Review of Darkness (2005) by Martin S — 27 Feb 2008

Fairly awful movie that could have been good, had it been filmed in Spanish with Spanish actors. Anna Paquin is embarrassing in this horror-lite claptrap. Who knew that this girl won an Oscar some time back.

All evidence of her acting achievements are absent from this movie. As are Lena Olin's. Why the director insisted on courting American actresses for the lead role (Natalie Portman was originally offered her role) is beyond me. Here we have a New Zealand actress playing the daughter, a Swedish actress playing the mother, and a Scottish actor playing the father(!!!) and they're supposed to be portraying an All-American family (LMAO). You really have to suspend your imagination here - who cares about the storyline?

Well for anyone who cares, the story involves a stupid house that is the pinpoint of a ritualistic ceremony where seven children have to die at the hands of a loved one in order to cover the world in a shroud of darkness at the mercy of good ol' Lucifer himself.

There were some entertaining moments, like a photo of three creepy-looking people, an old fart getting his in a deserted subway tunnel and some good flashbacks involving bloodletting, but other than that - the movie was poorly constructed and badly acted. Anna Paquin is incapable of registering emotions that click with the viewer. She's wooden and she's bloody awful. Check out every movie she has been in since "The Piano"!

Lena Olin who was a riot in "The Ninth Gate" should have taken on a more sinister role in this film. Here she is reduced to a hapless housewife. It's sad really, all the "could have beens" in this movie, what a wasted opportunity!