Review by Jon Donnis
Before you get too excited, although the lovely Emily Atack is in this film, it is only her voice, which was perhaps a smart decision for her as it meant she could get her job done in a single day from a studio.
Chloe (Alexys Gabrielle) has volunteered to try a new rehabilitation process after suffering an accident, this seems to involve moving into a house that is controlled by an AI called AIDA (Emily Atack).
AIDA, runs everything in the "smart-house" and is given the job of keeping Chloe safe and helping her rehabilitation. Chloe becomes friends with AIDA, but AIDA starts to think for itself, I am sure there was a movie in the 1980s that warned about all of this! If only we had listened, well they never listened in this film, and of course the AI becomes self-aware and the inevitable happens.
I use the word inevitable very purposely, since this is an incredibly predictable film. It also seems to have been filmed in the dullest possible way, there is a total lack of colours in the film, which doesn't help keep your attention as the viewer.
The film is relatively short at 80 minutes, but really it could have been half that and not really lost anything. This is no more than an episode of The Outer Limits or The Twilight Zone, but stretched to 80 minutes.
The Good
The film starts off promisingly enough, and there is a story there to be told. Oh and the poster looks really cool.
The Bad
The film is rather dull, and by the time anything good happens, you may have lost interest. Plus why on earth would you hire Emily Atack (the most famous person in the film) and only use her voice?
Overall
Unoriginal story that drags at times, and sadly doesn't use the cast it has in a way they deserve.
I score Dark Cloud a poor 3/10. Just not very good.
Out on digital and DVD - https://amzn.to/3ahORZl
