In Search of Darkness Part III: The Final Journey Into '80s Horror

2022

Documentary / History / Horror

12
IMDb Rating 7.9/10 10 1020 1K

Plot summary

The conclusion to the ‘In Search of Darkness’ '80s trilogy. In this epic final chapter, our focus turns to the straight-to-video horror classics that populated the bottom shelves at the video rental store. Imaginative, gory, experimental—but always entertaining—these hidden gems are ripe for rediscovery.

Director

David A. Weiner Photo
David A. Weiner

Top cast

Tom Holland Photo
Tom Holland as Self - Interviewee
Caroline Munro Photo
Caroline Munro as Self - Interviewee
Caroline Williams Photo
Caroline Williams as Self - Interviewee
David Dastmalchian Photo
David Dastmalchian as Self - Interviewee
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
3.07 GB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
5 hr 41 min
Seeds 2
5.7 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
5 hr 41 min
Seeds 13

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Reviews_of_the_Dead 8 / 10

Dives the Deepest of this Trilogy. Great Documentary

This is the conclusion to the In Search of Darkness document series. What makes this one even more interesting to me is that they delve into more of the straight to video and lesser talked about titles. This is the longest one in the group and had the most titles of the three with works I've not seen. There was even a good amount that I had never heard of, which made me smile.What we get here is a combination of introducing a year, then running through a group of titles from it along with vignettes in between for more insight. We hear from the likes of David Dastmalchian, John Carpenter, Kathleen Wilhoite, Adrienne Barbeau, Robert Englund, Dee Wallace, Cassandra Peterson, Caroline Munro, Caroline Williams and Linnea Quigley. We have a combination of people in these movies, talking about their experiences as well as how these movies shaped actors who are working today. I'm also leaving out a bunch of others who shared as well.Then coupling this, we have critical voices in the genre. This includes Diana Prince, A. J. Danna, Xanthe Pajarillo, Jed Shepherd, Phil Nobile Jr., Heather Wixson and Cecil Trachenburg. Again, I'm leaving out a bunch to avoid listing so many here as well. It is interesting since I've read things or listen to these voices to get their perspective gives you a different perspective than your own. This combination makes this a great documentary in my opinion.What also helps is that this is well-made. The clips used are edited perfectly to convey what is being said and give examples. The selection is great since I'm adding a lot of new titles to my ever-growing list of movies to watch. Just the knowledge that is shared here is worth watching this. This is a great ending to a wonderful documentary series. I'd recommend it to all horror fans from newbies to experts.My Rating: 8 out of 10.
Reviewed by phubbs 9 / 10

In Search of Darkness: Part III

The search for Darkness continues and presumably ends with this third part of this quite epic documentary into the 80's horror film genre. Whereas part one covered the more famous and infamous horror flicks, and part two covered the more obscure; part three seems to cover everything in between from the familiar to not so familiar (for me at least).By now anyone watching this documentary will be well aware of how it plays out and prepared for the onslaught of information, any newbies out there buckle up! Once again the background information to every aspect of all these movies comes thick and fast like a rollercoaster. As before the doc is presented in a year-by-year format and each movie is given its own little segment which in some cases doesn't really delve deep enough, unfortunately, leaving you wanting. But in other cases you get a nice dollop of info that is just enough to satisfy. Whether or not you already know about this information is obviously the key factor in how pleasing it will be.As I said in my review of the first two parts, the issue these days is background information for movies is (and has been) easily available either on DVD, Blu-ray, or YouTube etc...for years. Unlike the old days when behind-the-scenes footage/docs/interviews etc...were like gold dust, these days it's beyond common practice. Heck you could even argue that people aren't that bothered anymore with the advent of streaming. Actual physical copies of movies that would have extras aren't the mainstream anymore, strange as that may sound. So essentially, there is a possibility that with many of the movies you may well have seen or heard the information before, although that is less likely with some I'm sure.Despite this the overall celebration and sheer scope of this series (and this third part) are undeniably impressive. The amount of horror actors, both famous and obscure, that are interviewed is impressive alone. The writers, effects people, horror experts/historians, directors etc...The snippets from all the movies covered or merely referenced. The larger context chapters that dig that bit deeper into specific aspects of the genre, specific actors, specific controversies etc...International horror movies and their effect on the genre. All here crammed into one documentary. I say crammed but they aren't really, this doc is over 5 hours long! But that isn't an issue either as it's perfectly fine to stop and come back another time. The segmentation of the series allows for viewings to be split.There isn't a great deal to say here that I didn't say already for the first two parts. That's not a negative, it's merely because this is a continuation of the documentary and if you've been watching then you're obviously a fan and know what to expect. But yeah, this is a documentary on all aspects of the horror genre during the 80's and it's flippin' epic. If you like horror then this is for you. If you like some horror movies/franchises but aren't too bothered about horror overall, then you might find this a bit too much and could find yourself tuning out.The question is, will this documentary carry on and dive into the 90's decade of horror? I hope it does as the 90's is now probably just as iconic for the genre with many true gems.
Reviewed by destiny_west 8 / 10

A must watch for all horror fans

I think out of the three in this series, In Search of Darkness part III is definitely my favourite.If you were alive during the 80's and watched horror movies you can't help but be delighted by this installment.It brings back so many memories of straight to VHS horror films that you may have forgotten about.It has you definitely wanting to watch them again.The people giving their insights are fun and insightful.It is a very long watch, over 4 hours, however broken up into sessions, you do find yourself having to make you say enough for now and turn it off.It definitely has the binge quality to it.I would highly recommend this documentary.There have been a few horror documentaries around, however I have personally found the In Search of Darkness series to be the best.
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