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Darkness

EMAILPRINTDimension Films

Darkness reviews
15
2.9 User Score:

Overwhelming dislike

Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 25 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Horror  |  Mystery

Written by: Jaume Balagueró
Fernando de Felipe
Miguel Tejada-Flores (additional dialogue)

Directed by: Jaume Balagueró

Release Date:
Theatrical: December 25, 2004
DVD: April 26, 2005

Running Time: 102 minutes, Color

Origin: USA / Spain

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for disturbing images, intense terror sequences, thematic elements and language

Starring Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Giancarlo Giannini, Fele Martínez, Stephan Enquist, Fermín Reixach, and Francesc Pagés

When a family moves into a seemingly quaint country house they discover that their new home has a horrifying past that may threaten them.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The thriller makes up in moody weirdness what it lacks in horror-tale originality.

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40

TV Guide Ken Fox

All of this of course would be forgivable if it all added up to a scary movie or made even a lick of sense, but Balaguero manages to disappoint on all possible fronts.

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30

Variety Jonathan Holland

Though pic boasts decent perfs, potent atmospherics and eye-catching visuals, both psychology and plot are bargain-basement.

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25

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Horror at Christmas might work, but tedium doesn't.

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25

Premiere Kevin Allison

Apparently, none of the characters in Darkness have seen "The Shining."

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25

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Darkness was clearly tossed together like salad in the editing room, since it's little more than the sum of its unshocking shock cuts.

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20

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

Full of shuttery jump cuts set to music cues so loud your heart can't help but convulse, Darkness should have been left to molder in Miramax's vast vault of horror-movie stiffs.

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20

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Some movies should never come to light, either, and Darkness, bearing a 2002 copyright, might well have been better left on the shelf.

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20

Village Voice David Blaylock

Rarely has a film's tagline been more fitting: "Some secrets should never come to light."

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20

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

The sketchy characterizations, laughable dialogue and less-than-stellar performances by the formidable cast, all of whom have done far better work in the past, provide further reasons why Darkness should never have seen the light of day.

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20

Dallas Observer Michael Fox

The performances of the Anglo cast are closer to catatonia than Catalonia.

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10

Film Threat Elias Sevada

It's just a murky, dark mess where no one wins. Especially those of us watching it. Simply put: Darkness fails. It's about as chilling as an unplugged refrigerator.

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10

The New York Times Ned Martel

The real mystery is why such a mangled film was not junked altogether.

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10

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

It's not even bad enough to be any fun.

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0

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Eurotrash for the new millennium.

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0

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Unoriginal, frequently incomprehensible and cheaply made.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 2.9 (out of 10) based on 25 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Francisco M. gave it a5:
Oh, come on, its not THAT bad. Its not good, but looking to other horror movies its acceptable. But Balagueró showed a lot more potential in [REC], no that was awesome!

Mark B. gave it a2:
Remember watching endless crummy 1960s Mexican vampire movies, Japanese giant lizard pix, Italian gladiator epics and polyglot secret agent thrillers on The Late, Late Show and becoming thoroughly convinced that no good genre movie could ever be made by people with vowels on the ends of their names? Hopefully we've all learned better by now, but this endless, Spanish-made horror pelota de queso could signify an immediate regression to that very limited and inaccurate mindset! A retread of the old house-that-doesn't-look-haunted-but-it-is plot, Darkness steals not only ideas and concepts but entire scenes wholecloth from The Shining, Poltergeist, Candyman, the original Amityville Horror, Final Destination and (insert favorite shocker here) but goes on forever with neverending setups and no scares; watching it is like hearing a soon-to-be-former friend tell the world's longest traveling salesman joke and then forgetting the punchline. Don't hold it against the cast: Anna Paquin, Lena Olin and Giancarlo Giannini are superb actors who give it everything they've got, which is infinitely more than what they're given. (Their work is the only reason this merits a 2.) Caveat emptor: if you slept through the PG-13 theatrical version this past winter, don't rent or buy the "uncut and unrated" DVD thinking you're going to be treated to some long-suppressed Lucio Fulci-type gorefest you were denied in theaters. It's not significantly bloody: it's unrated because the characters utter, mutter and scream a certain Anglo-Saxon vulgarism a lot more often than a PG-13 allows. You may find yourself using the same word a few times if you watch this.

Spawn of Satan gave it a10:
I loved this movie, its got to be the best ever!!

Jay D. gave it a1:
Pathetic - absolutely excruciating... I rented this on DVD & had to continually rewind parts just to understand what the heck was being said. It's almost as if the director didn't WANT you to understand the lines... but in retrospect, maybe they were trying to be merciful because trust me - there wasn't any substance there anyway. All in all, I'd say it was a shallow, cliche, noncohesive, incoherent, awful movie whose vigorously painful plot was out-done by its insultingly weak ending.

Movie_Lover gave it a0:
Oh my. Where to begin? This movie was possibly the farthest from a scary movie I've ever seen. It doesn't even compare to the Grudge and that was also a terrible movie. The theater was packed when I saw it and the only way people reacted, besides snoring, was laughing at the stupidity of the "Monday" "Tuesday" Subtitles. I wouldn't pay to see that movie again if it were the last movie on earth.

Ruby Q gave it a1:
If you could look past a rambling plot, poor acting, and strange, incoherent clips, you would still be struck by how unsympathetic and one dimensional the characters were. It was so torturous to watch that I hoped killing them would end the movie sooner.

D Cleve gave it a1:
By the looks of it, not many people have seen this movie- I don't blame them. This fim is straight from city dump cinemas. I found myself watching my watch more than the movie. This is one of those films that shouldn't have been made. While watching it, you get the feeling that this film was made simply because it could be. STAY AWAY!

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