The Dark Fantastic (2025) Review

The Dark Fantastic is an intimate and enthralling look at the vast career of acclaimed film composer Simon Boswell, an amazing musician who has created music for so many films, particularly in the horror and fantasy genres.

He was responsible for an audio spectrum, from Demons 2, Graveyard Disturbance and Phenomena to Hardware and Perdita Durango, as well as cult classics like Shallow Grave, Hackers and The Crying Game. Throughout his career Boswell has worked with the legendary likes of Lamberto Bava, Dario Argento and Clive Barker and has constantly created vast and compelling music for the films that they feature in. The Dark Fantastic tells the entire story of his career through both music and film.

Far from being a standard documentary where film clips are interspersed with interviews, The Dark Fantastic contains continuous live performances of music that Boswell has created, with details about the particular films and the making of them. Every single one is interesting and informative in its own way. The pieces of music that Boswell and his 12 piece band, Caduta Massi produce are performed so evocatively, with the visuals that accompany them only adding to the full effect, in a truly beautiful and inspiring style.

The insight into Hardware is particularly interesting. He states that, if you take acid just as the film starts, the effects should be fully kicking-in just as the most immersive piece of music comes on. Mind blowing indeed!

And mind blowing is the best way you can describe the live performances that are replayed, from the stunning opening performance of Clive Barker’s Lord of Illusions onwards, and other highlights include a frenzied blast of music from Perdita Durango, the tense horror of the Maggots Theme from Phenomena, a dizzying and hypnotic (in equal measure) piece from Tripping The Dark Fantastic, a haunting play through of Alma, the main theme from Santa Sagre, a thrilling rendition of the Argento inspired theme from Shallow Grave, and perhaps most impressively of all, a William Blake tribute that features Dario Argento and Alejandro Jodorowsky samples with Ewan McGregor on vocals and bassist Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols performing with the band and Boswell on stage. These pieces of music are all performed impeccably and thanks to the accompaning visuals  the combination will make it impossible for you to be able to take your eyes off the screen.

The footage of directors like Dario Argento, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Richard Stanley as well as artists such as Iggy Pop and Dolly Parton talking about working with Boswell is fascinating too. The man himself has a passion about his work that is profound and particularly inspiring, as he talks about every one of his musical creations contained in those films in great detail, and it is a great insight into such a deservedly respected artist.

Watching these performances, and in light of this documentary, one can only hope that Simon Boswell and Caduta Massi will play music live again, so a whole new audience can witness it in an unforgettable setting, much like John Carpenter and Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin continue to.

The Dark Fantastic is a one-of-a-kind film documentary. It is enthralling throughout, and the live music performances take it to an entirely different level, making it exceptional viewing. This is a must watch for any horror film fan, or just fans of horror soundtracks – when the two collide in the mesmerising fusion that they do in this film, the results are simply phenomenal.

The Dark Fantastic (2025) premiered at the Raindance Film Festival on 26th June 2025.

Movie Rating:

The Dark Fantastic trailer