Written by: Ryan Dailey
Alex Visani and writers Alessandro Albertini,Lorenzo Lepoti bring to the table a tale of chaos left in the wake of the fall of Communism. Tirana, 1997, Matia (Matiia Çobanaj) seeks refuge from his bullying classmates in one of the many abandoned bunkers in Tirana.The young child does not find refuge, however as he stumbles upon a dark secret instead. In modern-day Tirana, group of friends, Davide, (Endrit Ahmetaj) Giulia, (Ingrid Monacelli) Nua (Ilirda Bejleri) and Adrian (Ermir Jonka) plan on using one of the “abandoned” bunkers in Tirana as the setting for their restaurant dreams. One of the friends, however, has a secret almost as dark as what the bunker hides. One of the friends in the group owes a large amount of money to a group of gangsters that demand payment now, and that person is more than willing to cheat his friends to pay off their debt. The group ends up not so much chasing their dreams as being chased by something brandishing blades that thirst for blood.
Alex Visani is a director that knows the art of filmmaking. He knows when to use the perfect set-up and what camera movements to use when. The writers of Blades in the Darkness have created a killer that is deep, born out of political strife as well as personal trauma, which is a welcome spin on the trope. And, despite centering on traditional themes of abuse, betrayal and drugs, under it all, Blades in the Darkness is a thinking person’s slasher. Very few films in the genre give such a rare glimpse into what makes their killers who they are and this film does that spectacularly.
The gore is kept to a minimum, which works out great for the story’s benefit, as the real tension and scares come from the surroundings and the silent killer, not the amount of guts spilled onto the floor. Blades in the Darkness definitely follows The Texas Chainsaw Massacre school of thought by going with the “less is more” approach to the gore. In doing so, Visani has created what could arguably be a worthy successor to Michael Myers.
Blades in the Darkness is better than most anything Western horror is putting out these days, taking a rightful place alongside films like Barbarian. This film is one that filmmakers of any tenure should look to as inspiration.It is a solid film with shades of Halloween, Don’t Breathe and a twist of early Tarintino crime/betrayal elements.
As of this writing, Blades in the Darkness has screened at the NOX film festival.