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Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman Starring: Chaney Kley, Emma Caulfield Well, where to begin? This movie is a product of the recent PG-13 horror trend that Hollywood has been on, a trend that has actually produced a few note-worthy movies like The Ring and The Sixth Sense. The problem with a low-rated horror movie is that it limits the avenues a director can take. Obviously, the gore factor is out so they need to fall back on solid acting and writing. Unfortunately, Darkness Falls features neither of these. The plot itself is your typical small town ghost story, the kind I'm sure most of us have heard and spread around when we were younger. A kindly old woman gives children gold coins when they lose their teeth. However, one night a fire strikes her home and she's left horribly scarred, as a result she's sensitive to light and must wear a mask to protect her hideously scarred face. Of course, soon two children who go to visit her and go missing. She's blamed and promptly hung, cursing the town's children as she dies. After a set-up scare sequence involving a young boy we're taken into the present, where that same boy, now a man is still afraid of the dark. You know what, gently caress it, I'm not going to explain this poo poo heap anymore, so here's what sucks. The acting is laughable, the movie was shot on the cheap and as such they rely on a relatively unknown cast (you'll probably only recognize Emma Caulfield from Buffy). The two awful performances that really stand out are the lawyer and the obligatory scared young boy. The lawyer looks as though he's never been in front of a camera before, his performance reminds me of all the straight-to-video trash that gets reviewed on the front page. Child actors are always risky business and the makers of Darkness Falls lost this particular bet, you'll want the lisping little goblin to die...and fast. The movie packs in the cheap scares. There's even a cat jumping out that was obviously intended to be tongue-in-cheek, but just ended up sucking. The monster's limitations are shamelessly taken from the aliens in Pitch Black, and possibly other movies I'm not aware of. No one believes the crazy guy until - SURPRISE! They're all dead and it's too late. And how convenient is it that the power would go out in the entire town this particular night? At seventy-five minutes the pain ends early, but movies this short are a slap in the face to the people stupid enough to pay full ticket price to see them. The short movie trend is one that's nagging at me and I'd like to make Darkness Falls my scapegoat. Stay in the light, and away from this dreck. RATING: 1.5 PROS: It's over quick? The Tooth Fairy character is a decent CONCEPT. CONS: Awful acting, predictable scares/plot, short running time (maybe a pro). ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0282209/
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May 19, 2004 22:34
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 08:46 |
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