The Fear of Darkness

This film is all "blah blah blah" and nothing happens. The script is dreadful and you can really see they had trouble working out how to end it all with a tedious little twist that you saw coming a mile away. There were just too many scenes were people were talking at each other for what was 10 minutes every scene with a couple of little "frights" (and I do mean LITTLE) in between. By half way through I got bored and started fast forwarding all the walking bits because if people were;t talking they were walking and it all seemed so padded out. The acting was pretty average and even Aaron Pederson who is usually pretty good felt like he'd just walked onto the set and didn't know what film he was in. Honestly, it's all a bit of a dog's breakfast. EXCEPT, the one thing that is actually very good is the cinematography, so obviously they paid someone good to do that. Overall, it's just a pretty looking borefest.

Okay to start, -1 Star just for this name. It's just horrifying.

There wasn't very much to the buildup the first 2/3 of the movie. Nothing really good about it. Nothing really bad about it.

And the payoff....Horribly bad. Will leave you feeling like....why did I waste my time.

-1 Star for the Ending.

This is one of those films that has enough going for it (good cinematography, decent acting) to keep you watching. I generally enjoy the output of films from Australia and for the first hour this in no exception with a few genuinely creepy moments. However, whatever enjoyment is had is quickly shot down in the last quarter of the film with an ending that leaves you scratching your head and wondering why you bothered in the first place. The "supernatural" presence in the film could have been a whole lot more terrifying but in the end....confusion reigns! I am not sure enough viewers will figure out the ending within the natural run time of the film so it's hard to recommend.

Easily one of the best looking horror movies I've seen. And it doesn't resort to computer generated images much. It's the lights and the colors that get most of the job done here. "The Fear of Darkness" doesn't sound bad either. Both the sound effects and the music, where the movie uses them, are just fine. Not as impressive as the visuals, but still strong. Not a problem. What is a problem, however, is the content of this package. It may slightly remind you of Mike Flanagan's "Oculus" from 2013 with how what's really happening and what is only happening in somebody's head are sometimes hard to tell from one another. Only that movie had more scares. And it had a much clearer ending. One that wasn't confusing and anticlimactic. Also, with what sets the plot in motion here, Travis Z's "The Midnight Man" from 2016 could have been a prequel to this movie. But again, having certain things remain a mystery didn't prevent that movie from telling you a clear story, and an uncompromising one. Christopher Fitchett's "The Fear of Darkness" here looks very good and sounds good, but as for the story told, it is good at setting things up, exploring things, leading the viewer up to things, but when it's time for set ups to pay off and conclusions to be arrived at, there can be disappointment. And that prevents the plot of the film from reaching high enough.

I watched this so-called, "Psychological Thriller" only to arrive at an ending that left me totally confused! I loathe when horror movies end with the audience hanging about its ending. There are just waaaaay to many questions that pop up throughout this movie and especially at the end. Are the two main female characters one-and-the-same? Or not? Is each one of these two said characters hallucinating or is it just one of them? The ending was simply ridiculous! If I could, I would rate this movie with 1/2 star for its photography, but nothing more. A ridiculous waste of my time! I rate it a D- and that's being generous. :(