''Ring of Darkness'' is a 2004 fantasy horror film directed by

David DeCoteau David DeCoteau (born January 5, 1962) is an American film director and producer. Early life David DeCoteau was born on January 5, 1962, in Portland, Oregon, where he was raised. DeCoteau was an only child and was adopted at birth. His father ...

and starring

Ryan Starr Tiffany Montgomery (born November 21, 1982), known professionally as Ryan Starr, is a singer who finished seventh on the first season of ''American Idol''. She went on to release a successful single on iTunes and participated in a handful of ...

, Matt T. Baker, and

Adrienne Barbeau Adrienne Jo Barbeau (born June 11, 1945) is an American actress and author. She came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical ''Grease (musical), Grease'', and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter of Maude Findl ...

. Although never released into American theaters, the movie was released worldwide, and translated into several languages other than

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, such as

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and

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Plot summary

The lead singer of

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

'Take 10' vanishes. The band—which is secretly composed of zombie cannibals—conducts an ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' type contest to find a replacement.

Cast

* Colin Bain as B.J. * Matt T. Baker as Jake *

as Alex *

Greg Cipes Gregory Michael Cipes (born January 4, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his voice roles as Beast Boy in ''Teen Titans'', ''Teen Titans Go!,'' '' Young Justice'', and ''Beast Boy: Lone Wolf''; Michelangelo in ''Teenage Mutant Nin ...

as Gordo * Eric Dearborn as Max * Jaclyn Gutierrez as Female assistant * Josh Hammond as Lousy contestant *

Jonathan McDaniel Jonathan Richard McDaniel (born May 17, 1985), better known by his stage name Lil J, is an American actor and rapper. He is best known for his role as Devon Carter (Raven Baxter's boyfriend, and later ex-husband) on the hit Disney Channel show ...

as Coordinator *

Jeremy Jackson Jeremy Dunn Jackson (born October 16, 1980) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Hobie Buchannon on the television show ''Baywatch''. Career Television Jackson appeared as Hobie Buchannon in 159 episodes from sea ...

as Xavier *

Stephen Martines Stephen Martines is an American actor, recording artist and athlete. Martines has appeared in several television shows, including ''General Hospital, Burn Notice, General Hospital'', ''Guiding Light'', ''Monarch Cove'', ''The Closer'' and ''Th ...

as Shawn * Jeff Peterson as Jonah * Margarita Reyes as Rebecca *

as Stacy *

Mink Stole Nancy Paine Stoll (born August 25, 1947), known professionally as Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, and has appeared in all of his feature films to date (a distin ...

as Fletcher * Irina Voronina as Amethyst *

Suzanne Whang Suzanne Whang (Korean: , ''Hwang Bo-hui'', September 28, 1962 – September 17, 2019) was an American television host, comedian, radio host, author, minister, writer, producer, and political activist. She is best known for having been the host of ...

as Television Reporter * John Wynn as Kyle * Jon Prutow as 1950s Boy Band Member * Jamisin Matthews as 1980s New Wave band member * Delno Ebie as 1950s Boy Band Member * Michael Haboush as 1980s Band Member *

Murray SawChuck Murray John Sawchuck (born November 25, 1973, stage name Murray SawChuck) is a stage illusionist, magician, comedian, actor, and host. Based in Las Vegas, SawChuck has dubbed himself "The ' Dennis the Menace' of Magic," and his shows often consi ...

as 1980s Rock Roll Singer (Flashback) * James Townsend as 1950s Boy Band Member

Production

Filming for ''Ring of Darkness'' was completed in eight days, based on a script Ryan Carassi, Matthew Jason Walsh, and Fangoria editor Michael Gingold. Per DeCoteau, the film's premise had initially been completely different. Adrienne Barbeau's character Alex was initially written for a man and DeCoteau had wanted the role filled by either Antonio Sabato, Jr. or Dolph Lundgren. The choice was made to make Alex a woman and Barbeau was brought in to portray the character.

Reception

''Ring of Darkness'' was reviewed by both Felix Vasquez Jr. of Cinema Crazed and Jon Condit of Dread Central, both criticizing the film for its acting and plot. Per Darren Elliott-Smith, ''Ring of Darkness'', along with DeCoteau's '' The Brotherhood'' and '' Ancient Evil: The Legend of the Mummy II'', is an example of the reactionary "coming out" narrative where "the 'Newcomer' can be read as a sexually confused individual who is attracted by the erotic allure of the 'Monster group' who are coded as queer".

References

External links

* 2004 horror films 2004 films American zombie films Films directed by David DeCoteau 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language horror films {{2000s-horror-film-stub