Dark Uprising (2007)

Xena Warrior Princess meets Evil Dead as Canada revisits the horror comedy.

The story is a bit muddled, but it starts with a young girl, Summer, vanishing in mysterious circumstances. Years later, Jason goes on a camping trip with best friend Ricky to win back his ex-girlfriend Jasmine. Jasmine is now batting for the other side, but Jason is oblivious to this, even though Jasmine’s new girlfriend, Marlene, is also on the trip and making out with her. A third girl, Renee, is on the trip and dabbling in the occult. A portal to other dimension opens and a “terrifying” demon enters our world, and so does a fully grown Summer who is now a beautiful warrior. Death, demonic possession and romance follow shortly after.

Dark Uprising is an easy to watch, light-hearted comedy where most of the humour is based around the characters, with the cast delivering their lines with the appropriate sincerity. Brigitte Kingsley (Summer) is not just an actor and eye candy, she is also a producer, and is good at all three roles. Landy Cannon (Jason) does a great job in a role that would make Bruce Campbell proud. Jason Reso (Ricky) has done some comedy in his wrestling days, as WWE Superstar Christian Cage, and pulls of a Sean William Scott style character here, sleazy and shallow and a foil to the hero’s honest naivety. Julia Schneider is also damn cute as the occult obsessed Renee , and Haley Shannon rounds of our quartet of natural beauties as Marlene. The plot is nothing much like Evil Dead even though I compare them, but Dark Rising is set in a forest and ends with an opening for a much bigger, Army Of Darkness style sequel.