Eye Candy #535 - "Vanishing on 7th Street"

Vanishing on 7th Street:  A post-apocalyptic horror film where the population of Detroit disappears in a blackout (though it appears to happen everywhere), leaving behind all their belongings and clothes.  A small group of survivors are now trying to stave off the encroachment of shadowy creatures attempting to take them as well.   The shadows can extinguish artificial light, such as flashlights, ceiling lights, and headlights, with ease.  They also have the ability to generate hallucinations and “fake light”.   Daylight is also getting more scarce as days are getting shorter.   The survivors (played by Hayden Christesen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo, and Jacob Latimore) all find themselves at the same bar, which still has power because of a gas-powered generator in the basement, surrounded by the shadows.  They struggle to survive the evening.    Not a whole lot of ‘splaining going on here (there are references to the lost colony of Roanoke and ‘Croatoan’, but no real connection is made between it and the plot), with no real explanation of what happened or what the shadow creatures really are (ghosts, souls, who knows?  But they are malevolent).   Also, the characters appear to miss out on obvious sources of light (they light one torch in the entire film, when they should be lighting fires all over the place).  And for a horror movie, we only get a handful of “gotcha” moments, when the potential was so much greater (they do have a good time with shadows in the movie, though).  I first saw this film advertised in theaters not all that long ago.  Don’t know why it came out on DVD and streaming first.   This was directed by Brad Anderson, who gave us the recent “Transsiberian” and “The Machinist”. Woodchuck sez, “Worth a look, but could have been so much better.”