Slash-horror flicks have almost become a formula in recent years, each one a mish-mash of ideas and stereotypical characters in predictable storylines, Damn you Wes Craven! Darkness Falls is unfortunate to be considered in that category, as it tries hard to take itself seriously using a cast of virtual unknowns, with the exception of the lovely Emma Buffy the Vampire Slayer Caulfield giving a believable (considering the story premise) performance as the lead female with a resiliant character. No bimbos in this movie!
The story tells the tale of an urban myth coming true, of an old lady nicknamed 'The Tooth Fairy' wrongly accused and executed of murdering children. Now her evil spirit pursues children who have just lost their last baby tooth, so she can exact her revenge in the town of Darkness Falls. An apt name, considering she can only survive in the shadow and darkness.
The cast is strong as a whole, let down only by some unoriginal dialogue and scenes (ie. the local police ridiculing the 'believer' and getting their just desserts, yawn!). The ending is also a bit of a let down, shame really, as there are some geniune seat-jumping moments, and some nicely timed suspense, if only they made more use of the set-pieces using failing lights and trying to stay in the light. With a bit more work, this could have been quite a memorable movie that you would want to buy or rent in the future.
It just goes to show how dumb some of the big-cheeses are in Hollywood, will they ever learn from their mistakes and listen to the audiences? Ah well, just think of this movie as The Blair Witch Project, meets The Fog, meets Pitch Black. |
