Los pasos del diablo

Dark Touch takes the audience into an uncomfortable place, one with psychologically disturbing ground. It dabbles in the matter of child abuse with stylish yet subtle approach, but the slow pacing and lack of resolve might deter some viewers. The film isn't a harrowing encounter, at least not in usual adrenaline rush inducing way of horror or mystery genre, it's more of a thoughtful process to instill doubt and sympathy. However, this endeavor is probably not one audience would like to take part of.

Neve (Missy Keating) is a little girl who may or may not be abused. There's a stifling air about her, but her fragile self also instinctively draws sympathy. After a while there's a series of incident around her, which may harm her parents and anyone who tries to help her. What great about this premise is the acting of the lead child actor, Missy Keating. Not many young actors could perform as well as she does.

She embodies an interestingly frail persona, but it's still unclear whether she's the origin of misfortune or the victim, or even disturbed in an entirely supernatural way. Keating looks like a genuine troubled child, yet occasionally possessing daunting confidence. With her convincing performance, the movie at least accomplishes half of its goal.

The child abuse aspect needs to be addressed delicately, and the movie has done so with a good restraint. Unfortunately, the pacing is troublesome. There's really little suspense at the buildup, furthermore it only gets momentum after about halfway. At this point there are some random events that haven't been cleared, and ironically despite its more engaging approach the film sometimes resorts into cliché tactics.

Dark Touch is a display to bring emotions, parts of it are open to interpretation, although this might not deliver as strong message as it would like. It still has an unsettling aura with a good lead performance and relatable theme, even though the foray there is exhausting.

I am going to begin by stating that, while I am not an expert on film making, I think this is a very well directed and edited movie. The pacing was spot on. I was entertained from start to finish. Morally righteous audiences should be pleased by the lack of naked female breasts and naughty language. The story does deal with a very serious and disturbing subject however, so this movie may not be appropriate for everyone.

The main problem that I think some people will find with this movie is that the thing, or device, that drives almost all of the action sequences has already been dealt with in what is considered by many to be a classic horror film.

In a remote Irish community, eleven-year-old Niamh is haunted by invisible forces. She and her family are attacked during the night and she's the sole survivor of the ensuing fire. She is taken in by her neighbors. Nobody believes her about the mysterious powers of the house. She finds strange occurrences continue to follow her and thinks that they are the results of her own tears.

It's a reasonable indie horror. There is only one truly compelling scene with the group of girls and the dolls. The movie basically follows Niamh but it doesn't make it particularly scary. It starts with the original family dealing with a haunted house and ultimately dying in a violent night. That's not that scary either. The last act devolves into messy story telling. Missy Keating does a good job in the lead. This indie horror is trying something interest but it doesn't all work and it's not that scary.

There are worse ways to spend your time. 'Dark touch' maintains an unsettling atmosphere throughout its length, and is filled with intermittent moments of violence and blood. And... that's a movie!

Moments of acute fright for the characters are supposed to inspire the same in the audience, but we just don't feel it beyond the maintenance of the spooky-ooky atmosphere. It's just interesting enough to keep us watching, to see what happens, but it's not especially engaging.

The thing is that 'Dark touch' relies heavily on a trope we've seen many times before. For most of its length, that's about all there is to say. With about 15 minutes left it takes that familiar narrative thread in an extra dark, surprising direction - but then ends rather abruptly.

This isn't bad. But nor is it noteworthy enough to specifically recommend. 'Dark touch' is the sort of supernatural thriller to view if you can't decide on anything else, or want to watch something with limited time and aren't very particular.

I watched this at the Fantasy Film Festival in Stuttgart and the director was attending. I stayed through the movie (which was not easy at all) and was curious to see what the director had to say. Unfortunately (but somehow to be expected) she only confirmed what I already knew. It's unfortunate for the child actors, if they have to go through an (bad acting) experience like this.

On the other hand, as others have already stated here, there is not much acting going on in the whole movie. The clichés and the bad lines follow each other hand in hand. It is offensive to its own characters and to the viewers nerves and stomach. Yes horror movies have people do stupid things, but denying yourself (and the audience) even what you saw with your own eyes goes too far. A shame, because underneath it all, there is a Carrie like vibe, that could've been a really good movie ...