If you aren’t familiar with the name Chris Gorak, that’s because the writer/director’s first film, 2007 dirty-bomb thriller “Right at Your Door”, wasn’t seen all that many people. Nevertheless, the Sundance sensation (“Door” was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in 2006 before being picked up by Lionsgate for $3 million) garnered the former art director enough attention to land him a job at the helm of the big-studio sci-fi/action film “The Darkest Hour” starring Emile Hirsch and Max Minghella (and produced by “Wanted” director Timur Bekmambetov), which after being pushed back from its original August release date is now hitting theaters on Christmas Day.
So will the holiday counter-programming work? There’s no telling at this point, although the previously-released trailer was at least intriguing enough to keep the film – about four Americans who become trapped in Moscow after a devastating alien invasion – on my radar.
Now, with Christmas Day fast approaching and the promotional campaign for the film ramping up, a new one-sheet for the movie has been released – and while I could’ve done without the insipid tagline (“Survive the Holidays”?), it’s nevertheless an eye-catching piece of artwork featuring an empty Moscow street (the invisible alien invaders’ power is to make living beings disintegrate) that’s been ravaged in the wake of the extraterrestrial attack.
At the same time, I’m not sure the imagery is different enough from other apocalyptic thrillers to successfully sell the film – particularly given the fact that there are no big-name stars in the cast. As such, I’m gonna go ahead and give this poster a so-so “B-“.
After checking out the full one-sheet below, be sure to weigh in with your own letter grade (you can do so by clicking “Rate It” at top left).
Trailer: