Darkness

The movie centers about a family living outskirts Barcelona and the terrible events that happen to the daughter (Anna Paquin) and the rest of family : father (Iain Glenn) , mother (Lena Olin) and grandfather (Giancarlo Giannini).

The motion picture gets a certain likeness to films as ¨Amytiville¨ saga and the recent ¨The others¨ and ¨The sixth sense¨ , the director Jaume Balaguero takes parts each other films . In the movie there is terror , suspense , drama and from the beginning until ending the horror and tension is endless . The picture plot is pretty twisted and the final has an extraordinary surprise .

Interpretation by Anna Paquin as scared adolescent is average , she's very young and lack her experience , better play her grandfather and parents : Giancarlo Giannini , Lena Olin and Iain Glenn , both of whom are riveting . The film is produced by Julio Fernandez of Fantastic Factory , corporation with deal of hits in terror genre.

Balaguero direction is outstanding , Xavi Gimenez cinematography with lights and shades originates a frightening and scary atmosphere and Carlos Cases music creates true fear . Director Jaume Balagueró (Rec , Rec 2 .., Fragiles , The nameless , Tight sleep) uses uneasy knowledge for both horror and supernatural genre .

The flick will appeal to ghostly atmosphere enthusiasts and horror genre fans . Rating : 6,5/10 good

This has got to be the absolute worst of all of the Asian horror rip-off wannabees around. It is the least terrifying and most boring of all the horror films I've seen since the year 2000, and perhaps even earlier.

The whole plot idea is just another version of The Shining with some Poltergeist stuff mixed in for good measure. Every time the father goes wacko, I'm fully expecting him to pop his head through someplace and say, "Here's Johnny!" There's positively no suspense in this thing at all and the whole last half hour is completely obvious, so it's just a matter of, do you turn it off, or watch to see how right you are. Besides that, the story idea is beyond lame and without any depth or thoughtfulness. It's a exercise in pursuing filmic style over substance, yet here the substance is almost non-existent and the style is plagiarized.

To make matters worse, the acting is tepid at best. The actors portraying the mother and father turn in rudimentary performances without conviction, the son is also just there for the filling. The most terrifying moments of the whole film are when watching the performance of the daughter, basically a one-note deal, with every facial expression used for effect being about the same, and a monotone voice warbling in constant teenage angst. We have characters constantly whispering for no reason regardless of their setting.

Also, the daughter is just about the most obnoxious and bitchy teen girl ever, and attempts to present herself as the moral fascist in charge of the family. Viewers may find themselves hoping for her demise at the end just to be rid of her. And also hoping for the end to come as soon as possible so they can watch something else.

PS: I've read every HP Lovecraft story published, and I don't see this as being anywhere close to "Lovecraftian".

Spain - what a great country! It gave us Julio Medem, it gave us Alejandro Amenabar, and now there's Jaume Balaguero, the man who brought us Darkness, a horror film that's clever, fresh & intriguing. An american family (Iain Glen & Lena Olin) with a teenage daughter (Anna Paquin) & a little boy (Stepnah Enquist) moves into an old house somewhere in Spain, and soon enough find out that there's something wrong with it. There are ghosts of children, supposedly murdered in this very house, there's a strange man walking around the house watching it silently, the little boy is afraid of the dark & wakes up with bruises on his body & the father, who A) has a dark secret in his past, which is somehow connected to the house & B) is not very well in the mental department, starts going a little bit crazy. Sure, it all sounds corny enough, and every person who've seen films like The Sixth Sense, A Stir Of Echoes and The Shining can smile his way through the first half of the film thinking he's seen it all already. But Balaguero has more tricks up his sleeve then just a collection of genre cliches. In fact, he enjoys playing with these cliches, because later things turn not quite the way you were dead sure they would, and the final act has even more surprises in stock. The film is genuinly scary, especially in the second half when the tension just won't let up. The visuals are good - a couple of scenes are pretty likely to haunt you days, maybe even months after watching the film. The final verdict: definitely worth seeing, maybe even more than once. I haven't received that much pleasure from a horror film in quite a while

P.S. And please, people, stop comparing it to The Others, the two films have very little in common except for the set-up (children in a haunted house)

I was quite impressed with Jaume Balaguero's first feature "The Nameless" which mightn't have been original, but it was coldly disturbing and effectively suspenseful. Now I heard and read nothing but poor things on his second feature "Darkness". I couldn't escape the negativity, and naturally I was expecting something very weak. However came away from it thinking what an interesting failure into supernatural/occult territory. The main problem is due the story's stale familiarity, which never really is given the chance to rise above its foreseeable hints, embarrassingly shallow script and ludicrously ragged framework. Talk about hazy, and I mean real hazy. It's cryptic, but extremely convoluted and mundane. Even with Balaguero's understated, glossed up icy direction, which works in some eerie, and jarring visuals that go a long way of building up a quiet intensity and dreary atmosphere.

Still everything about it is downright mechanical and probably a bit long in the tooth, but it didn't seem to bother me because I found it rather intriguing despite the muddled, paper-thin intentions. There's just something lurking behind this jilted mess that I found fascinating, but the narrative does get lost amongst the busy visual style. From the beginning, we learn it's all about the casually paced build-up, but the shocks are too clichéd (like creaky sounds, moving shadows) and the final pay-off doesn't have too much of a sting to it. Technically the film looks the part with its dark composition and sterile cinematography, and the weeping, otherworldly music score works a haunting tone. The sound devices are so old-hat and forced, but they're pinpoint, vitriolic and really do surround you. The characters don't fair any better, and I thought the performances from a solid cast were modest enough even with their flimsy characterisations. Anna Paquin was suitably appealing and maturely strong, but a awful Lena Olin looked quite uninterested and Iain Glen was terribly uneven. Giancarlo Giannini stays on cruise control, and Stephan Enquist turns in a fine performance.

Maria (Lena Olin) and Mark Rua (Iain Glen) with their children Regina (Anna Paquin) and Paul move into an isolated house in Spain. Mark is troubled and has a complicated relationship with his father Albert Rua (Giancarlo Giannini).

Director Jaume Balagueró seems to have a grasp on moody horror visuals. The movie mostly works, if somewhat a slow bore, until the last act. It's a mistake to separate Anna Paquin from the family but sending her back to the house may be a bigger mistake. The movie needs to plant the seeds of this premise a lot better and a lot sooner. The opening tells us nothing other than a 40 years difference. By that alone, we have to assume either Mark or Maria's involvement. There could be so much more done with this premise. It needs to introduce the darkness sooner. They should start killing right away. The story needs work.