Not until I read about S. Darko did I realize why I recognized the actress who plays the slightly crazy Rhonda on Big Love. Daveigh Chase played Donnie’s younger sister Samantha in Donnie Darko. She’s reprising the role in the sequel, in which Samantha starts having some downright bizarre visions of the end of the world. I’m not ashamed to admit that I am a Donnie Darko fan. I didn’t love it the first time I saw it, but I watched it again when it came out on video and started to catch on to the film’s greatness. I’ve seen it several times since then and I like it more each time. Frankly, I don’t need a sequel. I kind of like not really knowing what happened.
But nobody asked me, so the next “Donnie Darko Tale,” S. Darko will be released on DVD April 28. From the looks of it, no movie deserves straight-to-DVD status more. The story starts seven years after the original. Samantha and her friend Corey (Briana Evigan) decide to head to LA to make it big as dancers. But in classic horror film fashion, the car breaks down in a small town in Utah. When a meteor crashes nearby, Samantha’s visions begin. Here’s the trailer: I’m sure you noticed that S. Darko looks like it would be quite at home on the CW. In that short trailer, we saw Ed Westwick of Gossip Girl and James Lafferty of One Tree Hill. The movie also features teen heartthrobs Jackson Rathbone and Justin Chatwin. (Chatwin plays Frank the Bunny.) But the guarantee that this is a movie not to waste your Netflix quota on is the presence of a certain wide-eyed and not-so-innocent star. Elizabeth Berkley plays a speed freak turned Jesus freak, out to rid the world of sin. I kind of wish she’d played that character on The L Word. Wouldn’t you love to hear Bette take down a fundie?
Are you a Donnie Darko fan? What do you think of the sequel? What would make you see it?
