After Dark Films, founded by Courtney Solomon (Dungeons & Dragons and An American Haunting), is making a splash in the low-budget horror scene. In 2006, the After Dark Horror Fest arrived, spotlighting eight films that would have otherwise been relegated to the straight-to-video market where they would most likely be ignored. This festival of sorts offered an opportunity for horror fans to get a look at these films on the big screen, as well as give the filmmakers some more exposure.
This year, the second for the festival, I was able to take in five of the features. Are all of them great? No, but they all have something to offer, something outside of the mainstream glut of remakes and imports. One of these films is Tooth and Nail.
In 2012 the planet runs out of gasoline. Despite the experts saying that there are thirty years left of crude left, the world ran out anyway. Whether it's because of destruction in war or through rampant over-consumption or some other means entirely is not explained. Not that it matters; this story is not about how we came to that end, just that we did and the horrible results that came about because of it.
While the story chooses to ignore many other aspects of society in favor of focusing purely on the gas aspect, at least for the first half, I am willing to forgive as writer/director Mark Young clearly wishes to make a statement regarding the position of oil in modern society and how much we rely on it. The biggest issue here is that this oil commentary and the breakdown of society is given up roughly halfway through in favor of an Assault on Precinct 13-type scenario with a group of survivors holed up inside while a group of nasties attempts to get inside and take them out.
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