The Dark (1979 film)

1979 American film

The Dark

Directed by| John Cardos
Written by| Stanford Whitmore[1]
Produced by| Dick Clark[2]
Starring| William Devane
Cathy Lee Crosby
Richard Jaeckel
Keenan Wynn
Casey Kasem
Cinematography| John Morrill[1]
Edited by| Martin Dreffke
Music by| Roger Kellaway[1]
Distributed by| Film Ventures International

Release date

* June 1979 (1979-06)

Running time

| 92 minutes[1]
Country| United States
Language| English
Box office| $6 million[3]

The Dark is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by John Cardos and starring William Devane, Cathy Lee Crosby, Richard Jaeckel, Keenan Wynn, and Casey Kasem.[1]

## Plot

[edit]

A young woman is murdered and mutilated late one night. An ambitious female journalist decides to find out what happened.

## Cast

[edit]

* William Devane as Roy Warner/Steve Dupree
* Cathy Lee Crosby as Zoe Owens
* Richard Jaeckel as Detective Dave Mooney
* Keenan Wynn as Sherman Moss
* Casey Kasem as Pathologist
* Biff Elliot as Detective Jack Bresler
* John Bloom as The Dark
* Jay Lawrence as Jim Hampton
* Vivian Blaine as Courtney Floyd
* Russ Marin as Dr. Baranowski
* Roberto Contreras as Max
* Vernon Washington as Henry Lydell
* Philip Michael Thomas as Corn Rows
* Ken Minyard as Sportscaster
* Kathy Richards as Shelly

## Production

[edit]

Tobe Hooper was hired by Film Ventures International to direct the film. However, since Hooper fell behind schedule, the producers fired him and replaced him with Cardos.[2] Cardos disclosed that initially, the monster was intended to be a "large, retarded giant of a human being", who was kept locked in an attic by its parents until it broke free, but halfway through production the producers decided they wanted the monster to be more "electronic" in nature and shoot laser beams from his eyes.[4] While Cardos felt the film was overall decent, he disagreed with the producer's decision to change the monster so late in production.[4]

## Reception

[edit]

Roger Ebert awarded the film one and a half stars.[5] Jim Knipfel of Den of Geek awarded the film two stars out of five.[2]

## Home media

[edit]

Released on VHS by Media Home Entertainment in 1982[6] and 1985 | Cat.# M173 |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Young, R.G. (2000). The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film: Ali Baba to Zombies. Applause. ISBN 9781557832696. page 132
2. ^ a b c Knipfel, Jim (15 June 2014). "Looking Back at The Dark (1979)". Den of Geek. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
3. ^ Maloney, Lane (March 14, 1980). "Film Ventures Looks Beyond Theatrical Market For Profit". Daily Variety. p. 2.
4. ^ a b Fischer, Dennis (May 1985). "Mutant". Cinefantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
5. ^ Ebert, Roger (6 June 1979). "The Dark". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
6. ^ "The Dark | VHSCollector.com". vhscollector.com. Retrieved 2023-07-17.

## External links

[edit]

* The Dark at IMDb
* The Dark at Rotten Tomatoes

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by John Cardos

* Soul Soldier (1970)
* Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
* The Dark (1979)
* The Day Time Ended (1980)
* Mutant (1984)
* Skeleton Coast (1988)
* Act of Piracy (1988)
* Outlaw of Gor (1988)
* Legends of the West (1992)

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