Acting, story left in the 'Dark'

"Alone in the Dark" will easily be one of the worst movies made this year, and it's only the first week of February. From director Uwe Boll, the mastermind who hasn't failed in bringing us the same caliber of crap that he did with his last release, "House of the Dead," this is another flick adapted from a video game which should have stayed firmly within the gaming world. \nThe plot is all over the place. In the beginning of the movie, and the first of many plots, paranormal investigator Edward Carnby is being chased by a man with supernatural powers. In Carnby's past, he was part of a paranormal experiment to merge evil sprits from the dark world with children. Meanwhile, a museum curator/ex-detective/evil man (Mathew Walker) who wants to ruin the world uncovers a lost tomb that releases an evil spirit. Then we see Carnby having a quarrel with the newly appointed Commander Richards (Stephen Dorff) of a secret paranormal government agency, very much like the one in "Men in Black."\nHow do all these plot lines fit together you may ask? The answer is not well. They bridge poor story structure with special effects, a very unnecessary sex scene and lots of monster killing. \nBoll must have studied some films before making "Alone in the Dark." There are some scenes which look as though they might be promising, but then they are blown by the inconsistent story. When Boll busts out "bullet-time" in the beginning of movie you almost think it's going to be cool, until you learn there is no justification for doing such a thing. Another thing the writers try to do that doesn't make a whole lot of sense is having Carnby's character have elements of a film noir detective by using voice-over narration and pointing out that he is a loner. Slater's acting, coupled with that of Tara Reid and Dorff, comes off as simply hideous.\n"Alone in the Dark" seems like it's constructed from pieces of other movies. We can see elements from "Pitch Black," "Aliens" and many others. The only thing this movie is good for is if you like to laugh at movies that try hard but fail miserably. If you unwisely decide to go see this movie, chances are you will be alone in the theater.