In Search of Darkness: Part III (2022) User Reviews

A must-watch documentary on the 1980s horror decade...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 3 February 2023]

Having greatly enjoyed the 2019 documentary "In Search of Darkness" and the 2020 documentary "In Search of Darkness: Part II", of course I had to sit down and also watch the 2022 documentary "In Search of Darkness: Part III".

And I will say that writer and director David A. Weiner definitely continued on in the same track, spirit and feel as the previous two documentaries. And while "In Search of Darkness: Part III" was running at 5 hours and 41 minutes, the time spent watching it went by rather quickly. And that is a testimony to the entertainment value to this entire trilogy of documentary on the 1980s horror films, genre and scene.

As it was in the previous two documentaries then "In Search of Darkness: Part III" has a lot of good commentary from a lot of big names throughout the 1980s horror decade, as well as more recent people.

The documentary offers a lot of good insight on the genre and era, and also delves into a lot of obscure and more known horror movies from the 1980s era. I have watched a lot of the movies throughout the three documentaries, but also had a lot of interesting titles brought to my attention as well, which has given me something to delve into down the line.

If you enjoyed the previous two documentaries, then you most certainly also have to watch the 2022 "In Search of Darkness: Part III". I was, once again, genuinely entertained from start to end.

My rating of "In Search of Darkness: Part III" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

In Search of Darkness: Part III

[phubbs · 9/10 · 19 April 2023]

The search for Darkness continues and presumably ends with this third part of this quite epic documentary into the 80's horror film genre. Whereas part one covered the more famous and infamous horror flicks, and part two covered the more obscure; part three seems to cover everything in between from the familiar to not so familiar (for me at least).

By now anyone watching this documentary will be well aware of how it plays out and prepared for the onslaught of information, any newbies out there buckle up! Once again the background information to every aspect of all these movies comes thick and fast like a rollercoaster. As before the doc is presented in a year-by-year format and each movie is given its own little segment which in some cases doesn't really delve deep enough, unfortunately, leaving you wanting. But in other cases you get a nice dollop of info that is just enough to satisfy. Whether or not you already know about this information is obviously the key factor in how pleasing it will be.

As I said in my review of the first two parts, the issue these days is background information for movies is (and has been) easily available either on DVD, Blu-ray, or YouTube etc...for years. Unlike the old days when behind-the-scenes footage/docs/interviews etc...were like gold dust, these days it's beyond common practice. Heck you could even argue that people aren't that bothered anymore with the advent of streaming. Actual physical copies of movies that would have extras aren't the mainstream anymore, strange as that may sound. So essentially, there is a possibility that with many of the movies you may well have seen or heard the information before, although that is less likely with some I'm sure.

Despite this the overall celebration and sheer scope of this series (and this third part) are undeniably impressive. The amount of horror actors, both famous and obscure, that are interviewed is impressive alone. The writers, effects people, horror experts/historians, directors etc...The snippets from all the movies covered or merely referenced. The larger context chapters that dig that bit deeper into specific aspects of the genre, specific actors, specific controversies etc...International horror movies and their effect on the genre. All here crammed into one documentary. I say crammed but they aren't really, this doc is over 5 hours long! But that isn't an issue either as it's perfectly fine to stop and come back another time. The segmentation of the series allows for viewings to be split.

There isn't a great deal to say here that I didn't say already for the first two parts. That's not a negative, it's merely because this is a continuation of the documentary and if you've been watching then you're obviously a fan and know what to expect. But yeah, this is a documentary on all aspects of the horror genre during the 80's and it's flippin' epic. If you like horror then this is for you. If you like some horror movies/franchises but aren't too bothered about horror overall, then you might find this a bit too much and could find yourself tuning out.

The question is, will this documentary carry on and dive into the 90's decade of horror? I hope it does as the 90's is now probably just as iconic for the genre with many true gems.

A must watch for all horror fans

[destiny_west · 8/10 · 27 February 2023]

I think out of the three in this series, In Search of Darkness part III is definitely my favourite.

If you were alive during the 80's and watched horror movies you can't help but be delighted by this installment.

It brings back so many memories of straight to VHS horror films that you may have forgotten about.

It has you definitely wanting to watch them again.

The people giving their insights are fun and insightful.

It is a very long watch, over 4 hours, however broken up into sessions, you do find yourself having to make you say enough for now and turn it off.

It definitely has the binge quality to it.

I would highly recommend this documentary.

There have been a few horror documentaries around, however I have personally found the In Search of Darkness series to be the best.

I was Suprised

[arfdawg-1 · 9/10 · 26 February 2023]

With a running time of nearly SIX hours in length, I thought I'd be tuning out pretty quickly. I didn't.

Full disclosure, I havent seen the first two movies, which I understand might be almost as long as this one.

But anyway, I really liked the documentary. There were lots of 80's movies I had never heard of. And seeing some scenes and commentary from the ones I HAD seen or heard of was great.

It's a very well made and edited compilation that will keep your interest for the full epic length of this movie.

It's a must see for anyone who likes grind house flicks or just horror flicks in general.!!!

Dives the Deepest of this Trilogy. Great Documentary

[Reviews_of_the_Dead · 8/10 · 13 May 2023]

This is the conclusion to the In Search of Darkness document series. What makes this one even more interesting to me is that they delve into more of the straight to video and lesser talked about titles. This is the longest one in the group and had the most titles of the three with works I've not seen. There was even a good amount that I had never heard of, which made me smile.

What we get here is a combination of introducing a year, then running through a group of titles from it along with vignettes in between for more insight. We hear from the likes of David Dastmalchian, John Carpenter, Kathleen Wilhoite, Adrienne Barbeau, Robert Englund, Dee Wallace, Cassandra Peterson, Caroline Munro, Caroline Williams and Linnea Quigley. We have a combination of people in these movies, talking about their experiences as well as how these movies shaped actors who are working today. I'm also leaving out a bunch of others who shared as well.

Then coupling this, we have critical voices in the genre. This includes Diana Prince, A. J. Danna, Xanthe Pajarillo, Jed Shepherd, Phil Nobile Jr., Heather Wixson and Cecil Trachenburg. Again, I'm leaving out a bunch to avoid listing so many here as well. It is interesting since I've read things or listen to these voices to get their perspective gives you a different perspective than your own. This combination makes this a great documentary in my opinion.

What also helps is that this is well-made. The clips used are edited perfectly to convey what is being said and give examples. The selection is great since I'm adding a lot of new titles to my ever-growing list of movies to watch. Just the knowledge that is shared here is worth watching this. This is a great ending to a wonderful documentary series. I'd recommend it to all horror fans from newbies to experts.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

great doc for a great time in Horror movie time line !!!

[buckeyefanohiostate · 10/10 · 8 March 2023]

I have to admit i might be very biasd seeing as I am a huge fan of both Documenterys and Horror movies so i am the target audiance lol! (sorry about the spelling between my bad spelling and mis typing it may be sloppy so if bad grammer bothers you you"ll want to stop reading ) I have enjoyed every one of this series of documentrys im hoping they make more three isnt enough for me, there is so many more themes they could touch on. The actors and talking heads they got to do the interviews are great and too get a inside stroy on some of my favorite Horror movies, and most gresome kills, it definitly gives you a different view and tons of really interesting facts!!

Same old same old

[josephmpapp · 5/10 · 12 February 2023]

With three movies at about 4hrs each, you're either infatuated and elated with this or you're turning it off after an hour.

Some call it a clipshow. Others call it a masterpiece. I call it quits.

I put money into the first and spent 3 days watching it. It was something new and I kept going out of support.

The second was worse. Each one seems to feature one actor to specifically come back to and it was Alex Winters. It got old quick and I turned it off after an hour and a half.

The third is a little better, but I couldn't see any reason to keep watching after an hour.

I'm a big horror fan and I already heard most of this information over the years through other documentaries, interviews, and special features. If you're a massive fan, you may enjoy this. For me, I don't think I'd ever finish it. It's just not interesting enough for its length.

Weakest of the three.

[Badlands1 · 2/10 · 24 March 2023]

I immensely enjoyed the first two versions of in search of darkness. They covered great 80s horror movies. Mostly main stream. The second one went into a little bit more of the B-movie category which I love.

But this third edition. Covers very poor 80s movies. Even most of the directors and writers admitted they weren't good movies. Yet this almost 5 hour documentary is dedicated to these below average 80s horror movies.

It did get quite political at times. Which was almost reflecting, the politics of 2023 for some reason.

And there was a lot of the foreign movies which was interesting yet they still didn't show the best foreign 80s horror movies. So I found myself fast forwarding quite a lot. I was amused to see great films like death ship, or the troma movies. But when you have the creators bashing their own movies. It makes you wonder did they run out of 80s horror movies that were decent?

Because the first two documentaries there was still dozens left in my opinion, they could've put into the third movie.

I guess this was just their way of showing we can make a documentary about below average movies for some reason. And it did get a little bit too forcibly political over and over.