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[Review] ‘Out of the Dark’ Is An Impressive Production With a Lame Story
Shot on location in Colombia, Lluís Quílez’s ghostly thriller Out of the Dark features some truly striking photography and an Old Testament sense of right and wrong. It falls into the horror sub-genre of white people moving in on land where they’re not very welcome and does so in a predictable manner. After an ominous prologue, Sarah (Julia Stiles) and Paul (Scott Speedman) move into their new home in Colombia with their young daughter Hannah. Sarah’s there to take over her father’s paper mill, the area’s proud and joy. While she learns the ropes, Paul stays home and works on his illustrations.
He may be a good artist but he’s not very good at watching Hannah, so she winds up wandering away into the adjacent jungle twice times in one day. Here’s where one of the biggest problems of the film rears its obnoxious head: the music beats every times a tense moment happens are WAY overdone. I always hate the screeching strings that accompany jump scares in most contemporary horror and Out of the Dark has some of the most aggressive.
The more Hannah wanders off, apparitions of bandaged, wheezing children begin to appear on the outskirts of their home and even in a local marketplace. With their family threatened, Sarah begins investigating the mystery behind these children. From here Out of the Dark builds up its suspense slowly and holds our attention mainly through the dense production design and photography. There’s really nothing interesting or emotional going on in the script (which Quílez co-wrote with the team behind Carriers) and not all of it makes sense. Julia Stiles (who I’ve never been a huge fan of) does a decent job with the material given her. Paul is a skeptic when it comes to the local legends, so he remains passive through much of the film, leaving it up to Sarah to save their daughter. Sarah’s journey is a fairly predictable one, but the lush production designs really do grip us by the balls.
The film does have something to say about hubris and how conquistadors (in this case white people) feel the need to civilize local populations (whether they want to be or not). Like most of the story, this message is delivered in a foreseeable way, hitting beats that harken back to films like The Devil’s Backbone and The Orphanage. Despite some remarkable photography and palpable atmosphere, the film would’ve benefited greatly by diverging from the predictable and charting its own path through the jungle.
Out of the Dark is now available on VOD and in select theaters.
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Watch the Opening ‘Mortal Kombat II’ Battle Scene Now Ahead of Physical Media Release in July
Sequel Mortal Kombat II is now available to watch at home on Digital before heading to physical media in July, but you can test your might now and watch the opening scene.
Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid returns to the helm for the new sequel from a script by Jeremy Slater (“Moon Knight,” Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire).
In Mortal Kombat II, the fan-favorite champions — now joined by Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) — are pitted against one another in the ultimate, no-holds barred, gory battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.
Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, and Hiroyuki Sanada are also part of the ensemble cast of Mortal Kombat II fighters.
Watch the opening below, which introduces a young Kitana (Sophia Xu) as Emperor Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) prepares to conquer her father, King Jerrod (Desmond Chiam), and her kingdom of Edenia. It sets the sequel’s entire plot in motion.
From New Line Cinema, James Wan’s Atomic Monster, Broken Road Productions, and Fireside Films, Mortal Kombat II is rated R for “strong bloody violence and gore, and language.”
Look for Mortal Kombat II to arrive on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on July 28, 2026.
The physical media release contains the following special features, as unveiled by IGN:
- Mortal Kombat II: Evolving the Saga (Featurette)
- Returning characters, new alliances and even bigger fatalities! Go behind the scenes to learn all that went into creating the latest chapter in the Mortal Kombat film saga and how the sequel expands the universe to bolder, bloodier heights.
- Building the Realms of Mortal Kombat (Featurette)
- From the decaying streets of Edenia to the terrifying Pit featured in the iconic video game series, discover how the Mortal Kombat II design teams blended practical sets with groundbreaking VFX to create the legendary realms in the film.
- Mortal Kombat II: Choose Your Fighter (Featurette)
- Awaken your Arcana as you meet the cast and explore the brutal weapons, epic costumes and fierce training that went into bringing their characters to life.
- Klose Quarters Kombat (Featurette)
- Cast members and key creatives share insights into how the stunt preparation, intense fight scenes and weapons training shaped both classic moves and new, merciless combat styles.
- A “Boon” to Gamers Everywhere (Featurette)
- Sit down with chief Mortal Kombat mythmaker and creator Ed Boon for a deep dive into the franchise’s storied history and ongoing evolution that spans three decades of near-infinite games, films and comics, culminating with the live-action sequel.