wallpaper while the cast and crew go about their normal routine unbeknownst to them something demonic is around them.  I really wanted to hate this movie when it first started.  It took forever to set up and was slow as hell at first but once the film picks up it was well worth the wait.  The acting in this one is great by the entire cast.  Every cast member pulled their own weight which really made this one easy to watch.  The story is something we have seen before.   In fact, it can easily be compared to the 2011 found footage flick Grave Encounters.  Thought it is not that original, it still does something many of the others could not do and that is entertain.  Finally, those looking for on-screen kills and special effects will find them here.  The film has some great death scenes and decent special effects to accompany them.  The special effects definitely adds to the death scenes and makes it more enjoyable.  Overall, what Dark Feed lacks in originality it makes up for with sheer terror.  The film is masterfully crafted and has the power to induce nightmares.  I highly recommend it.