Darkplace Illuminatum (2006) Reviews

• Saying it's thought-provoking doesn't make it thought-provoking

  Horst_In_Translation2017-10-25

  "Darkplace Illuminatum" is a 32-minute mockumentary from 2006 that is already over a decade old now and that fakes being a making-of about Garth Marenghi's "Darkplace". The director here is Richard Ayoade and he also plays one of the characters you see. As they all felt very much interchangeable in terms of who they were and what they had to say, it is not too important to know who. You'll probably figure it out though as he's the one going even more over the top than the others. What is important to know though is that these are no real behind-the-scenes interviews. It is all scripted and the actors are in character from start to finish. It's more of a sequel you could say. Apparently this is one of two DVD very similar-looking (hey creativity!) add-ons for Darkplace and it is an interesting idea, but the execution never did too much for me in terms of comedy value. The other looks very much the same indeed and is only minimally shorter. So yeah, I have not seen Darkplace (yet?), but this one here certainly does not raise my interest as my guess is that the rating for said show may be way too high like the one for this "faking-of". Overall, maybe if you really love Darkplace, you can check this one here out, but otherwise my suggestion is to skip it. Having seen some of Ayoade's (short) stuff, I am still not sure what people see in him. I wouldn't say he is particularly talented at at all and the air of make-believe sophistication cannot hide the fact that eventually this is nothing but dildo humor and the two last words they have for the audience in this little film, are also the ones I have for the creators here: Up theirs. Don't watch. 2 stars out of 5 is still pretty generous, this was even lower at times.