MovieChat Forums > The Dark (1979) Discussion > The ending (spoilers)

The ending (spoilers)

posted 17 years ago by NxNWRocks
5 replies | jump to latest

Does anyone know if the ONLY post-production change was the adding of lasers coming from the monster's eyes? If so, the ending of this zombie movie involves it having the ability to throw people against a wall from 20ft or more away, and to be dispatched by being set on fire by Devane. I have never heard that zombies are combustible and can be killed this way - that was highly unconvincing, and bordering on ludicrous.

If they went back and reshot the ending, why not add a scene at the start that explains how the alien got to be wearing Earth clothing? Even hinting at possessing a human body, along the lines of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" would have done as a basic explanation.

"I am big. It's the pictures that got small."

[–] alna70 17 years ago

I watched the film with the commentary on and 'Bud" said that by the time they got to filming the end scenes with the cops against "The Dark", it was already decided by the producer that the creature would be an alien. There are a few scenes filmed prior to this decision. The night watchmen in the ice house getting killed. He was crushed with a huge slab of ice. They added the laser beams later. The woman in the airport parking garage was another pre-alien kill.
If you notice when the vigilante has his head torn off, the creature uses no lasers. That's how all the kills were going to be.

[–] NxNWRocks 17 years ago

Cool, thanks for the added info. That makes the ending a LITTLE more sensible...I think....

"I am big. It's the pictures that got small."

[–] prbronx5 17 years ago

Yeah it was kinda dumb because every victim was supposed to be decapitated in the reworked version. So you assume that he decapitates using the laser beams. But then he manually decapitates the big guy in the alley.

I really like this movie to this day. It frightened me as a kid up until they revealed the creature as a dude in jeans and a checkered shirt.

[–] PaladinNJ (20307) 6 years ago

It was supposed to be a zombie movie. They even had a backstory for who he was in the book. The Creature Feature phase Hollywood was going through led to the alien change at the last minute.

[–] PaladinNJ (20307) 6 years ago

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