Review of Darkness Falls (2003) by Filipeneto — 24 Jun 2020

Well, I confess that I expected more from this film, even considering that it is a film for the teen audience where, therefore, the terror doesn't scare that much. I think that if we are really teens (I'm older, so I'm out of the target audience), the film must be really impressive to watch. So, take this into account. In fact, considering the audience its aimed at, the film is good. The problem is with me, that I am older, more difficult to scare and, even worse, I have seen a lot of horror films and it is not just anyone who scares me.

The film begins by explaining the story we are going to see: in the past, in a small coastal town in the USA, a very kind elderly woman who was unlucky enough to be disfigured in a fire was accused and executed for a crime she did not commit. Angry by the injustice and cruelty with which she was treated after years being good to everyone, she vowed to take revenge and, since then, appears to all the children in the night when they lose the last baby tooth. All those who recklessly look her in the face appear dead. However, a boy survived and reached adulthood, despite the trauma, the death of his mother and his whole life marked by successive attempts by the spirit to kill him. Now, he can make a difference and try to save the son of the woman he has always loved, and who is marked to die too.

The plot is predictable, we have seen a lot of similar stories, but it will work very well for teenagers wanting to feel chills down their spine. The scares come from the rapid appearance of things and shadows on screen, and the tension is well built throughout the film. Things heat up right from the middle and the film gets thicker quickly, discarding much of the plot building that other films take to exhaustion. There are some clichés but the fact is that they are well used and the film works well.

The cast is led by Chaney Kley, who curiously passed away because of a sleep disorder, in one of those almost fateful coincidences between fiction and real life. The actor gave life to Kyle, who tries everything to defeat the Tooth Fairy and save people after a life of trauma due to her. The actor is good and does an excellent job in this film, which is one of the best works of his short career, more turned to the TV. Lee Cormie is excellent in the role of Michael, the target child of the evil entity's attacks, while his mother, played by Emma Caulfield Ford, is not so good and always seems a little artificial. The rest of the cast does not deserve much attention and is limited to the average or mediocrity usual in a teen film.

Technically, the film is quite regular. Personally, I would highlight good cinematography, which knows how to use light and shadow masterfully to frighten and create tension. Good quick shots in the action scenes also help, and the incidental soundtrack is very good and works effectively. The Tooth Fairy, however, seems to me somewhat exaggerated, inasmuch as it is nothing more than a flying creature with things similar to tentacles of cloth or smoke and a face of eaten flesh behind a porcelain mask, Jason Voorhees/Michael Myers style.