The Seeker - David L Cunningham

This is a super exciting and fun adventure film - though a bit confusing at times. Directed by David L Cunningham, the story is about a boy who finds out that he is the 7th son of the 7th son and therefore is part of something bigger. In the film he is tasked with finding six signs that will help light defeat the rising dark. This all happens the day he turns 14...and it is the Winter Solstice...and he has to find all the signs before Christmas. That means all the action takes place in three or four days time. That adds excitement to the film, as well as keeping the action moving.

The cast is strong, especially the main character played by a young Alexander Ludwig. It also has Ian McShane, Christopher Eccleston, Frances Conroy, and John Benjamin Hickey. The direction is good, as are the special effects - especially as some of this pertains to time travel, or being a time walker. The film came out in 2007 and so considering that the Harry Potter films started coming out in 2001, there are certainly some similarities. However, The Seeker is based on a fantastic novel by Susan Cooper named The Dark is Rising, released in 1973. I was introduced to it back in 6th grade. A fellow student had it, started reading it but was scared by the story and so she gave it to me. I read it and thought it was fantastic. It wasn't until I was well out of college that I was reminded of it, and discovered it is part of a larger series known as the Dark is Rising Sequence. I read the whole series which is filled with Arthurian legend, English folklore, Celtic folklore and imagery and I would recommend it to anyone. If you have read the books, then expect the film to have some traces of the book, but certainly not really follow the plot at all. Still, it does make for a fun, and dark, family film.