A Dark Song

A slow-boiling, low-budget indie horror, A Dark Song was something a bit different from the other, glossier films we’ve been watching lately. The set-up reminded me of Lord of Tears, only with performers who can actually act and a genuine sense of danger, while the feeling of being trapped in a mansion with the supernatural in the UK reminded me of The Quiet Ones.

A grieving mother hires an abrasive occultist to work through the lengthy Abramelin Operation from The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abremelin the Mage. In the world of the movie, working through the ritual leads to a guardian angel not of the internal plane but in the real world, who will grant a powerful wish. Well, it’s not how grimoires are generally presented to work, but it works for a film. At first it’s dubious whether magic is real or whether an abusive man is just taking advantage of a vulnerable woman, but before long inexplicable things start to happen. It’s a bit odd that there’s still some question of whether the ritual is doing anything when it rains gold inside one magical circle.

Things escalate towards the end, and I felt that if they were going to go the route the film finally settled on, perhaps more glimpses of it earlier would have been better. The slow burn is a little too slow. But the human drama of two very different people, who don’t trust one another and are both pretty unstable, is pretty fascinating. I admire the film for showing not only the typical horror elements of the occult, but attempting the transcendental and elevated as well, and the final twist of what Sophia finally says when she’s face to face with what she wanted was quite beautiful.

I wouldn’t sit through this again. A lot of the uncomfortable atmosphere is created by unpleasant impositions occultist Solomon forces on Sophia. Drinking blood, stripping down, being deprived of sleep. It makes for an interesting dynamic between them, like Lara Croft being harangued by Frankie Boyle with a London accent, but takes a little too long. This is definitely not one for the horror fans who just want ghoulies jumping out with loud violin screeches to tell you when to squeal and giggle. This is a horror fan’s horror movie, rather like The Witch or Hereditary, and while I admire how it dares to be something unusual and am pleased to have watched it, it’s definitely not for everyone.

While I’m not an occultism freak, I’ve done a lot of research into Golden Dawn and grimoires and of course encountered Abremelin while reading into Crowley. Even if the film’s take on the guardian angel is very exaggerated, it’s clear there’s a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm for occultism here. I guess that Solomon’s name and the title are a reference to the Song of Solomon – but to be honest, ‘A Dark Song’ isn’t a very good title at all. Something about a ritual would have been better. Great care and attention goes into drawing magical circles and patterns, and the design department seem to be having fun.

There was very little one could call scary, and there isn’t even that much tension, so I can’t say this film got me any closer to finding a horror film that is actually frightening – becoming a bit of a holy grail for me at this point. But it had way more substance than the average by-the-numbers exorcism flick with a CG monster popping out, so I’d rank it as one of the better horror films of recent years. But the quest for something that’s actually scary goes on…