Writer: Jaume Balaguero, Fernando De Felipe (Screenplay)
Starring: Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Giancarlo Giannini, Fele Martinez
Plot: A teenage girl moves into a remote countryside house with her family, only to discover that their gloomy new home has a horrifying past that threatens to destroy the family.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Bland Horror Investigation
Story: Darkness starts with a young girl trying to remember what happened when a group of children were taken and she is the lone survivor but she simply couldn’t remember. Move forward 40 years we meet Regina (Paquin) a teenage girl who has recently moved house with her parents Maria (Olin), Mark (Glen) and little brother Paul. We hear about an impending eclipse that will only be once in a lifetime. Mark has an attack of sorts leaving Paul frightened and seemingly getting haunted in his own bedroom.
We start to see movement in the shadows and bruises showing up on Paul that he can’t explain. The house continues to struggle with power failures leaving them trapped in Darkness where Paul has become the targets of the ghost children. Regina starts investigating the history of the house and discovers that the history of the house really has a lot of mystery about it. Regina takes it upon herself to solve the mystery and save her family from the vengeful spirits.
Darkness falls into the category of ghost investigation but unlike most of them the scares are few and far between. The back story gets unfolded but we never seem to learn enough about what the idea was behind it all, the messy way the father’s disease is handled doesn’t help either. The parents seem to have no interest in helping and could be responsible for what is happening but we are left too much in the dark about what they do. In the end this whole story comes off messy with plenty of plot holes. (3/10)
Actor Review
Anna Paquin: Regina is the teenage girl trying to solve the mystery that is haunting her new home. She does the research even if it is her brother that faces most of the hauntings. Anna does what she can with the role but never reaches the level you would expect for the role that was written badly. (5/10)
Lena Olin: Maria is the mother of the family who tries to make sense of everything without making too much of it. Lena doesn’t do enough but the character doesn’t get enough time even when she is meant to be important. (4/10)
Iain Glen: Mark is the father of the family who is sick and may have a connection to the houses history, he could be the one that is putting everyone in danger. Iain does what he can but doesn’t get involved in the way his character should have. (4/10)
Support Cast: Darkness has a supporting cast that helps try and unfold the story but doesn’t do enough to make you care about what happens.
Director Review: Jaume Balaguero – Jaume gives us a good idea for horror but doesn’t give us enough scares and leaves us with a lot of plot holes. (5/10)
Horror: Darkness has well built up horror moments but none of them seem to deliver the final scare. (4/10)
Settings: Darkness uses the house as a good setting but doesn’t have enough scares in the house for what is happening. (5/10)
Suggestion: Darkness will fall into the late night television for horror fans but it doesn’t deserve to be watched by going out of your way to see. (Late Night TV)
Best Part: The photo and creepy ghost behind.
Worst Part: No scares.
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Box Office: $34.4 Million
Budget: $10.6 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
Tagline: A house. A past. A secret. Will you dare enter?
Trivia: Miramax/Dimension had paid $4 million for the rights to distribute the movie in North America and some other territories, but then shelved it for more than two years. The company gave the film a US theatrical release at Christmas 2004 after heavy editing to secure a PG-13 rating.
Overall: Darkness really does end up coming off very slow and easily forgettable by lacking any scares.
Rating