HorRHIFFic 2026: ‘Carry the Darkness’ Review

Stars: Joel Meyers, Autumn Breaud, Helen Laser, Hollis Fox, Jaden Gant, Lyon Hamill, Trevor Braun, James Sharpe, Rick Kain, Neal Davidson | Written and Directed by Douglas Forrester

As Satanic panic sweeps small-town America in the 1990s, a troubled teenager finds himself shouldering the blame for the crimes of a supernatural entity. Misunderstood metalhead Travis Baldwin (Joel Meyers) attempts to make sense of the situation as the adults in the room all descend into paranoia, insecurity and blind moral panic.

Douglas Forrester’s Carry the Darkness does a great job of setting the scene. Those who grew up in a similar environment will immediately pick up on the vibes Forrester is throwing down, doing for thrash metal fans in the ‘90s what Stranger Things did for Dungeons & Dragons and the ‘80s. It’s a world of panicked conservatism, heavy metal tees and Mortal Kombat… sorry, Korporal Kombat.

For all the X-Files vibes, its story carries with it a weight inspired by its basis in our reality. Taking a reference point from the case of the West Memphis Three, it’s an all-too plausible – and sadly familiar – depiction of scapegoating and post-Seduction of the Innocent moral outrage.

Meyers does a good job as the innocent teenager caught between two evils. His plight will be a familiar one to many a school misfit, from his time spent avoiding bullies to his fraught relationship with his judgmental mother (Autumn Breaud). He strikes up a friendship with the new girl in town, Stacey (Helen Laser), but his dress sense and taste in music make him the prime suspect when a spate of murders occurs locally. As his sense of isolation builds, the film pivots to mystery, and an increasingly desperate Travis attempts to clear his name by opening an investigation of his own.

While the film’s character and world building is largely successful, the supernatural component is less integrated. Forrester doesn’t seem terribly interested in what’s really behind the curtain, and nor does the film, until it’s too late. And, as Carry the Darkness heads into its endgame, one starts to wish that the demonic element had been better integrated. No one’s asking for another Deathgasm, but one would have thought, given the heavy metal theme, that its depiction of supernatural evil might have had a little more flair. Still, that’s almost the point, and the banality of Travis’s world is one of the film’s greatest strengths.

Some of the more wooden supporting performances are less excusable, as is the slightly flat cinematography. It counts The X-Files and Twin Peaks among its influences but lacks much of the mood or atmosphere – save for an effective montage over the opening credits.

Carry the Darkness is a haunting coming-of-age film, rooted in themes which still pervade today.

*** 3/5

Carry the Darkness screened at this year’s Romford Horror Film Festival.