Streaming Sleepers: In DARK SECRETS – GAME OF DEATH: CHAPTER TWO, Cinema Nightmare Fuel
Dark Secrets – Game Of Death: Chapter Two is now available in the U.S. from International Media Network.
I typically try to be as objective as I can be when it comes to movies. To add, Timo Rose’s Game Of Death films aren’t exactly the first time I’ve covered horror. I’m open to films that check certain boxes for me regardless of what kinds of films they are and the audiences for whom they intended. Still, it really is a challenge to be consistent, especially with the advent of certain filmmaking tech and the corresponding work of directors whose projects don’t pass muster.
This particularly goes for Dark Secrets – Game Of Death: Chapter Two, directed by Rose in his follow-up from Game Of Death: The Six Doors To Hell which bodes more as a medley of malaise for its attempts at lateral genre appeal. Undoubtedly, Rose and his team continue that same formula for the sequel, enlisting a mix of horror and action with gore as its most salient ingredient. The real question remains, however, if this actually works or not, and really that depends on what scratches your itch when it comes to cinema.
That caveat gets tested even further as we reconvene with Ken (David Ruessel), a warrior now living in seclusion since defeating “the regime” following a dauntless quest into hell to search for his missing daughter. In this story, an entity named Anaya (Dana Mae) warns our hero of a new fascistic superpower on the rise – one connected to events that occurred fifteen years ago. That flashback introduces us to Zara (Maya Trojanowski) who initially appears in the first film as one of the antagonists, whereas her role is given a precursor into just how she came to be with her role in “the regime” in the first place.
The movie toggles between extensive flashbacks as we follow Zara and her team of ragtag recruits to search for the Devil’s Map. After setting up a wilderness camp, it’s only a matter of time before evil begins rearing its ugly head. Soldiers and recruits are turning into creatures of various kinds, and there’s even an archeological aspect to the supernatural lore here that lends to the film’s aesthetics which often come off as wily, even for a horror movie.
Before she knows it, Zara is thrust into a fight for survival, and across time, Ken is the only one who can tap into the past and save her. It’s a damn cool concept we see in Dark Secrets – Game Of Thrones: Chapter Two, but together with any potential enjoyment one could gather from the film’s ingredients, anything good or appealing come buried under the film’s heap of mind-numbingly bad acting, unengaging fight scenes, and jarringly edited action and violence all punctuated by feasibly characteristic blood and gore that reach mind-numbing levels of intolerable. Kudos to Bryan (Lewis Santer) for trying to bring even a modicum of redemption to this thriller despite how unbearably dislikeable and unfunny the character is.
What’s most discouraging, as it is obvious, is the film’s employment of hybrid practical FX and CG enhancement for a lot of these scenes, in addition to a select number of visual and audio fillers that use what look – at least to me – like AI, to help keep the film going. It’s biting to watch, so much so that I spent almost the entirety of a Saturday late last year trying to toil through this 110-minute chore.
That there might be more to this hypergory supernatural action horror saga brings something omnious to the future of cinema – something that should pose as a warning for anyone with an interest in the arts and film in general when it comes to VFX, especially. As innovative, tough and tenacious as you’d have to be in the independent arena, it’s my view that there simply has to be a better way to create and tell stories through the lens. Either that, or you end up with films like Dark Secrets – Game Of Death: Chapter Two which probably has its niche. For me, it simply does not pass muster.
Streaming Sleepers is a column attributed to movie titles currently available on legitimate VOD/SVOD and digital platforms.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
