the response at the 2012 facine film festival was extremely positive with critical praise from dr. tumbocon, who said "darkest night" is "an awesome experience. this film is a milestone in building bridges between asian and american cultures." additionally, other festival attendees praised "darkest night" as "extremely entertaining" and "a hell of a good film." asian critics were generally favorable; for example, jason wong said that "darkest night" is "an excellent, provocative 'found video' horror film." wong also brought up that he was glad this story was getting notice in the united states because he believed that the malaysian government had been "officially" suppressing it. another member of the asian audience said the film is "extremely scary and disturbing." american film critic, mark bullock, of the online magazine "hacked in the head", stated, "i really enjoyed ... "darkest night". it had plenty of genuinely creepy moments to keep you interested and a thoroughly interesting plot which keeps you guessing." there was only one really negative review published, from the american critic, martin leggett, at "best-horror-movies.com," who did not like the film's handling of its found-footage aspects. he said, "i believe reference is made to the fact that justin doesn’t talk much and they weren’t kidding! justin witnesses people vanishing before his eyes, he quietly watches characters get killed and there’s never a peep out of him to any other character he sees. is justin possessed?" however, andrea kendall, of portland, oregon, said, "i was pleasantly surprised by this movie. i especially appreciated the acting, use of music and that a lot of the elements where [sic.] off screen and thus left to the imagination."