Originally developed as a miniseries in 2019, Dark Chronicles tells four tales of horror, all introduced by a mysterious Keeper of Stories. Each tale focuses on a different type of horror – from possession and exorcism to the traditional zombie apocalypse cautionary tale. 

As I’ve said before, anthology films, even when developed from something episodic, can be remarkably difficult, and easy to mess up. Unfortunately Dark Chronicles does not pull off the genre very successfully, feeling remarkably disjointed. Even with the attempt at a through line provided by “The Keeper” (Steve McKee), there’s nothing tying these stories together in a cohesive way, and they all feel too overplayed to stand on their own. Each story is very typical – there’s nothing too original about any of them and they all carry a certain level of predictability, and lack any kind of real horror. The biggest scares (for me) were mostly elicited through the strange sound design, which causes volumes to shift dramatically and unexpectedly.

Admittedly, this film is by all accounts a triumph, seeing as the crew seems to have consisted of about five people, rotating positions per segment. Actors as makeup artists as directors and producers – a hefty undertaking, and one that oftentimes ends up failing. This is a valiant effort, without question – but unfortunately, if there was a “feeling” of low-budget, this film is dripping in it, and this is largely why. 

Sometimes, sadly, the well loved anthology concept, which seems to be having a revival over the last few years, actually distracts from the individual pieces themselves. Instead of fitting together like puzzle pieces, they sort of end up piling onto each other – more like mixing up all of your playdoh colors than anything else. Dark Chronicles could have, and should have, remained a simple low budget series. New media would have eaten this up, and a cult following could have been established. Instead, it’s disorganized and unnecessary – two of the biggest downfalls of modern indie horror.

4 out of 10