***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Darkness falls is a hybridization of the ghost story and slasher genres with very little blood (I suppose for the purposes of retaining the new sought-after politically correct PG-13 rating). Regular readers will already know I'm a big horror fan so take that into account when reading my review. The story starts out with a voice-over while sepia-toned still photos are displayed telling the history of the curse of Darkness Falls; A lonely old woman is revered by the children of Darkness Falls because whenever they lose a tooth, the old woman will give them a single gold coin. This garners her the nickname "The Tooth Fairy" amongst the townsfolk. A tragedy occurs and the old woman is horribly scarred in a house fire. Her scars are very sensitive to light and her disfigurement is quite terrifying so she only goes out at night wearing a white porcelain mask. One night, two children go missing. The townsfolk blame the Tooth Fairy and subsequently hang her for the crime. With her dying breath, the Tooth Fairy curses the town of Darkness Falls saying "what I once did with love I will now do in revenge". The next day the two children are found safe and unharmed. The town of Darkness Falls covers up their guilty secret and promptly forgets about the Tooth Fairy. But, as the legend goes, when you lose your last baby tooth, the Tooth Fairy comes to claim it. If you peek (and see her) she will kill you. So begins the movie. It's a nice creepy set-up for an average horror film. The 'real' story begins years after the events of the voice-over when a young boy (appearing to be at LEAST 12 years old) loses his last baby tooth. He wakes up to a nightmare in the middle of the night and, predictably, sees the Tooth Fairy. He calls to his mother for help and, again predictably, Mom doesn't believe him. When Mom goes to show him 'there's nothing in the dark', she (predictably) gets shredded by the Tooth Fairy. The boy survives by hiding in the bathroom with the lights on. When the police arrive, they (predictably) accuse the boy of killing his mother and send him to foster care and years of hospitalization for his 'psychosis' and fear of the dark. 12 years later, the brother of his childhood love has also seen the Tooth Fairy, so the woman (predictably) contacts the only person she knows who can relate to the poor kid- her childhood sweetheart who was institutionalized for the same thing! Heck of a romance angle, eh? The 'monster' is supernatural right from the start so there is no mystery as to it's being immune to normal weapons. It's vulnerability is obvious from the beginning- light. The remainder of the movie is built upon the tired cliche that there really IS a monster hiding in the dark, but no one believes it until it's too late. The Tooth Fairy is quick and brutal, swooping around like a monstrous bird of prey that snatches her victims up into the darkness only to drop them a few seconds later lifeless and mutilated. It sounds better than it comes across on screen. The killings are a bit too 'in your face' and far too frequent. This is a monster that begs for the 'less is more' approach, but you are bombarded with Tooth Fairy attacks every few minutes. The premise is that if you 'peek' and see her that you will be killed, but if you happen to see the Tooth Fairy AT ALL, you will also be killed, so while the Tooth Fairy is chasing around the protagonists, bystanders say "what the heck is THAT?" only to wind up as fodder to up the body count shortly thereafter. The fear factor is desensitized almost immediately (which is a shame, because the premise is rather creepy). After the midway point of the film, you are no longer afraid because it's obvious, even to the characters in the movie, what must be done to survive and defeat the monster. You just get trapped waiting for the story to reach it's obvious conclusion. Another big drawback is that the Tooth Fairy makes no effort to remain hidden. This monster again, begs to be a stealthy creature, but it runs right through the middle of crowded rooms (where people inevitably see it and then subsequently must be killed). If the monster is so brazen and such a fixture of town legend, then why does no one believe it's real? Sloppy storytelling. At 90 minutes, this is not to hard to sit through. The violence occurs quickly and brutally and almost entirely off-screen. There is no nudity, little blood, and very little (if any) profanity. The acting is a bit below average but sadly, one expects less from the horror genre. The only vaguely recognizable face is Emma Caulfield who plays the female lead. As horror films go, this one hits dead center of the scale. Not very good, but enough redeeming moments to at least make it worth a viewing for horror buffs. There's nothing new, but the monster is creepy enough to warrant a peek over the shoulder for the easily scared. It's not going to be a good date film, because it's not really scary enough to get your girl to squeeze-up to you. Overall, I can only recommend it to fans of the genre and only then since horror films are few and far between these days. If you like monster movies, check it out. Otherwise, there's plenty more to see at the ole box office.
Review of Darkness Falls
