Darkness (2002)

Director:

Jaume Balagueró

Writers:

Jaume Balagueró (written by) and
Fernando de Felipe (written by) ...

Release Date:

25 December 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Some secrets should never come to light

Plot:

A teenage girl moves into a remote countryside house with her family, only to discover that their gloomy new home has a horrifying past that threatens to destroy the family.

Plot Keywords:

House | Darkness | Blood | Teenage Girl | Children

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Anna Paquin	...	Regina
Lena Olin	...	Maria
Iain Glen	...	Mark
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Albert Rua
Fele Martínez	...	Carlos
Stephan Enquist	...	Paul
Fermí Reixach	...	Villalobos (as Fermi Reixach)
Francesc Pagés	...	Driver Traffic Jam
Craig Stevenson	...	Electrician
Paula Fernández	...	Girl 1
Gemma Lozano	...	Girl 2
Xavier Allepuz	...	Boy 3
Joseph Roberts	...	Boy 4
Marc Ferrando	...	Boy 5
Josh Gaeta	...	Boy 6

Also Known As:

Darkness (Spain)
The Dark (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for terror/violence and language. (original version); Rated PG-13 for disturbing images, intense terror sequences, thematic elements and language. (edited version)

Runtime:

102 min | USA:88 min (PG-13 version)

Country:

USA | Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (original rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Ireland:15A (cut) | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:12 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated (unrated DVD version) | USA:R (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (edited for re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Castelao Producciones

Trivia:

Cameo: [David Martí]special effects artist, as a man sleeping in the bus.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Twenty-three minutes into the movie, Regina comes down the stairs and sees that her dad has found a secret room under the stairs. Her father comes out holding a picture apparently very interested. Regina asks her father, "What's that?" looking at the space under the stairs. We then see a still frame where just barely, you can see Regina's father still in the space looking at the picture even though he had just stepped out of that area.

Quotes:

Regina: Since when are you afraid of the dark?
Paul: Everything is different here.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Benchwarmers (2006)

OK, but not great

Not long after Regina (Anna Paquin) begins living in her family's remote country estate, she learns that there's something horribly disturbing about the old place.

Darkness has the hallmarks of a great film, it is suspenseful and creepy, the cast is very strong, the story is fresh and original and the direction is very stylish. Sadly i found it fell short of greatness and i can only put it down to the pace of the delivery, to me it seemed to drag along at times without serving any real purpose.

Darkness is still a good film and i simply loved the finale, it just could have been better.

6/10