Review of Darkness Falls (2003) by Brett H — 22 Mar 2016

Sometimes it's fun to revisit a film that used to terrify you as a kid to see if it still has the same effect, and I'm embarrassed to say that I was ever scared by this lackluster piece of crap.

Darkness Falls is the debut film from somewhat hack director, Jonathan Liebesman, and his inexperience is apparent all over the screen with poor direction of the actors, shoddy editing, and a runtime that barely cracks 80 minutes; the credits literally last 11 minutes just so this film could get a theatrical release.

The basic story is that the tooth fairy was wrongly executed back in the day and has put a curse on the town where after losing your last baby tooth; she will come to get you and if you look upon her face: you're dead.

The film centers on a man who lost his mother to the tooth fairy in the prologue (the best and tensest scene of the whole film) and is now trying to save anyone he can from her murderous wrath by keeping people in/around light sources, which are her only weakness.

From there it becomes a mindless, slasher as people are picked off, left and right, in tame PG-13 fashion and the characters must use whatever light source they can to stay alive. It's actually a good premise (though filled with holes), but the filmmakers botch it so hard it's a real shame it wasn't used in a better movie.

One of the funnier inconsistencies the film champions is that the Tooth Fairy casts a shadow when she's stalking through a room...HOW DOES SHE DO THAT IF LIGHT IS HER WEAKNESS? Anyway, yes this film is scary enough for young teens, but man, it does not hold up well and the only pleasure I had watching it was to see a then-unknown, Angus Sampson from Insidious and Mad Max: Fury Road fame and the film earns a few bonus points for using practical effects at the forefront!