Darkness

1 1/2 Stars

R, 1 hour 50 minutes, DVD Rental

Two things seem to have happened to horror films since The Sixth Sense. Now they try to have a groundbreaking twist, and they all seem to involve young children. Although the genre often can be good with a confusing plot and silly characters (which Darkness can boast), this film takes it too seriously and comes out worse than most.

Reggie and her family move into a spooky old house in Spain, and into a spooky old house. They don’t have a problem, until a few weeks later when there is about to be a solar eclipse. Reggie’s little brother suddenly becomes afraid of the dark, her father is diagnosed with a rare illness and her mother won’t listen to her. Something must be wrong, and when looking into the history of the house, Reggie discovers it has a strange and uneventful past: no one has lived there since the last eclipse. Finally she discovers that not only is the house cursed (surprise, surprise), but that her grandfather is behind it.

The problem with the film is that it feels like there are a series of scary sequences that just don’t fit together. Some moments are frightening and creepy, and some nice themes pop up, but then the film moves on, leaving questions dangling. Although Anna Paquin, Lena Olin and the rest of the cast for that matter, provide good performances, their characters’ actions are often unmotivated, leaving you wonder why anyone would do what they do. That was something I asked too often in this film: Why? Even the whole reason for the involvement of the grandfather (and therefore the reason for the events that take place) is unclear.

The film leaves the audience lurking in the darkness. It has some good ideas that could have made this a nice addition to a horror collection, but eventually turns out being yet another run-of-the-mill thriller that tries too hard to be clever.

The DVD features the uncut version of the film, bonus footage, behind-the-scenes extras, and it may be worth a rent if you want a good laugh with a group of friends.