User reviews

"Dark Circles" was somewhat of a less than mediocre experience. And I mean that in the best possible way.

What made it less than mediocre was the slow storyline and the fact that nothing overly interesting happened at all through out the entire 87 minutes that the movie ran for.

That being said, then it should be noted that the actors were actually doing good enough jobs with their performances, they were just struggling against an uphill battle against a horrible script and a very anti-climatic storyline.

The story is about a family moving into a newly acquired house with their baby. But soon thereafter they realize that there is no rest, peace and quiet here, as the neighbors are constructing a house. And something inside their newly acquired house is not welcoming them with open arms.

The movie is nicely enough edited and filmed, just a shame that the storyline failed to be impressive.

As for a horror movie, then "Dark Circles" was awfully devoid of scary moments and anything even remotely disturbing. And this also contributed to the slow, dull pace that the movie trotted on in.

First of all, I have to say I didn't expect much from Dark Circles. The poster looked OK, but you learn to be cautious with new horror films because under the cover often lies another boring and pretentious film with cheap scaring techniques and a predictable, derivative plot, and that's exactly the case here.

Johnathon Schaech and Pell James were good enough in their roles, even sympathetic, and the film had some nice ideas and scenes, like the one when Johnathon's character is dreaming. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie was just plain bad. As I mentioned, you have a totally unoriginal story which tries to be a lot of things at once, and it never succeeds at being even remotely interesting. Then you have the same old jump scares which anyone can easily predict. The villain isn't scary at all, and looks like a woman with a bit of ugly make-up on (oh wait, that's what it actually is). Atmosphere was solid until the villain started showing up in brief glimpses, and that's when most of you will realize you will be wasting your time with this movie.

I'd say skip it, life is just too short.

I read some reviews here after watching the movie. I have watched a lot of horror movies since I am a big fan of the genre. To me, this movie was not scary except last minutes but it might be very interesting for someone else and the reason is that the acceptance of a horror movie is concerned with audiences in different way. Some people enjoy horror movies based on ghosts and haunting houses, some others may prefer slasher ones and some ones like all sub-genres of horror movies. This movie is about a newly purchased house by a couple with their new born baby who move there and have insomnia. Very soon some strange things happen and a chilling lady is seen by them. In my opinion, the film was directed not bad but the written story was not enough good. Paul Soter wrote the story and directed the film as well. I previously saw his other written and directed movie,"Watching the Detective (2007)" and I think that one was a better work as a comedy-romantic movie but this movie lacks very effective shocking elements. First of all that ghost- form lady was not terrible and creepy. Second, killing of the ghost- form lady was funny if you think she was just a homeless woman looking for a baby or revenge not a ghost! Third, 3 persons (Nancy, Micheal, and the creepy lady) were killed in that house at the end and the couple (Alex and Penny) were sitting in an ambulance after the arrival of rescue forces but who the hell didn't suspect to them as murderer(s)?! Apart of these problems, the movie had relatively good filming and acting. My rating to this film was 5 out of 10. Watching this movie is up to you I don't recommend you to see or not to see it but of course not worth for second time!

I originally gave this a 7 out of ten, but after thinking about it all day, I felt angry enough to change my vote to a 3 and leave an annoyed review.

I really enjoyed almost all of the movie. Loved up couple have a baby, decide to move away to the country for some quiet time. The husband is a musician so he wants some time to write and the wife wants to do up the house and raise her kid away from the busy city. Unfortunately baby wont sleep, which means parents don't sleep, resulting in sleep deprivation. The couple start arguing, they forget what they're doing, everything is not good. Plus there is some really creepy stuff going on the house, which just adds to their increasing madness.

I liked the slow decline into madness as the couple suffer more and more sleepless nights. I liked how this was further exacerbated by what was going on in their house. However, the conclusion and explanation, i.e. the ending, was utterly ridiculous and infuriating. It totally ruined the film for me and it didn't make any sense. The whole movie was rendered mute by the stupid ending and I feel cheated.

To summarise: Good film overall, creepy, engaging but sadly destroyed by idiotic ending.

Starring an unknown cast, 'Dark Circles' treads familiar grounds, with a family moving away to the rural side of the USA in order to escape the hectic life in the city. From it's chilling 5 minute opening up to its eventual climax, 'Dark Circles' presents itself as a good start to this years run of 'After Dark Originals'. With the aforementioned opening 5 minutes effectively setting the tone for what's to come, I got the feeling that this could very well be a good horror movie.

With a movie like this, and a plot that has been used countless upon countless times it's quite hard to be original and I think the director (first time feature director Paul Soter) decided to sidestep that by just trying to give us as many creepy moments as possible. For the largest part he succeeds by giving us a rundown of the common and not so common tactics to scare us. Loud sounds, a point of view camera, shapes in the distance drawing near, and a very ominous soundtrack consisting of the same 4 tone piano medley all work together to give us the unsettling vibe that is so highly sought after in these types of movies.

What makes a movie great though, is its story.dark-circles-3 And while it sets out promising, with the main leads openly discussing the disturbing things they are witnessing, ultimately it degrades itself by falling back into the old habits of horror. They start to distrust one another (which only serves as a cheap setup to give us some more scary scenes) and the plot moves from one angle to the complete opposite without any clear given reason as to why.

It didn't manage to make me dislike the movie all together, but it took away from the experience I was having up until 50 minutes into its 86 minute total. The final resolve made me think of 'High Tension' a French horror movie which had an ending that totally ruined all that came before it.

While 'Dark Circles' doesn't tread the same grounds as that one, nor did it have as much impact as 'High Tension' had, its ending makes you wonder about the logic that's being used here.

Can a ghost be killed by a knife? Will it come back? What about the people who die over the course of the movie? and what about the marriage that was under huge pressure up until 2 minutes before the end of the movie? Ultimately, 'Dark Circles' is one of those movies that entertains, but doesn't manage to rear its head amongst the better horror movies. Being a virgin in this genre could benefit your experience as a viewer, but as a seasoned vet it's a case of been there, done that.

To summarize: some genuinely creepy scenes, an effective soundtrack, decent acting and a very well shot movie make this one of the better entries into the 'After Dark Originals' library. But that doesn't mean it's great.

If you are interested in seeing horror films that take a particular aspect of child-rearing, one that is fear-inducing for any parent or to anyone who has any experience in raising children, you may well enjoy this underplayed film. While watching it I became quickly convinced that it was a partner film to 'Grace' (2009). Although very contrasting aspects of child-rearing are turned inside-out as permitted within the possibilities offered by the horror genre, both are relatively underplayed and with small casts; the photography is subtle and although there are sudden jolts designed to shock, they really do resemble those moments when you're so tired you literally fall asleep while you're on your feet. Or at least that is what the victimised parents keep trying to convince themselves as they become more unhinged as every hour passes without rest. Grace, in its ambiguity and horrific content, is certainly a more interesting horror film. But the actresses who play the mothers in both films resemble one another not only in looks but in their obsession with taking care of their child. After checking the background info of both films, I was initially convinced they had the same director; but on closer observation I discovered that the names differ by one letter! Paul Soter directed Grace, whereas this film was directed by Paul Soler. Watching both parents gradually descend into madness as they become deprived of sleep is done hauntingly; you quickly realise where the title comes from; not crop circles or dark spirits but the lines that form under your eyes thanks to long-term weariness. The film makes use of three sets of possibilities, and thankfully doesn't reveal too quickly which one of them is true: are they hallucinating the spectre who seems to be appearing in their house, on cameras and in reflections, is their house haunted or is there a real person threatening them? Although I haven't raised a child or been kept awake by one, I certainly know how scary it can be when you lose track of time through lack of sleep and you're no longer sure which day it is, and this film milks that given for everything it's worth. It turns out that the director of Grace and Dark Circles are entirely unrelated, just as the tidy resolution presented in this film contrasts to the horrific and unexplained horrors of Grace. Still, this film was haunting, original, well-acted and is sufficiently under-played to be worthy of more than a single glance. It doesn't have a great deal to offer, but what it does present it presents in a sufficiently haunting package to give you food for thought, which as far as I'm concerned is the primary function of any truly good horror film.

DARK CIRCLES is yet another grim slice of ghostly horror, made by schlock purveyors After Dark films. This is a cookie-cutter production that looks and feels like at least two dozen other similar haunted house movies made in the last five years. You know the story by now: a young couple (with a baby in tow) are living in a creepy, run-down old building, where the wife is assailed by horrible visions and nightmares. Is it all in her mind or is the house really haunted?

All of these films look grim with dull, washed-out colours and shadows lurking in every corner. The characters are subdued and depressed for the most part, and that transfers across to the viewer. The silly jump scares are too obvious to really work, and when it comes that twist ending is just dumb. I miss the old days of true ghost films like THE HAUNTING or THE INNOCENTS, with their strong writing and vivid characters...

This is one of those films that threatens to slide into the 'is there something supernatural going on, or is it all in the minds of the main characters?' category. Not that there's anything wrong with that - however, it is a plotline that has been done so many times, it would need to pull out all the stops to avoid feelings of repetition.

As I watched this, I hoped it would ultimately prove to be something more, because it is so solidly made and well acted. The scary moments are well staged, and the atmosphere of deteriorating relationships is palpable. When the ending comes, it is a relief that there is no open-ended cop-out. The explanations were cursory, but enough to satisfy.

As babies go, the little fellow in this film proves to be annoying indeed; his constant crying for attention would be unbearable were he not so well cast. A cuter child I don't remember seeing in a film.

So I need not have been so worried on any level. 'Nightmare' (what a shame they didn't stick with the less generic title 'Dark Circles') is a film that is this good, that doesn't drop the ball at any time, even during the final moments (which have a genuine poignancy to them). My score is 8 out of 10.

Dark Circles (2013) I really enjoyed this movie, it started of with bang and some bizarre scene in this movie in good way and they making feel very unsettling.

Couple just had new born baby, as they didn't want to raise the Baby in new york, so they to place when its less noise.

They moved to house and with their new born baby but baby dose sleep at night all, they seem to feel a sleepy a lot tiny.

What liked about this movie both of them see things as one time or another but they put down to not having enough sleep.

There were really good chilling moment in this movie and that made feel a little tense, they some really good scarce scenes in this movie what work, may make you jump.

I also liked how Paul Soter still keep the creepy thought out the whole movies, even nothing is hap ping in those scenes.

This was Paul Soter first horror movie but it not great but it was above average for me..

The acting was outstanding from everyone in this movie and Baby is cute! 7 out of 10

When i came across this movie i was skeptical, so i looked it up on here and when i saw it had 6.6/10 i thought it was going to be well worth the watch. I couldn't have been more wrong. Boring storyline which takes you until the last few minutes of the movie before its all revealed, lacked imagination and wasn't scary one bit. I think the 2 reviewers who gave it 7/10 must have been the main cast members from the film. One of the worst movies i have seen, and thats being generous! Great movie if you have insomnia, this will send you straight to sleep. The acting was OK, nothing special, but overall i would not recommend this movie.

Fun little movie with several really creepy scenes. Good acting, and effective camera work to increase tension and scares. Shame about the ending, could have been so much better.

From the outset this title had all the hallmarks of being a really eerie & atmospheric supernatural thriller/horror. The 'haunted house' has been done to death (pun intended), but the premise remains stalwart & dependable to fans of the genre. A couple move away from the city to the peaceful countryside with their newborn child. From there on in, this movie seemed like a gruesome analogy for parenthood. Sleepless nights; fractured relationships; paranoia; doubt; deceit. All this with a question of 'not knowing what is real & what is nether worldly' thrown in, makes this gripping viewing. Then comes the conclusion to this tale of marital strife... >>>IT RENDERED THE WHOLE MOVIE NONSENSICAL<<< I give this title a 5 because I did enjoy it right up to (well prior to) the end.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this film. I did not expect much, but did receive quite a lot. I gave it 6 out of 10, I could of given it 7 out of 10 as well, it is somewhere between those two grades.

Plot is very interesting, it connects with a problem which many young couples face and that is upbringing of a baby. Since I was stay at home dad, I know how hard it is to raise small baby. It constantly cries and it does not let sleep parents. Parents are usually exhausted ans sleep deprived. It sometimes creates a real horror in the homes of some families. Unfortenatelly it sometimes ends with a tragedy.

I like cinematography, camera moves are interesting and unusual.

Acting is very good, I especially like the character of the babysitter and the actress performing that role.

All in all if you like horror films, this is a film for you. Definatelly!

Very average simple horror that honestly had some very good moments. I almost wish that they were used in a better movie and weren't wasted here

I came to watch this film with low expectations as it was on the horror channel. I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the directing was excellent. Especially like the facing person perspective when the mother was exhausted and going through the motions of collecting clothes for washing. I have watched numerous mainstream horror films that have been well received but severely lacking in plot, suspense, acting skill and sense. This film ticked all the boxes for me. The acting was strong and the way their lives and relationship slowly degraded through lack of sleep and what was happening to them was really well done. As a mother of 4 kids I can fully understand the effects of sleep deprivation. I liked the way the couple were left doubting themselves and didn't know whether they were hallucinating from lack of sleep or whether the things they were seeing were real. I did find it unbelievable that they would have stuck so stubbornly to staying in the house. I think realistically they would have given up on the house long before. And where were family or friends in all that time? And why did they insist on keeping the child in his own room? Realistically they would have brought him in with them long before too. The ending surprised me and I thought it was a good twist. Although there were some believability issues I still gave this film a 9 as after, becoming jaded by so many over hyped under quality horror films, I felt this was really effective, very suspenseful and really well directed. I would definitely recommend it.

What I did actually watch of this was notably bland. A few jump scares but the sound effects cause the reaction more than the imagery. It's so easy to get distracted and lose interest. After dark has it's share of hit and miss so when I saw this streaming for free with ads on Vudu we decided to try it. Nothing to brag about but production wise it wasn't a flop considering it has afterdark backing it so it gets to barely fall off the BRate movies list. Tiktok had my attention far more than this but it did play throughout and was good background noise. I was hoping for a casual viewing experience but this was more mundane than I'd have hoped.

GOOD INTERESTING STORY THAT IS FUN AND PRETTY EASY TO FOLLOW = 0 Stars

MEMORABLE DIALOGUE = 0 Stars

FEEL A PULL TO WATCH IT AGAIN = 0 Stars

MUSIC OR SCORE STANDS OUT = 0 Stars

NO NOTICEABLE PLOT HOLES = 1/2 Star

STORY GETS RESOLVED OR FEELS COMPLETE IN SOME WAY = 1 Star

I PERSONALLY LIKE OR FEEL A CONNECTION TO THIS STORY = 0 Stars

MEMORABLE OR LIKABLE CHARACTERS = 1/2 Star

MOST THINGS ABOUT THE STORY COULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN OR ARE BELIEVABLE = 0 Stars

STORY ISN'T BORING OR REPETITIVE = 0 Stars

I watched this movie because Foster from Super Troopers directed and wrote it. I guess he should just stick to comedy because this movie is a long road to no where! It just circles itself without revealing anything by the ending. There are many other better movies, skip this one.

Dark Circles Written and directed by Paul Soter

A couple starting out with their first child chooses to move away from the city to a great big house that looks super expensive but they got for a really good deal. That really good deal comes with a price naturally. A murder usually occurred there at one time. The neighbors gossip about the house. You know so on and so forth. They are having trouble sleeping. The insomnia that comes from their baby having what appears to be colic is driving them to their breaking point.

They believe they are seeing a dirty and deranged woman. They feel like they are losing their minds. As a new parent, this feeling is perfectly normal. You're not entirely prepared for the amount of sleep deprivation that you will compile. You can try to mentally prepare yourself for it with oodles of research. However until you truly live it, you are not prepared.

The reason I mentioned colic is because my son had it. It was a nightmare to deal with. He would cry for long periods of time and for no discernible reason. He would barely nap and never slept through the night. When you couple that to working a regular job, it can become overwhelming. The movie never calls it colic. I think the movie attributes it to the general uneasiness of the house and the crazy lady lurking around.

The movie certainly tries to wring some suspense out of the situation. It invokes the dark lighting and the loud sound ques. It tries everything it can in the handbook. Paul Soter is doing his directorial best to get the necessary fear from this premise. He is not successful. The script lets him down when he needs it the most. The funny thing about that is he also wrote the script. You can't just win for losing.

I had too many questions about the couple's behavior. They were not acting like real people. This is not always a bad thing. Adherence to reality is not an automatic positive or negative. I have to believe that they believe in their situation. Once that connection is lost between you and the material, I truly believe you're out of the movie. You just watch as an observer. It's not enough to overcome the terrifying generic nature of this film and these characters.

I give it a tiny amount of props for some of the set design. It does try to turn a regular fairly large suburban house into something spooky and otherworldly. It tries to convey what not sleeping does to someone. It doesn't do a good job of it but it does try. This is the only reason it doesn't get an F for the film. I can see the filmmaker attempting to inject some life into the proceedings. But the story was also written by the filmmaker. An auteur this gentleman is not.

I give this movie a D.