The Popkorn Junkie

      This film had 'disaster' written all over it. For starters, this film has been looking for a distributor since production wrapped in early 2002, finally landing a deal with Miramax's horror arm Dimension Films -- the same company that introduced "Scream" to audiences and is expecting big things from "Cursed" in February. Secondly, the only start power in this film is Anna Paquin, and playing Rogue in "X-Men" is about the only thing people remember about her -- despite the fact that she was nominated for an Oscar for her role in "The Piano". And, lastly, this kind of horror movie just isn't popular these days. People want to see the in your face horror of "The Grudge" or the psychological horror of "Saw" -- haunted house flicks are yesterday's news. And what company would dare release a horror film on Christmas Day? It seemed as if Dimension was setting this one up for failure.

      Anna Paquin stars as Regina, who moves with her family to a rustic old house in the Spanish countryside. Her mother, Maria (Lena Olin) is a nurse who works the late shift; her brother, Paul (Stephen Enquist), is her pride and joy; and her father, Mark (Iain Glen) is still recovering from a series of attacks that have caused his family to develop a healthy fear of him. As soon as the family move into the house, strange things start to happen. Bruises start appearing on Paul; Mark starts experiencing the same attacks that caused such trouble before; and Regina starts seeing things out of the corner of her eye. This leads she and her boyfriend Carlos (Fele Martinez) to conduct investigations into the history of the house, trying desperately to discover what dark secrets there might be. Giancarlo Giannini co-stars as Regina's grandfather, Albert.

      As far as formulas go, "Darkness" follows just about all of them. We start to slowly see what happened in the house through flashbacks. When they need answers, they seek out the wise old man who knows the entire history of the house. Of course, the parents do not believe their crazy daughter. And, when the villain of the film is revealed, the personality shifts 180 degrees from normal to totally psychotic. We are also expected to believe that such a home has gone unsold for so many years -- nothing is really explained as to whether or not the grandfather owned the house. That was one of the primary problems with "Darkness" -- very few of our most basic questions are answered. Instead, we are expected to stick with that horror movie mentality of 'this is all happening because this is a horror movie and that is what horror movies do'. Sorry, that does not work for me.

      As for the direction of the film -- what a mess. This film feels like a rollercoaster ride, and not in a good way -- more like one of those rollercoasters where you come to a chaotic stop only to realize nothing has really happened. This film goes to quick through everything that you can't really absorb it all until you are walking out of the theatre, and then you are really pissed because of how unsatisfying it all was. The final few moments that take place in the house are creepy enough to keep attention spans, and it all flows together pretty well, but it is too short -- a longer amount of time in the house at the end would have aided the film and the tension it was suppose to create. The ending, though unexpected, does nothing but make us feel as if we have wasted the past ninety minutes of our lives, much like the ending of "Wes Craven Presents They". I found myself wondering what had happened -- did the director have to trim a lot of the film? Did they need a PG-13 rating so desperately?

      The performances here are luke warm, at best. Anna Paquin has never been able to recapture the kind of innocence and energy that she possessed in "The Piano" and I have never considered her to be one of the better young screen actresses out there. Here, she only proves that opinion. In "Darkness", she overacts, jumbles lines (obviously), and never really makes us like her character. Lena Olin (though underrated as a whole) stumbles through this role and gives producers yet another reason to skip over her during the casting process. Giancarlo Giannini plays the same role he always plays. As for newcomers, Fele Martinez is attractive enough and talented enough to land another role -- let's just hope it offers more than the sidekick boyfriend who gets to let out one good scream before it is revealed later that, when we though he died -- he really didn't.

      So, "Darkness" left the kind of impression I figured it would. I applaud its mediocre box office success only because it helps the horror genre, as a whole. I would love horror films to start getting Christmas release dates, especially if it is proven that they can make money. If "Darkness" has done that, it might have all been worthwhile. As for those of you wanting a good scare at the theatre -- "The Grudge" might still be playing nearby. Otherwise, you can definitely wait the couple of months for this one to land on DVD somewhere. Even if you missed it altogether, the loss would not be staggering. "Darkness" might have made an interesting night for horny high schoolers, but for me -- it should have never saw the light of day.

-- Billy Ray ( 1 out of 4 pops )

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