Daniel Podolak

Polish horror as a movie genre has had always difficult situation in our Country. I could give a full number from the genre but it wouldn’t be bigger than number of my fingers in both hands. This is sad because it seems to be that Poland directors do not take seriously that sort of cinema, focusing only on artistic cinema or stupid comedies.

You could ask, why the most famous genre in the world has no representatives in that particular region? Why Polish directors and people in the movie business has no interest for genre? Some say that there are too many bad directors and they have no idea how to scaring audience. Other say that people responsible for the cinema condition in our country want to put company money only into schematic comedies, action and sitcoms. In other words the most desirable movies in Poland. It looks like in 2008 one person wanted to change that situation but he totally failed. What a shame!

The movie “Time of Darkness” was directed by Grzegorz Kuczeriszka, best known as a cinematographer for several profitable comedies. Four years ago, fresh director decided to make a slasher mixed up with ghosts and Nazis experiments motive. The main goal was to create a movie with fast action and the visual style of such productions like Hostel and Saw. Thus the director gave hungry of cinematographic terror tales audience something bloody and not very sophisticated thinking that it will suit their tastes. In the result we have received a great parody with non logical plot. Let those beware of who have not seen this movie, because indeed this is truly genre assassin.
The “Time of Darkness” is telling the story of four students travelling to the Lover Silesia. Actually this is the place where one of the characters brother(Adam) has been missed in mysterious circumstances a few years ago. The group of students are having careless fun during swimming in the river and drinking tones of alcohol . The same night when the storm has come out, students are hiding in the creepy abandoned factory, after that the youth from reformatory is transferred to nearby creepy mental institution with unclear reasons. Thus all those strange to each other people are becoming the object of the mad experiment.

From this point the plot is running really aggressively , the characters are dividing on two groups so the narration has taking place in two different spot; mental institution and old fabric. The Villains in this movie are the old German Nazis trying to transplant their souls into young people body. I think the whole Nazi theme came out more funny than scary. Basically, when I see the group of old people in combat with young and strong youth it makes me laugh.

Kuczeriszka has served viewers furious camera work, grim mise en scene and atmospheric score but none of those thing couldn’t cover the bad and naive plot. All these aesthetic characteristics visually didn’t set that movie closer to Western production. In fact everything in that movie, including sope operas actors, incompetent camera work, riddled screenplay and etc etc was a unsuccessful transplantation of Hollywood spirit into Polish cinematographic body.