Review: ‘In Search of Darkness’ antes up with its second part

Makeup mastermind Tom Savini has long lived by this simple, yet profound, creed: “The more you do, the more you get to do.” 10 words captures the sheer spirit of most creative types. Whether you’re a sculptor or a poet or a screenwriter, the only way ahead is to work tirelessly and fearlessly on your craft, day-in and day-out. Horror in the ’80s was a smorgasbord of actors, writers, directors, and special makeup effects artists doing exactly that. They did absolutely whatever they wanted, when they wanted, and however they wanted. And it didn’t matter if their film was critically panned — they did it because they just loved making movies. In Search of Darkness antes up with its encyclopedic look at the defining era of horror with its second part, equally as striking and insightful as the first (which we reviewed last summer), and is currently available to the public in a limited-time flash sale, ending at midnight on February 14.

Director David Weiner lines up many of the same players, including John Carpenter, Barbara Crampton, Daily Dead‘s Heather Wixson, and Phil Noble Jr, current EIC of Fangoria, but expands the roster of interviewees to include many other ’80s essentials like Robert Englund, Linnea Quigley (Graduation Day, The Return of the Living Dead), Nancy Allen (Dressed to Kill, Poltergeist III), and Jackie Kong (director of Blood Diner and The Being), among more than a dozen others. Breadth of conversations seems to balloon, as well, to encompass dissection of Italian filmmaking and the Giallo sub-genre, role of children in horror storytelling, use of comedy, unmade passion projects (including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III: The Sawyers Take Manhattan — yes, really), and foreign film.

Pieced with the first entry, the In Search of Darkness project stands at more than nine hours of in-depth discussions about horror’s defining decade. It really is the definitive look into the decade — and to be honest, we wouldn’t mind even more installments in the future. What’s even more, Weiner gives proper due to many long-forgotten B films that many may not have heard of, or perhaps heard about but could never find. Everything from Pieces (1982), Savage Streets (1984), and House (1986) to Waxwork (1988) and 1989 Japanese cyberpunk body horror film Tetsuo: The Iron Man has a moment in the spotlight. It’s truly astonishing.

In the closing “Famous Last Words” segment, Linnea Quigley sums up why I, personally, love horror films so very much: “There are so many things that a film can do for you. And I think a lot of fans find it very healing — that have gone through things or are going through things.” Bingo!

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