The Darkness

I really don't know why people are writing comments slating this film.

It is not a 'hardcore; horror that is likely to make you seek therapy for the rest of your life, but it is not dull or unwatchable either.

The production is good, the acting is good, and it is the kind of film you can watch when you just fancy a 'movie night' with friends or family.

The story is engaging enough to make it interesting.

All these pseudo-intellectual ramblings criticising the film are just that - pseudo-intellectual.

It is probably not the best film you will watch in your life but is it also very far from the worst.

With some talent in the cast, a cool cover, that it did look fairly eerie and that boasted one of the best concepts for any film seen recently by me, 'The Darkness' potential was pretty big. Also appreciate the horror genre and have liked films in similar vein, so watched 'The Darkness' oddly enough with the genuine want and intent to like it.

It does pain me to say it, and it is going to sound repetitive being a common thing found in recent viewings and mentioned, but 'The Darkness' managed to be a big disappointment for me and from the sounds of it many others. Big potential, executed in a way that while not terrible rarely rose above mediocrity overall. There are moments and good things, but they were too far and between and not enough for a film that did little with such a good idea. It may annoy people with me saying this a lot recently, but it is hard to not say anything when wastes of good ideas and talent is a bugbear of mine and something that has featured rather too heavily in my recent film viewings.

Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell are reasonable leads and David Mazouz is more than up to their level. So the acting is better than average on the whole and somehow manages to rise above the material that was not worthy of them.

'The Darkness' does have an atmospherically spooky look, an eerie music score and a few unsettling moments.

Unfortunately, the creepiness and suspense not just doesn't come consistently, there is nowhere near enough of either. There is an over-reliance on scares, mainly of the jumpy kind, but few come off effectively. Again a few unsettling moments, but too much of them are easily foreseeable and derivative.

Furthermore, too much is over-explained, there is far too much exposition (much of it clumsy and rambling) and too much is given away too soon. The characters aren't very interesting, not to mention very clichéd that it makes the distinct lack of originality even more obvious, making everything really predictable. The script is lazy and underwritten, with too much reliance on the scares, which are not strong enough to come over successfully, the ending is a very "that's it?" one and the intrusive and obvious sound effects telegraph the outcome of the scares early on in the build-ups.

In summary, not terrible but mediocre and a waste of potential. 4/10 Bethany Cox

So this kid with Autism is more accessible to the preternatural and disturbs evil native American spirits that decide to disturb him and his family back.

It Reminds me of Stir of Echoes, which also star Keven Bacon, but is nowhere near as good as that movie. in comparison, Stir of Echoes looks like The Exorcist when standing right next to The Darkness.

The story had potential. Some evil native American spirits get their resting place disturbed, by some white folks (shocker), so in return, these spirits decide to unlock these guys inner most demons (mom's an alcoholic, the daughter is bulimic) to split up the family and drive them all crazy.

It was a brilliant idea, but it was done so corny. Even seasoned actor Keven Bacon looked cheesy delivering simple lines and trying to be serious as he reacted to the ghost.

It was a very sad display of what could have been gold. I don't know what went wrong, but I know this: Don't wast your time.

When I saw the darkness, I felt like I needed to take out a ghost movie checklist and start listing everything I had seen before. Weird or Special needs child who communicates with the spirits? Check. Annoying, angry teenager that adds nothing to the plot? Check. Father with fidelity problems that doesn't believe in the spirits at first? Check. Mother with alcohol problems that seems crazy to everyone else? Check. The Darkness follows a strict character and story design and doesn't try to add anything unique or interesting. The movie is also terribly fast paced and tries to throw way too much in one sitting that everything just seems squished together and has no emotional impact. There are no real scares or thrills, only non-impactful jump scares that fall flat. The sad thing is that we have very good acting talent in this film, but the writing, directing, and editing is done so badly that the acting looks terrible.

I am Diné (Navajo) and I am giving this movie one star because the acting was good. But the story line is way off. First of all Anasazi to Navajo is "ancient enemy", Second we don't speak Spanish nor use Christian symbols for ceremonial purposes and third at least use a real Navajo and the one that is fluent in Diné Bizaad (Navajo language). I am sure they can find one person on the rez. We all still practice our culture and ceremonies (medicine men) to this day. Its funny they use Hopi Kachinas as Anasazi people. (Different) Haha, way way way off! Please better educate yourself Hollywood. And no Navajos don't have teepees, we have Hogans.