Darkness (2004)

There's something in this house...Something ancient and dark that remains still, hidden and silent. It can only wait, having been concealed in the shadows for years. In fact, its milieu is darkness. Only in it can it show itself and move. It even takes its name: DARKNESS. It's lived here since someone tried to call it, more than forty years ago. Because this house hides a secret, a terrible past, an inconceivably evil act. Seven children, faceless people, a circle that must be completed. And blood, lots of blood... But something went wrong. One of the children got away. The circle wasn't completed. That's why what lives here isn't finished. It's just waiting...It tries to carry out what it couldn't before, making plans in the shadows, to become complete, to be, to exist. A new family has just moved into the house. A small child. An unstable father capable of losing his temper at any time. A perfect target. The right place at the right time. The pieces only have to be put in place. And then wait. Maybe the family's daughter will be able to discover the truth; the dark secret of the past, the sinister conspiracy, the truth about what threatens them. Why is the father getting worse? What is her little brother afraid of? Why doesn't her mother listen to her? And why do the lights keep going out? It could be that nothing happens by chance, that everything has been worked out from the start. A devilish plan, precise and exact like a time-bomb. Her father's illness, the house, the circles, the children. Perhaps she can foresee darkness' master stroke of play and the inevitable destiny that is closing in on her family. But maybe it's too late....

An hour and a half wasted

I love horror movies. Good ones are genius--scary, intriguing, memorable, and revolutionary in their conservatism.

Darkness is none of these things. When I finished it, I was actually angry at the crew for subjecting me to an hour and twenty minutes of drivel. In fact, I turned to the special features and found a behind the scenes featurette there, but even that left me with nothing after it ended abruptly in three minutes.

On the one hand, the plot is completely contrived and obvious: an eclipse is approaching and a ceremony involving children must be performed during the event. On the other hand, the plot is completely preposterous and unexplained: "the darkness" is coming, a darkness that is pure evil. The characters discover it through an old book that they mysteriously know about. None of it makes any sense. If I tried to explain it, you would be left shaking your head, just as I am thinking about it.

The good thing about this movie is the camerawork. The light and shadow used throughout the movie is actually pretty great. I like the way the movie lets us see what is in the shadows even though the main characters can't see it. Most of the scares here, what few there are, are through interesting camerwork and the use of darkness.

If it were not for the camerawork, I would give it zero stars (if such a thing were possible). April 17, 2008

DARK ISN'T THE WORD

There are movies that come out that present high expectations in their viewers. And there are movies that come out that don't offer expectations all that high, but enough to make fans curious. Horror fans love their stuff, and are sorely tempted when watching a preview for this movie. But this one goes beyond showing the good stuff in the previews. This one sinks to showing nothing but those scenes AND trying to convince you that it is at least a decent movie. It falls far short.

The story revolves around Regina (Anna Paquin), a young teenage girl whose parents have just moved her and her younger brother Paul (Stephan Enquist) to Spain where her father grew up. Their grandfather lives there and helps them and they settle in a remote house just outside of town, one that needs a little work.

From the moment the movie begins, there are unsettling things happening in the house. Paul begins drawing some disturbing pictures that seem to relate to the film's prologue where a young boy is on the run from something or someone terrible found in the house.

Regina's parents Maria and Mark (Lena Olin and Iain Glen) seem to be very loving parents. But dad has an attack while driving one day and that's when we, the viewers, find out that he has had them before. And they terrify Regina. Afterwards, dad begins to have more frequent bouts of attacks and starts to act irrationally, scaring Regina and Paul even more although mom refuses to admit there is anything wrong.

Anyway, the films unravels slowly, offering us glimpses into what is causing all of these problems but never totally telling us until near the end. And the answer is one most will figure out early on. Not to mention the fact that is not the least scary. Any film maker can offer a few jump scenes in a film. But to truly terrify an audience, you have to come straight at them. This movie plays around way too much.

The story behind the house and those who inhabit it offer the briefest glimpse of where this movie might have gone, offering just a speck of something interesting. But plot and the secret revealed are so overly convoluted that by the time you finish, you just don't care. And then ending is completely disappointing.

If you love horror films, rent one of the newer releases out there or go see something...anything...new in theaters. But as for THE DARKNESS, leave it in the dark.

March 15, 2008

In the Shadows....

First let me stress that this is no masterpiece but it stands head and shoulders above the last two Hollywood "horror" films I tortuously endured, "Invasion" and "1408."

Perhaps because it seems to be the product of a number of international production finance groups (too many cooks in the kitchen) the script is a bit confusing and has some gaping holes in it... but the performances are excellent and the direction gently raises the hair on your neck enough times to make it an intelligent late night popcorn flick. The director understands that shadows aren't meant to reveal everything, and that oddities fleetingly glimpsed just outside the corner of your eye can be the most chilling. The ham fisted director of "1408" may want to take note...

You can justifiably find a number of things to complain about in this film but you definitely won't be buying any spooky old houses in the Spanish countryside in the immediate future. And like me you just might watch it a second time, where some of the details at last reveal themselves. March 9, 2008

What a horrid mess of a movie

I hate to really bash films but this one deserves it. This was by far one of the worst movies I have ever sat through. I actually saw it when it was in the movies and barely mad it through without leaving. It had plenty of potential to be something but it seems as if the writers gave up a quarter of the way through the story and hired a group of chimps to finish it up. It really was that bad I assure you. I can't find one positive thing to say. My only advice is stay far away. And if you happen to be one of the few unlucky owners of the film you may want to resort to using the disk as a frisbee. February 24, 2008

NO! NO! NO!!

Okay, if you are reading this review, you've already seen the movie and you're here to see if people thought this sucked as bad as it did, or for some reason you are considering watching for yourself, thinking that it can't be that bad. IT IS!! I was so excited to see this movie. I love off beat horror films, and I don't have a huge problem if they have some plot holes. After I turned it off, my hubby said, "Well, that was one of the worst shows I've ever seen." Then he got up and moved on to other things. I was so mad and cheated that I actually sat through it again, hoping there was tons of stuff I missed, that it could be this bad. IT IS!! I'm an intelligent person and understood where they were going with the "plot" but wow, I'm a a loss to say how much I really, truly hated this movie.
I know sometimes you read reviews where the marjority of people give it 1 star and try to warn you about it. You then want to see it, thinking that nothing could be that horrible. This is!! Please never watch this movie, ever, ever, ever, ever!!! November 1, 2007

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