Back to horror school for you, Señor Balagueró.
Comment
04/01/06
Darkness (2003)
4
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:52
Fresh:2
Rotten:50
Average Rating:2.7/10
Consensus: Yet another predictable variation on the hoary old haunted-house movie, Darkness is an illogical, portentous mess.
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: Talented Spanish filmmaker Jaume Balaguero's film DARKNESS is a movie in which an ordinary American family moves to a large, creaky Victorian home in the Spanish countryside that, unbeknownst to... [More]
Starring: Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Stephen Enquist
Director: Jaume Balaguero
Reviews for Darkness
Top CriticEven 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.
06/24/06
Top CriticHowever, 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
This insanely ludicrous and trite plot can't connect two scenes together, much less drum up any real scares.
01/07/05
Top Critic“Darkness” is a fascinating story, only delivered sluggishly and without the requisite tension.**
01/06/05
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
Click to read the article
01/15/05
Should have been left to molder in Miramax's vast vault of horror-movie stiffs.
12/30/04
It presents... a world where not only is virtue not rewarded, but free will is meaningless. If one is doomed regardless... why bother to go through the motions at all?
12/26/04
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
Moments hint at a metaphoric statement on child abuse, but the film proves mainly to be a commentary on poor electrical wiring.
12/28/04
...ultimately comes off as nothing less than a total disaster.
06/22/07
So dimly lit and its plot so threadbare that the viewing experience is not much more gratifying than sitting in a pitch-black room for 95 minutes.
12/26/04
One can only imagine how much scarier some of Balagueró’s images would be without the abrasive soundtrack.
05/09/04
Simply put: Darkness fails. It's about as chilling as an unplugged refrigerator.
01/01/05
It's a lamentable film, a true waste of talented actresses Lena Olin and Anna Paquin, and a goofy retread of stock horror-flick devices.
01/05/05
There's the draw from the audience of potential scares and the good cast, but there's nothing ever delivered to us.
04/29/09
Although director Balaguero displays a talent for spooky visuals and creating an atmosphere of quietly simmering tension, his screenplay (co-written by Fernando de Felipe) is a compendium of barely connected scenes that ultimately lapse into incoherence.
12/28/04
Top CriticLess mystifying than incoherent, inviting more giggles than shudders.
12/27/04
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
Latest News for Darkness
November 01, 2005:
New Distributor Makes a "Fragile" Purchase
You might not be familiar with the name "Bauer Martinez" just yet, but if you're a frequent moviegoer, you'll know it soon enough. Bauer Martinez Distribution is a... More...
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