User reviews

In terms of its storyline, "Darkness" is pretty much like every other haunted house movie ever made. We start off with the usual unsuspecting family of four who find themselves knee deep in ghouls and ghosts the moment they move into their new residence (the family is American and the home is in Spain in this outing). Of course, anyone in his right mind would hightail it out the door two seconds after setting foot in the house - but not this group! They want to hang around to see what "happens." It is Oscar-winner Anna Paquin, as the moody but perceptive teenaged daughter of the clan, who gets to have her name above the title here - a dubious distinction at best, I'm sorry to say.

"Darkness" has just about all the standard accoutrement's one would expect to find in a film on this subject. In addition to the perpetual thunderstorm taking place outside and the electricity that keeps going out on cue, we also have the self-activating toys, the strange voices on the telephone, the ghostly images on photographs, the father who becomes exponentially more psychotic in every scene in which he appears, and the mysterious old man with the limp who shows up out of nowhere and seems to hold the key to everything. Seasoned veterans will be able to predict just about every hackneyed setup and cliché a full hour before it officially arrives on screen. For instance, we just know, without room for quibble, that the minute the mother brings home a box of colored pencils for her delighted little boy to play with, the tyke will start drawing strange and disturbing pictures to help push the plot points along. It's practically de rigueur when it comes to films in this vein. (However, I must say, in all fairness, that the movie does NOT include the cat-jumping-out-at-the-audience scene, which is pretty much standard issue for every horror flick these days. The filmmakers DO earn some bonus points for that).

Paquin makes for a feisty heroine, and it isn't really her fault that her character always seems to be ten giant steps behind the audience in figuring it all out. And as to the "What the *&$%?" ending - well, it's either so brilliant that it is beyond the ken of mere mortal man to figure out, or it's one of the biggest final curtain stumbles in horror movie history. I have my own personal notion as to which of those two it really is, but I'll let you figure that one out for yourself. After all, I have to leave you with SOMETHING interesting to do while you're watching this film.

I was quite impressed with Jaume Balaguero's first feature "The Nameless" which mightn't have been original, but it was coldly disturbing and effectively suspenseful. Now I heard and read nothing but poor things on his second feature "Darkness". I couldn't escape the negativity, and naturally I was expecting something very weak. However came away from it thinking what an interesting failure into supernatural/occult territory. The main problem is due the story's stale familiarity, which never really is given the chance to rise above its foreseeable hints, embarrassingly shallow script and ludicrously ragged framework. Talk about hazy, and I mean real hazy. It's cryptic, but extremely convoluted and mundane. Even with Balaguero's understated, glossed up icy direction, which works in some eerie, and jarring visuals that go a long way of building up a quiet intensity and dreary atmosphere.

Still everything about it is downright mechanical and probably a bit long in the tooth, but it didn't seem to bother me because I found it rather intriguing despite the muddled, paper-thin intentions. There's just something lurking behind this jilted mess that I found fascinating, but the narrative does get lost amongst the busy visual style. From the beginning, we learn it's all about the casually paced build-up, but the shocks are too clichéd (like creaky sounds, moving shadows) and the final pay-off doesn't have too much of a sting to it. Technically the film looks the part with its dark composition and sterile cinematography, and the weeping, otherworldly music score works a haunting tone. The sound devices are so old-hat and forced, but they're pinpoint, vitriolic and really do surround you. The characters don't fair any better, and I thought the performances from a solid cast were modest enough even with their flimsy characterisations. Anna Paquin was suitably appealing and maturely strong, but a awful Lena Olin looked quite uninterested and Iain Glen was terribly uneven. Giancarlo Giannini stays on cruise control, and Stephan Enquist turns in a fine performance.

This has got to be the absolute worst of all of the Asian horror rip-off wannabees around. It is the least terrifying and most boring of all the horror films I've seen since the year 2000, and perhaps even earlier.

The whole plot idea is just another version of The Shining with some Poltergeist stuff mixed in for good measure. Every time the father goes wacko, I'm fully expecting him to pop his head through someplace and say, "Here's Johnny!" There's positively no suspense in this thing at all and the whole last half hour is completely obvious, so it's just a matter of, do you turn it off, or watch to see how right you are. Besides that, the story idea is beyond lame and without any depth or thoughtfulness. It's a exercise in pursuing filmic style over substance, yet here the substance is almost non-existent and the style is plagiarized.

To make matters worse, the acting is tepid at best. The actors portraying the mother and father turn in rudimentary performances without conviction, the son is also just there for the filling. The most terrifying moments of the whole film are when watching the performance of the daughter, basically a one-note deal, with every facial expression used for effect being about the same, and a monotone voice warbling in constant teenage angst. We have characters constantly whispering for no reason regardless of their setting.

Also, the daughter is just about the most obnoxious and bitchy teen girl ever, and attempts to present herself as the moral fascist in charge of the family. Viewers may find themselves hoping for her demise at the end just to be rid of her. And also hoping for the end to come as soon as possible so they can watch something else.

PS: I've read every HP Lovecraft story published, and I don't see this as being anywhere close to "Lovecraftian".

Maria (Lena Olin) and Mark Rua (Iain Glen) with their children Regina (Anna Paquin) and Paul move into an isolated house in Spain. Mark is troubled and has a complicated relationship with his father Albert Rua (Giancarlo Giannini).

Director Jaume Balagueró seems to have a grasp on moody horror visuals. The movie mostly works, if somewhat a slow bore, until the last act. It's a mistake to separate Anna Paquin from the family but sending her back to the house may be a bigger mistake. The movie needs to plant the seeds of this premise a lot better and a lot sooner. The opening tells us nothing other than a 40 years difference. By that alone, we have to assume either Mark or Maria's involvement. There could be so much more done with this premise. It needs to introduce the darkness sooner. They should start killing right away. The story needs work.

I had heard bad things from the few people I know who had seen this film. I was still curious though, I think Anna Paquin is a somewhat underestimated actress who is rarely given what you could call a leading roll. Other than that, I knew nothing that the back of the DVD case couldn't tell me. Anyways.

I really enjoyed this film. It was well made, it was tastefully done and yes I found it to be scarier than just about anything else I've seen lately. Plus it features a pretty good turn by Fele Martínez who also starred in 'Abre los ojos', the film Cameron Crowe dubbed in English and called Vanilla Sky.

Darkness is a bad horror movie with a few scares and a lot of yawns. A family moves into an old house in the country, but the daughter Regina (Anna Paquin) discovers a horrifying secret that comes out at nighttime and learns that the house used to be the site of a sacrificial ritual gone wrong. The plot sounds scary and even though its not original they could have still tried a little harder. The cast is pretty good with the best being Anna Paquin and Lena Olin. They both do a pretty good job but their performances can't save the movie. The script has a lot of holes in it and the film just leaves the audience in the dark. The film runs for 102 minutes but it feels a lot longer and it was really boring at some scenes. Jaume Balagueró should have done a better job as Darkness had a lot of potential to be scary. The ending was also pretty bad and didn't really make a lot of sense. This may be one of the worst movies I have ever seen at a theater and certainly one of the worst horror movies I have ever seen. I understand that this movie was edited so it could earn a PG-13 rating but Miramax should have just stuck with the "R" even if it would have done worse at the box office. Rating 3/10, I recommend you wait until the DVD comes out so you can enjoy it more and maybe the deleted scenes will help you understand the story better.

The movie centers about a family living outskirts Barcelona and the terrible events that happen to the daughter (Anna Paquin) and the rest of family : father (Iain Glenn) , mother (Lena Olin) and grandfather (Giancarlo Giannini).

The motion picture gets a certain likeness to films as ¨Amytiville¨ saga and the recent ¨The others¨ and ¨The sixth sense¨ , the director Jaume Balaguero takes parts each other films . In the movie there is terror , suspense , drama and from the beginning until ending the horror and tension is endless . The picture plot is pretty twisted and the final has an extraordinary surprise .

Interpretation by Anna Paquin as scared adolescent is average , she's very young and lack her experience , better play her grandfather and parents : Giancarlo Giannini , Lena Olin and Iain Glenn , both of whom are riveting . The film is produced by Julio Fernandez of Fantastic Factory , corporation with deal of hits in terror genre.

Balaguero direction is outstanding , Xavi Gimenez cinematography with lights and shades originates a frightening and scary atmosphere and Carlos Cases music creates true fear . Director Jaume Balagueró (Rec , Rec 2 .., Fragiles , The nameless , Tight sleep) uses uneasy knowledge for both horror and supernatural genre .

The flick will appeal to ghostly atmosphere enthusiasts and horror genre fans . Rating : 6,5/10 good

X-men's Anna Paquin is Regina, a typical rebellious teen who moves with her parents and kid brother back to the remote house that the father grew up in. Sooner then you can say "the Shining" the father starts acting a bit loony and the kid brother is getting the stuffing kicked out of him by...The Darkness. No not the great metal band (although that would make for a much better movie), no, literal darkness. For a film about an insane dad, there's LONG stretches where absolutely nothing happens remotely interesting. The performances of the actors are serviceable, even if nothing their characters do are believable. With an ending that'll have you throwing a pillow at the TV in it's abruptness screaming "Is that all??? I wasted 102 minutes on that steaming pile??!!?" That's why if you MUST see this film then watch the PG-13 version, it'll make as much sense (or lack there of) as the 102 minute version and you'll save yourself almost 20 minutes, that you can do something useful with.

My Grade: D

Moving with her family to Spain, a teen and her family believe the series of weird occurrences there are the result of the ghosts of children killed in the house for a deadly ceremony and must prevent it from happening again to her family.

Overall this one turned out enjoyable if slightly flawed. This one really manages to work quite well at building a pretty noteworthy atmosphere here by really going for a subdued approach to the haunting found within here, which range from the innocent to the subtle. While initially starting with the innocent fare of the discovery of the pictures and the drawings, or the subtle versions of ideas from the father's freak-outs and behavior around the family, the constantly flickering lights and the obsession over the beings under his bed all might seem like non-entities there's a great build-up throughout the first half which sets up the latter half of this one nicely. That gives the second half much more to work with as the investigation into the original traumatic incident and the ghostly visions of the children around the house manage to really ramp up the action and pacing even more for the finale. There are some good times here as this section features the battle to get the father under control during one of his freak-outs while setting up the chilling walk-through of the house in complete darkness while surrounded by the ghosts and their temptation tricks that make this one quite fun. Even as much good as this becomes, this section here really highlights the flaws present in the film. Among the biggest here is the fact that there's just not a whole lot of action here, as the film is decidedly against the supernatural to prove the point of its haunting back-story. This one here is instead more like a drama by focusing on the idea that something's happening rather than do anything about it which simply makes this one go by without anything of any real interest throughout here. Not only is this section not filled with action but it's also part of the really low-key and dragging pace that doesn't offer up a whole lot of energy that doesn't move the plot along any better. These here are quite problematic here as they give this quite a dull pace without much of a true horror film here to start this one off which makes this problematic. The other real flaw to this one here is the utterly haphazard finale, not only filled with wretched editing during the action scenes but filled with cliché moments and action here that feels pretty common and not that original which really makes for some troubling times here in this section. These here are the film's biggest issues that hold it down.

Rated PG-13: Violence, minor Language and themes of child abuse.

This movie seemed to have no point whatsoever. There was never a good explanation for why things happened. I would definitely not recommend this movie. It started off OK, but then got worse. Things that happened to the characters didn't make sense and an explanation was never given. I wouldn't suggest wasting your money even to rent it!

They attempt to make it seem scary in the previews by showing children hidden in the dark. There was no point in the movie where i was actually scared. The few parts where you were supposed to be scared had no explanation to go along with them so I was left more confused than afraid. It was a major disappointment.

This movie is not your typical American horror flick (which makes sense since it's a Spanish film). It's a far cry from the gory, cliché-ridden and painfully explained horror movies that American audiences are used to.

Darkness disturbed me on different levels. One of them was the family dynamics (notably the father's mental issues), and the suggested potential for violence. The other was the supernatural element, which was used in a subtle and truly frightening manner.

I've seen thousands of horror movies in my lifetime, and this is one of the best. However, if you are not one for nuances and feel that gore is a requisite from a horror movie, then stay away from this one.

I knew nothing about this film until I stumbled across it while reading reviews for another movie. So, I checked out what people were saying, and having read so many mixed reviews on it, I had to see it for myself. I love scary movies...always have. And I'm a particular fan of any movie that can bring back that feeling of terror one experiences as a child...whether from watching movies, or fearing the ever-present monsters in the closet. At times, this movie was able to do that.

Darkness starts out strong, grabbing you in out of sheer morbid curiosity. Throughout, there are moments of profound creepiness quite similar to the flashes of the twin daughters in The Shining. Actually, this movie has some similarities to the old classic, although it falls far short of what the Shining was able to accomplish.

There are some drawbacks to this movie. The acting is, well, not entirely believable. And, in my opinion, Paquin is not at her best in this movie. Many of the lines fall flat and have you sitting there scratching your head goin "huh?" These moments come quite frequently when watching the dialogue between Mother and Daughter...it simply isn't believable. The other main drawback is the copout explanation of events. Like with many horror films, the movie starts out strong with an intriguing storyline, only to have the writers throw together a flittery, half-witted explanation to everything. Darkness follows that formula to a T, unfortunately.

However, amongst the drawbacks are moments of great potential and overall eeriness that is missing in many of today's films. Also, the ending in and of itself is a breath of fresh air in comparison to the stereotypical hollywood ending found in far too many movies.

Had I spent $8 on this film, I probably would have been disappointed and wanted my money back. However, this is definitely worth a rental cost...especially for a "horror movie night" or a teens sleepover. Don't expect a great one...but don't expect a dud either.

If you're looking for jumps and that creepy feeling reminiscent of a childhood fear of the dark, this is the movie for you.

Overall, I give this ***1/2 out of five.

Well, it is difficult for me to judge this movie. As a die-hard fan of dark moody films, like The Others, The Ring, Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Series, The Crow, etc. I set really high standards. I expect every scene to have a meaning - if something flickers in the background it has to come forward at some time, if there is a lot of references to something then it means it has to have a deeper meaning sooner or later, etc... but, alas, this movie tried to seem to be more than it was. It's enticing, thrilling and delightfully creepy in the beginning - but later it starts to get more and more repetitive and, frankly speaking, boring. How many times can one character ask another how they got some weird bruises and not get any answer at all? How many times can weird shadows appear in dark rooms, without even trying to mean anything?

In other words, if you're not a "horror connoisseur", and just enjoy a good scare that does not necessarily have to be a piece of art, and don't mind a banal plothole-ridden outcome, then you're going to like this movie a lot. But if you expect innovation, pieces perfectly fitting one another at the end, subtle innuendoes that converge in a final surprising climax - then, sorry, you're looking on the wrong shelf. 5/10.

Spain continues with the revival of atmospheric, story-driven horror but this film is definitely a lot less impressive or memorable than for example "The Others", "The Devil's Backbone" or Balaguero's own "The Nameless". Well actually, I'm being too polite here... "Darkness", despite featuring some good ideas, is a dull and overly confusing haunted house/ restless ghosts story. Admittedly, it all looks beautiful and scary at first, but it doesn't take long before you realize that the shock-moments are the same old clichéd and meaningless tricks (sudden appearances, toys that start to function by themselves, slamming doors...) and that the premise actually doesn't make the slightest bit of sense, albeit smoothly presented. We follow a rather dysfunctional family that recently moved from the US to Spain, where the father has his roots and granddaddy still is a prominent doctor. Their giant house is very isolated and hides many old secrets and it's unhappy teenage daughter Regina who senses the danger first. Soon after, father Mark re-develops the disease everyone thought he was cured of and the young son Paul starts to behave mysteriously. Maybe it's because I lost interest pretty quick, but eventually I didn't understand one iota about the connection between an old dark house, a solar eclipse, a chronic illness and the sacrificial murders of seven young children. To make it all a little worse, there are numerous illogical aspects in the script that annoyed the hell out of me. What caring mother would simply ignore strangulation marks on her son's neck and say they're accidental bruises? Or what male adolescent would spend all his time and even risk his life for a girl he never even received a kiss from? Moreover, it's never made clear in which era "Darkness" is set! There's no reason to assume it's not set in present day, yet the cars and even the telephones look prehistoric. And in case you're wondering: no, it's not always raining cats and dogs in Spain, in fact, I always presumed it's Europe's sunniest country! However, it helps that this poor movie is blessed with a great cast and the cinematography is often very enchanting. The obligatory twist in the end is entirely implausible and proves all the more that "Darkness" is a beautifully decorated but empty package. Avoid!

A family movies into a house in what is apparently the Spanish countryside. The dad starts to go crazy, the young son has welts all over his body, and the daughter (Anna Paquin) tries to figure out what is going on in their new home.

I don't feel I have the right to judge this movie because I saw the edited version that was theatrically released in the US in December 2004, not the original version. But I will say that this version is a mediocre and bizarre film that made little sense. The acting is surprisingly below average. It doesn't help that some of the dialogue is incredibly awful, which could possibly be attributed to language barriers between the filmmakers and the cast. Iain Glen laughably overacts as the dad-gone-berserk. Lena Olin is unusually awful as the mother in denial. Anna Paquin plays her character with such random lascivious looks on her face, that seem very out of context. Adding to the lewdness is the fact that in her scenes the camera often started at her crotch and then panned up. These scenes weren't like the kind in a typical sleazy horror movie. It seemed like they were done with some mysterious underlying purpose that the director never follows through with.

The film does have a unique atmosphere and some otherwise beautiful camera-work, and a few decent scares. But it could have been so much more. Still, it is better than Darkness Falls. My Rating: 5/10.

Another movie where a white family should have taken Eddie Murphy`s advise, I would move out of a house if you found foot and hand prints on the ceiling. This movie was boring and predicatable. For some reason the director thought intolerably long shots of swings in the rain would be scary. I was hopeful at the beginning with the quick cuts scary prelude (ala Seven) of the murder of 6 children, but the movie is just a rehash of a number of other better movies The Shining and The Believers. It even steals the premise of The Believers but with less of an explanation of why things are happening.

Oh and the acting....ugh, the dad, my God I thought he was the guy from those instant coffee commercials that were popular a few years ago and the mom is no better, she is always to tired to notice the lights turn on and off or that her son is being bruised when he sleeps or there the foot prints on the ceiling.

This movie sucked.

A few years ago, a European group and BrianYuzna (RE-ANIMATOR creator) associated to create the FANTASTIC FACTORY; a project towards the creation of B-class horror flicks. The company produced a few average horror films and a disaster call ARACHNIC; all of them got limited release and success in certain countries and / or went directly to video in others (USA for example). Now, they came back with DARKNESS; the best horror film yet delivered by the FACTORY (they are in the works of BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR).

DARKNESS was directed by Jaime Baulaguero; Spanish director who's previous film THE SECT WITHOUT NAME was an interesting psychological horror film with good reception in Europe. It has an important budget for Spanish standards (twelve and a half million Euros) and an international decent cast (Lena Olin, Ana Paquin, Giancarlo Giannini).

The movie is a horror thriller in the line of ROSEMARY BABY or THE OTHERS. It also resembles THE SHINNING; but that is only a trick of the script. Like those movies, there is little gore or blood, a slow beginning and a very effective second half. As in most movies of this kind, you will enjoy it, get scared and forget after leaving the theatre.

The story is classic; a family moves to a house abandoned for forty years, where something evil is already living. The youngest kid is the most affected and the adolescent one tries to warn her parents without any result. A solar eclipse is coming.. By the end, there are some very smart twists, and nothing is exactly as you expected; which is good because during the first half the feeling is that you already saw this movie several times.

Bottom line; a good horror movie that will never become a classic but will give you the creeps for an hour an a half

Not long after Regina (Anna Paquin) begins living in her family's remote country estate, she learns that there's something horribly disturbing about the old place.

Darkness has the hallmarks of a great film, it is suspenseful and creepy, the cast is very strong, the story is fresh and original and the direction is very stylish. Sadly i found it fell short of greatness and i can only put it down to the pace of the delivery, to me it seemed to drag along at times without serving any real purpose.

Darkness is still a good film and i simply loved the finale, it just could have been better.

6/10

Darkness was purchased for distribution in 2002 as what appears to be a tax write-off on the part of Dimension Films. It has yet to see so much as a straight-to-video release in Australia, and appearances suggest that in spite of Anna Paquin's minor stardom, it never will. This is a pity, because Jaume Balagueró's economical approach to making a horror film is something that we need more of in today's box office. Like Tobe Hooper before him, Balagueró gives the viewer short bursts of scenery for the imagination to use as a foundation. Everything that scares the viewer in this film is the product of their imagination, which might go some way to explain the poor reception it appears to have had on the IMDb. Trusting in the imagination of your audience is a risk, especially when a large part of that audience has been indoctrinated against using theirs by twenty or more years of eMpTyV. Put simply, the reception Darkness suffered in the US market can be attributed to a clash of cultures.

This is not to say the film is not without flaws. The first half hour in particular comes across as a collection of scenes without transition. This is something that occurs often in British television, where people are shown doing things in different places with nothing to explain how they got there. Those who have seen Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels or any of the Law & Order series will have some idea of what I am talking about. In comedies, this can help reduce the lag time between laughs. It can also help dramas function effectively in scope. In the case of Darkness, unfortunately, it can leave the viewer in some state of confusion as to what is meant to be happening, or the chronology of events. Subtitles are occasionally flashed across the screen to indicate what day of the week it is, but this leaves the events of the film seeming to not fit.

The acting, on the other hand, is top-notch. I am not ashamed to admit that the entire reason I bought the DVD is because of how prominently Anna Paquin was featured on the cover. The entire film rests on her slender shoulders, and she carries it heroically. Lena Olin and Iain Glen give Anna plenty to bounce off, and they all make it seem as though they thoroughly enjoyed working together. Stephan Enquist is, naturally, the weakest link in the main cast, but he holds up his end of the story with a grace you rarely see in one so young. Granted, the scenes he appears in are more or less specifically tailored to him, but this is only natural. This film is the only credit listed under his name on the IMDb, so it is possible that he never even had any plans to become an actor in the first place. He is more of a plot device than a character, but he fills that role very nicely. Giancarlo Giannini appears to have bounced back nicely from Hannibal, and proves that he can deliver a great performance when the script is right.

Rather than cover up the holes in the story or its execution with a hodge-podge of computerised graphical effects. Darkness, on the other hand, relies upon practical effects in order to deliver what some might call the money shots. Lights flicker on and off in predetermined sequences, subliminal images rocket across the screen to disorient the viewer, and sound is effectively placed or mixed in order to place the viewer in the scene. The only practical effect here I can seriously object to is the manner in which Jaume Balagueró shakes the camera during some of the scenes that are meant to be high-tension. This is the first time I have seen this despicable move during a European film, and Darkness in particular reminds me of how the technique throws me out of the picture. It reminds me that I am watching a film or DVD, not a family acting out a crisis before me. It's a shame that I have to even mention this, because the other effects in the film deliver far more punch.

As I tried to make clear, this film is very much an acquired taste. Fans of Paul Verhoeven's work in the Dutch film industry will have little trouble adjusting to the Spanish stylings of Darkness. Those who are only acquainted with the American film industry will have a little more trouble, in spite of the fact that in terms of content, Darkness differs little from most American fare. It is the little things, such as the casting or the ability to show things that America's attempts to appeal to everyone disallows, that make Darkness stand out. Sure, it is a standard horror formula, but the fact that it has not been attempted in this manner for some time is a bonus. The twist ending is hardly a surprise, but it does add an unusual edge to the proceedings. In spite of some very conventional material, the end result is anything but.

In all, I gave Darkness an eight out of ten. There is plenty that it does wrong, but there is also so much that it does right. While I don't recommend it for a look at foreign film industry, I do recommend it if you need to see that an effective horror film can be made for less than a hundred million dollars.