Darkness Movie Review:


Once upon a time, in the hallowed halls of Movie University...

Welcome, students. Those of you who signed up for "Horror 10l" with Professor Hakari have come to the right room, but if you're looking for "Introduction to Slapstick" with Professor Hahari, that's down the hall on the right. Fine, I see everyone seems to be in the right class, so let's get down to business. Over the course of this semester, we'll be studying many aspects of the horror genre, ranging from the use of weaponry in 20th century slashers to the old "It's only a cat" routine.

Today, though, our attention focuses on the haunted house sub-genre, in particular director Jaume Balaguero's oft-delayed thriller “Darkness.” Upon analyzing this film, I think you'll see how distant from its original form and what an editing fiasco it turned out to be -- as well as how cliched the story is.

An assessment of the plot shows that “Darkness” indeed covers all its bases in qualifying as a haunted house picture. There's the usual Average Family, with the potentially dangerous dad, the worried mother, the older sibling who emerges as the heroine of the story, and the younger sibling to whom various eerie events occur. The family relocates to the predictable Gloomy Old House (GOH for short), but in a change of pace, the GOH is in Spain, creating the opportunity for some good locales and cinematography. It's too bad Balaguero stayed mainly indoors here; I personally would like to see more of the beautiful countryside, but I digress.

To continue, weirdness strikes not long after the Average Family has moved in, from lights blinking on and off to invisible forces pulling the Creepy Kid's pencils under the bed. Eventually, it comes down to Hero Sister trying to figure out why Psycho Dad seems to be going nuts, what's giving Creepy Kid bruises, and what the evil that seems to be dwelling inside her house really is.

Now on first glance, "Darkness" seems to suffer from a case of “Amityville Horror” Syndrome: ancient house, remote location, spectres and spirits directly messing around with the family members. But look closer, and you'll see what prevented Balaguero from delivering a product not only scarier than “Amityville” but also a better one. Note the numerous instances of flat-out bad editing, most likely used to cut out the gorier, bloodier elements of the film and deliver a PG-13 rating. In particular, notice the climactic scene of “Darkness,” where a bit of the red stuff would have intensified the tone of the piece and where it's also impossible to tell what's happening.

Obviously, the studio "powers that be" have contradicted themselves here, for in their quest to send out a product that's accessible to younger, more impressionable viewers, the Ginzu-knife editing created a muddled, plothole-ridden, and confusing picture that will turn off more viewers than draw them in. Balaguero's atmosphere certainly lives up to the title of “Darkness,” but his style renders the events just as difficult to view.

Let's turn now to the people acting out this piece. Anna Paquin, in a role Balaguero once considered for Natalie Portman, does her best to bring a little emotion to the role of Hero Sister, rather than allowing herself to become just another soon-to-be-forgotten scream queen. With a commanding presence that makes up for his limited screen time, veteran actor Giancarlo Giannini also delivers a decent performance as Psycho Dad's father. However, the other performers aren't so lucky. Iain Glen does a so-so job as Psycho Dad, Lena Olin is wasted as Worried Mom, Stephan Enquist's Creepy Kid is almost a direct riff on the CK from “The Ring,” and Fele Martinez' role as Hero Sister's best friend is so flimsily introduced into the story, you barely notice him hanging around at all.

Still, despite all these flaws, “Darkness” remains a somewhat intriguing film. The pace never really lags, Anna Paquin's performance shines fairly brightly, and although it's almost impossible to tell what's going on, the movie's atmosphere casts a chilling spell over certain scenes. In conclusion, I would give “Darkness” an "A" for effort and a "C-" for overall quality.

That's all for today, students. Your assignment for our next meeting is to write a brief essay on what went wrong with “The Grudge.” Class dismissed.



Adam Hakari

Moving to Spain to be closer to his father, Mark (Glen) and his family buy what they think is the ideal home. A few days after moving in his son Paul (Enquist) starts hearing the voices of children every time he has to go to bed. After that Mark starts to exhibit symptoms of a childhood disease that increases his paranoia and becomes prone to fits of rage. As the strange occurrences become more and more frequent, Regina (Paquin) and her friend Carlos (Martínez) decide to investigate the house only to discover that it holds a dark secret that is about to emerge again.

The re-emergence of the horror movie as a commercial entity has seen a torrent of films released at the box office over the last few years but does ‘Darkness’ have what it takes to cause some genuine scares?

This Spanish production tries to emulate the horror technique utilised so well by Asian cinema but doesn’t quite have the impact as ‘The Ring’, ‘Dark Water’ or ‘The Grudge’. By removing most of the gore and excessive blood that plagues Hollywood fright fests, the Asian approach uses fast cuts and shocks to get their scares. This works extremely well and generates tension and genuine fear for the viewer. ‘Darkness’ tries to exploit this technique but director Jaume Balagueró and his creative team don’t quite utilise this in the right way.

The main problem is the story. While the main premise is revealed little by little as Regina discovers more and more about the history of the house. This works well to a point, building some tension and keeping your interest but the final third of film sees the movie take a slippery slope down into clichéd nonsense. Like many horror films, the final play off doesn’t live up to the potential shown by the interesting premise. ‘Darkness’ slips into clichéd horror by offering no explanation for the ‘strange figures’ involved in the finale and giving no real reason for the sacrifice and why the people were involved in it.

The cast try their best with a script and finale that lets them down. Oscar winning actress Anna Paquin continues to prove that she is still an actress to watch. As Regina, she is the only one of the family seemingly unaffected by the goings on in the house. The film is driven by her performance but you have to wonder why she agreed to be in the film. Lena Olin is always an actress worth watching but even she can’t do anything with her character, Maria the mother of the family. You can’t tell if she is been affected by the darkness in the house or her character is so underwritten and developed that she has just been told to look gormless throughout. Iain Glen is just awful as the father of the family Mark. He is completely over the top and in some places quite pathetic, which is a real problem as this is a key character in the movie. Giancarlo Giannini is completed wasted as grandfather Albert Rua but he does have a pivotal role in the movie.

‘Darkness’ suffers from trying to merge to different styles but not succeeding in any shape or form. The Asian horror look of the film works quite well but the Hollywood style finale, the confusing elements and the lack of questions answered make the movie a bit of a mess. The final scenes try and make up for these shortcomings but even a slightly different ending can’t save what has gone before.

Jamie Kelwick

 

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