Even as the darkness closes in, there is never any real sense of dread. The slow-burning terror soon fizzles out, as does the damp squib of an ending.
Comment
06/24/06
Darkness (2003)
4 %
Reviews Counted: 50 Fresh: 2 Rotten:48 Average Rating: 2.7/10
Consensus:
Yet another predictable variation on the hoary old haunted-house movie.
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Synopsis: Talented Spanish filmmaker Jaume Balaguero's film DARKNESS is a terrifying tale in which an ordinary American family moves to a large, creaky Victorian home in the Spanish countryside that, unbeknownst to them, was the scene of some awful experiments on the night of a total eclipse 40 years... [More]
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Starring: Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Stephen Enquist, Giancarlo Giannini
Director: Jaume Balaguero
Screenwriter: Fernando de Felipe
Producer: Julio Fernandez
Composer: Carles Casas
Screenwriter: Fernando de Felipe
Producer: Julio Fernandez
Composer: Carles Casas
Reviews
Top Critic Top Critic
However, the fact that the creepy suspenseful atmosphere builds up to a risible climax where nothing remotely scary happens undermines all the good work that has gone before.
04/02/05
All of this, of course, would be forgivable if it added up to a scary movie or made even a lick of sense (chunks appear to have been cut out of a longer cut of the film), but Balaguero manages to disappoint on every possible front.
01/08/07
As in most bad horror flicks, intimations of unspeakable evil are supposed to distract us from the yawning gaps in story logic and character motivation.
01/08/07
A plodding, portentous horror thriller in which a spooky child figures prominently and people speak in hushed tones about sinister doings.
09/26/05
Darkness is a by-the-numbers haunted house thriller that recalls a number of other films in which a family moves into a mysterious old manse with a sordid past
09/16/05
There’s still a lot of European feel to Darkness, which can sometimes be off-putting to American audiences.
09/02/05
Too many plot and character lapses for comfort, even in the traditionally logic-flouting horror genre.
07/07/05
It's unfortunate that the film is called Darkness because this means it will soon be relegated to the Wal Mart bargain bin next to 2003's stinker Darkness Falls.
06/15/05
The film is dark, and a bit slowly paced in parts, but it’s worth watching.
06/01/05
There’s nothing very frightening about this shallow, stupid spookfest.
05/30/05
The movie finally degenerates into a hopeless mass of mumbo-jumbo, silliness, and incoherence.
04/22/05
Darkness is a ridiculous film choked with genre clichés and stolen scares, yet there’s something genuinely dark and nasty wrapped inside all that ridiculousness...
03/23/05
Tries to survive on an aura of unknown creepiness, but that's really just a nice way of saying that very little happens of any interest during the film.
01/16/05
Unless you're having this review read to you by your mother tucking you in for the night, you've already seen this one.
01/15/05
The kind of monstrous misfire that makes your mind ache and your teeth grind.
01/15/05
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I didn't mind this film...
by: Chippor Snippet 6/28/05
by: Chippor Snippet 6/28/05
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