Julian Richard’s “Darklands” Finally Gets DVD Release In UK

Julian Richards’ “Darklands” has finally been made available to UK horror fans. The film was released in North America last year and is the debut horror feature film of the iconic cult Director Richards. “Darklands” DVD cover art was also  released by Metrodome Distribution along with the official announcement. The film is a modern classic, cult-noir film that is filled with post-industrial, neo-primal visual concepts against western modernization. You can read my review of “Darklands” here. For the full details on the UK DVD release continue reading below.

“Darklands”, which has been sited by UK critics as laying the foundation of the 90's British horror revival follows a newspaper reporter who, after losing his job in London returns to his industrial Welsh hometown to investigate the mysterious death of a steelworker. When a local priest comes to him with a sinister story of animal sacrifices taking place in his church, the reporter finds himself embroiled in a pagan cult. As he delves deeper, he begins to suspect that there is a link between the two investigations, but those involved will stop at nothing to keep their existence a secret. 

Starring Craig Fairbrass (Cliffhanger), Jon Finch (Frenzy) and Rowena King (Wild Saragossa Sea) ”Darklands” is frequently compared to Robin Hardy’s 1970’s cult classic “The Wicker Man” but the writer/director also acknowledges a debt to Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby”.

“Darklands” which won the Melies D’Argent for Best European Fantasy Film in 1997 launched the directing career of Julian Richards who went on to helm “Silent Cry”, “The Last Horror Movie”, “Summer Scars” and “Shiver”, whilst its producer Paul Brooks produced “Shadow Of The Vampire”, “White Noise” and “Haunting In Connecticut”.

"Darklands was the first British film to combine horror with social realism, a genre watershed which paved the way for the revival of UK horror in the 21st century” said MJ Simpson, author of Urban Gothic: The Modern British Horror Film. “Dark, gritty, contemporary and urban, Julian Richards' debut reinvented British horror movies. Without this film, there would be no 28 Days Later, no Shaun of the Dead, no Dog Soldiers."