The Dark (2005)

OK while not a great film it is very suspenseful. i saw this movie almost 3 month's ago at the Cardiff film festival an i can tell u that the cinema was packed an at the end of the film it got a great applause because of the suspense it held throughout the film! on the whole a throughly enjoyable film i found this too be a film with a level of suspense that i have not seen in many supposed thrillers in a number of years. yes i'll agree that the film didn't have a storyline that truly linked together but this is becoming a much more common trend in many films now. Also the film is made all the more enjoyable because it is a British made film showing the quality of films that can come out of this country when we try to make a good film.

Fmovies: I had enjoyed Fawcett's knowing revision of the werewolf myth in GINGER SNAPS (2000), but wasn't really expecting much out of yet another ghost story (which, in recent years, have flooded the horror market from all over the world). Still, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise which, given my initial skepticism, managed to win me over with its intriguing - if highly derivative - plot line, good performances (by all five main actors but especially Maria Bello, in a difficult and rather unsympathetic role, and the two ill-treated girls) and the unfamiliar seaside Welsh setting.

As a matter of fact, the film borrows and mixes together elements from a wide variety of classic and cult horror/fantasy titles - ORPHEUS (1950), DON'T LOOK NOW (1973), THE WICKER MAN (1973) and THE BEYOND (1981) - and even features a Bernard Herrmannesque score! Unfortunately, it becomes confusing towards the end and the final twist feels rather like one too many trips to the well; actually, I much preferred the serene (and more balanced) alternate ending!

Despite some editorial flourishes throughout and the occasional cheap shock, the film's tone is generally low-key and introspective; far removed from the hipness of GINGER SNAPS, it's undeniably a more mature work.

Can a horror film be scary and boring at the same? The Dark has an extremely good effort – about equivalent to lifting one's little finger. The plot shows all the attention span of someone reading a Welsh mythology after smoking several reefers. Formulaic scare-mongering knocks you out of your seat at regular intervals, though without enlivening the story or characters much, the most interesting of which, a girl called Ebrill, is temporarily back from the dead after a number of misled churchgoers and nigh on a flock of sheep have been offered in her place.

Young Sarah arrives with her mum at a remote cottage on the Welsh coast where her dad is staying. Legends, hallucinations, nightmares of sheep and people going over a nasty bit of cliff abound and we hear of how it might be possible for some people to pop back and forth between this world and the next – at a price.

Director John Fawcett, who showed promise and originality with Ginger Snaps, has here gone for banality enlivened by the most unashamed editing. If you flash a very sudden, very bright image at someone, and simultaneously make a very loud noise, they will jump. Traditionally, filmmakers have used this technique to emphasise a plot turn – the appearance of the bogey-man, monster, serial killer. Fawcett doesn't bother, he just inserts it. One minute you're watching the sleep-inducing story and the next you are shocked awake by a loud crash together with a bright light. Explain it to yourself as a deep insight into the unsteady mind of one of the characters? Well if I was a character in such an insipidly put together movie I'd probably need to be deranged for fun too. The trouble with this technique is that there is no plot momentum to keep you excited until the next loud bang. After the first two, I started trying to predict the next one (wait for a false alarm, then a lull, then the bang) and with reasonable accuracy till I lost interest.

It picks up a bit towards the end, and the scares are scary, however contrived. All in all it's standard Saturday night horror fare, nothing that special. If you don't mind the clichés, sit back and go whaaaaaa (as I did!)

The Dark fmovies. The Dark shocked me really, after seeing the trailer on TV my initial thoughts were that it was going to be a genuinely scary film, however after watching it, it appears it is not as much scary as it is strange!

The concept of it will seem pretty weird to you but it actually works, however there are times in it where the acting is pretty sketchy. I think all in all this film will appeal to people who like a bit of the supernatural or spiritual stuff, and maybe not as much to the people who like a really scary horror flick.

Hat off to Sean Bean, i like most of the films he's in, and Maria Bello does make viewing slightly more pleasant. Some will like it, some won't. Would definitely watch again though.

The most disappointing thing about this movie is sound FX work. While every other crew member tried to avoid clichés and worked minimalistic the sound operator did his best exactly in the opposite direction. Sure he was proud of himself - every possible library sample from "Horror FX" folder (squeaks, boos, bangs and so on) has been employed at times "to make it scarier".

Otherwise the movie is surprisingly good. Cold and dark Welsh mythology, no fun. Acting is full of nuances. Scares are delivering (reminded me feelings of "Ju-on" (Japanese original of "The Grudge")). No major holes in script, everything is logical, worked in great detail. The climax is overloaded a bit with twists, but except the last one (too confusing way of depicting it) is impressive anyway.

My deepest respect to the cameraman for that catch of the Northern landscapes beauty, for the tricks with focus, for many unusual angles and meaningful use of color FX. That chapter in Annuun treated in sepia is simple and convincing - bravo!

8 marks for the well-worked atmosphere, fresh scares, interesting story, eye pleasures, serious attitude and creativity.

Sean Bean is such a lost talent, he's a great actor and never seems to be given a decent or lead role. Even in Lord of the Rings he was cast as the turncoat. So I was excited to hear that he was the lead man in this movie, although not the lead it was a good step. Plus it was a British film and a horror. These things all combined to make me think that this was a movie to see.

Both Bean and Maria Bello are very convincing in the movie. Bean plays the straight up man who is confused by the happenings around him and just wants to make the family happy again, he plays a super convincing Father. Bello gives a great performance as she is called upon to be a trying mother, confused, insane, panicked and totally distraught. Not that much of a range really! The interplay between these two actors is very good, and when Bean has scenes with the daughter, he's just superb.

Something that becomes quite annoying through the first half of the movie are the deliberate scare tactics used by the Director, they are exceedingly formulaic and you know when they are coming and even when the shock comes. Still, all credit to them, you still leap out of your chair even knowing when a scare is coming. The formula is pretty constant through the first half, slow music, a long single scene, slow movement and no action, usually in the darkness, then a few fast cuts together accompanied by a loud sound and a raise in the music tempo, and there you have the scare. During the screening people were leaping like mad! After a while following this formula the film does turn around on itself and become something different. It's here that it becomes a lot more psychological and indeed, clever. There was a big feeling in this half of Event Horizon, particularly the flashbacks to being strapped in the chair, fast, multiple cuts of horror.

However during the latter half it also becomes confusing and very weird, yet I wish the whole movie had been like this. It could have abandoned its standard scare tactics and concentrated on the plot in the latter half, and this would have provided for a much more psychologically scary movie.

There's a particular moment near the end of the movie when a door closes in front of the lead, and your emotions are totally with the character at this point. Confusion for a few seconds and then a slow building understanding. It's a very good moment.

Still, however clever the entire ending is, I still felt it lacked clarity and subtlety. Dropping the scare formula of the first half would have brought a much better movie, and getting rid of the premise of scary sheep would have helped too. Perhaps it's a British thing, but sheep are not in the least bit scary, in fact coming from a Northern Scottish town sheep are considered far from scary. It just seemed to be a plot device that was struggling not to be absurd.

That said, you'll still leap, you'll still be scared, and when the film finishes you'll still like the conclusion.