Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘7 Nights of Darkness’

Written by Scott Edwards

​I don’t think that I have ever hidden my dislike of reality television, but on the other side I end up watching those kinds of shows when there is nothing else on. With shows like American Idol, I like the premise, but after years of doing the same thing and seeing the same contestants over and over again, it played itself out in my mind. Then there are shows like Survivor that have never come up with enough storylines, so I gave up on it a long time ago, since it was obvious that there were things going on behind the scenes and the contestants are never in control. But I have yet to see a good show about contestants being thrown into a haunted location with the promise of a large payout for staying, well, that is until now.

Six contestants have been placed in an old haunted asylum for seven nights and the ones who decide to stay the entire time will get to split the grand prize of one million dollars. As each of the contestants enter the old building, they do not know what to expect, but they all need the money for one reason or another. Seeing video cameras and flashlights all around, the group is ready to equip themselves for the week ahead and when seeing envelopes with each night listed on them, they see that there will be tasks to do. 

With long nights ahead of them, the group is told to split up and investigate the basement and second floor of the abandoned building. Not finding anything in the basement, the groups meet up on the second floor and see a trashcan that seems to have a mind of its own. Being thrown out of its room into the hallway, most the group is frightened, but one member is fascinated. When Lina wants to see and feel something strange in the old building, she is the only one that is willing to try and communicate with the spirits causing the rest of the group to start to panic. As the first night comes to an end, the group is not as worried as they should be and with six more nights to spend in the creepy building, they have no idea what they are in for.

As the nightly tasks are completed, the group starts to notice strange things happening to them and their equipment. When Lina tries to run a séance and becomes catatonic, nobody knows what to do next, but they have to continue with their tasks, or they will not receive a portion of the money. After being told about a little girl that supposedly haunts the asylum, the group is directed to try and talk to her, but they get a response that none of them expected, when they see the ghostly girl running through the halls. With everyone starting to freak out, they have no idea what they have awakened in the old building and with members of the group starting to disappear, the asylum may not let anyone collect the prize money, even if they are the last contestants standing. 

Every once in a while, I need to enjoy a good ghost movie and even though this one was not a high budget feature, it still did a pretty good job bringing the scares. With only one person in the group wanting to witness a haunting, it was fun to see how she tried to handle herself with the group when they all wanted her to stop trying to talk to the spirits that roam the hallways. Armed only with cameras, flashlights and a single EMF detector, the group shows that they are not ready for what they find. I really liked how the group tried to get along as friends, but when things start to happen and people go missing, they try to turn their focus back to what is most important to them, themselves and their money. Stay Scared.

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