Out of the Dark

Think of what you want most in the world.

The good news is that it's probably going to be replaced by something more realistic when you get to around the 20 minute mark of this film. The bad news is it will feel just as unlikely to happen.

"Out of the Dark" is a mercilessly slow, plodding and derivative drama, not a horror/thriller as advertised. There is little to no action to speak of until the last few minutes and nothing to break up the laborious crawl towards the finale. The half decent twist towards the end will be wasted on the comatose audience.

A pointless regurgitation of scenes and clichés filmed a million times before, in the form of a 20 minute story dragged out for three and a half hours.

2 marks for the film itself plus a bonus mark for the fact that it defied the odds and did actually end.

The story is one that has been seen before in similar films to "Out Of The Dark" with a family moving to a new place but unfortunately pick one cursed by a tragic past, and lingering paranormal influence. Quilez's story is a good one though, framing this construct in a beautiful, subtropical location, disturbing historical area steeped in superstition and legend. Plus he gives us a clear message of cruelties brought about by foreign companies exploitation of almost "third world" regions for profit, all wrapped nicely in a chilling supernatural thriller with some vengeful spirits.

"Out Of The Dark" does have some pretty cool make-up artistry and special effects. It is a mix of semi-gory practical design and expected CGI ghost-y stuff. Although instead of feeling redundant, the CGI in "Out Of The Dark" is creative and at times beautiful in its cinematography. The atmosphere is a blend of warming with the family taking in the beauty of their new home, and the darker, chilling aspects of past tragedy, a cursed people, and a family hunted by angry spirits. The soundtrack is equally intense and eerie. Plus there are moments when the quick shock gimmicks actually scared me a bit.

Overall "Out Of The Dark" is a nicely produced, creative thriller with a lot of suspense and drama. The cast give acceptable performances and the characters are developed nicely, the native Colombians more so than the family. The ghost children are haunting and creepy. On the down side though it becomes too clear too early in the story as to the true nature of "Out Of The Dark" so some of the thrill and suspense does get lost during the final 3rd of the film. The ending feels a bit drawn out and unnecessary at the very end, not in the actually story aspects but more the visual- conceptual stuff used at the end. It could have used less theatrics and been more effective. Anyway "Out Of The Dark" is a cool, entertaining story with a more mature narrative that shows some real heart.

My review probably isn't going to add a whole lot because quite honestly this is a RARE case where I actually agree with just about EVERYONE else in what they have said in their Summaries about this film...

Basically, I suppose I just wanted to add my general agreement with most people here that the film is not terrible at all. The mood and look of the film is nice, the acting and direction are decent, and there are a FEW scary moments, but ultimately, I just don't think that it has enough depth and substance to make it a very effective Horror film. I guess I AM a bit of a sucker for Haunted Children stories, but there are two other films similar to this one that I personally like a ***LOT*** better and I wanted to come here and mention them because they have a very similar theme, but I feel are far better movies.

'THE ORPHANAGE' (2007) An exquisitely moody Spanish film by one of Guillermo Del Toro's protégés.

'THE AWAKENING' (2011) A very effective British Period Horror film about a Haunted Hospital starring Rebecca Hall. I think that I rated them both 9/10

So, FWIW, I thought that if the premise of this film caught your interest, I really wanted to be sure to tell you about these two other films which I feel are amongst the best of this Genre. I highly recommend them!

About this movie... Basically, the technical aspects are just fine. The acting and direction are good. I feel that the director did moderately well in creating a fairly decent mood. But, I think that maybe the story itself and perhaps the way it was developed could have used a bit more complexity and depth. Otherwise, it is a pretty much just a passably mild, 'Haunted Children' Horror film. And Stephen Rea is all but wasted in his role, really.

I actually gave this a '5' which is a little higher than it's current 4.x, for what it's worth...

P.S: BTW, I haven't seen it yet (although I've bloody HAD the film for like 3 years) but the Spanish made, English speaking movie 'FRAGILE' (2005) starring Calista Flockhart, also about a Haunted children's Hospital, looks pretty damn good...

Here's the thing, it has a good cast. It has a somewhat decent story. The problem is that this movie made me hate a kid and that's not good. The little girl was clearly directed to be a dumb little kid, and the lines made it worse. I hate to say that because it sounds so cruel but the little actress ruined it. If she reads this, bc there aren't many reviews, it's not your fault lol, it's the directors.

Actually you are not so much in the dark during the movie (metaphorically speaking, literally there is quite some darkness here). But the clichés and the direction the movie takes is so obvious, that some might feel insulted by the movie. Still the acting is decent enough and the story flows in the right direction.

Kids in danger/peril is always something that will get peoples attention, especially under the circumstances it happens here. The decisions people make are not always great, but we have seen characters behave worse in other horror movies. Plus the little girl is really sweet and it will be tough not to like her for people. A thing needed, otherwise the movie wouldn't work at all ...