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Darkness Falls (2003) DVD Review
Darkness Falls (2003) DVD Credits:
Darkness Falls (2003) Directed by:
Jonathan Liebesman
Darkness Falls (2003) Written by:
James Vanderbilt, Joseph Harris, John Fasano
Darkness Falls (2003) Cast:
Chaney Kley, Emma Caulfield, Lee Cormie, Grant Piro, Sullivan Stapleton, Steven Mouzakis, Peter Curtin, Kestie Morassi, Jenny Lovell, John Stanton
Darkness Falls (2003) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Darkness Falls (2003) DVD Release Date:
1st January 2006
Our Rating: Extras Rating:

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Darkness Falls (2003) Synopsis:

As a young boy, Kyle Walsh claims to have accidentally woken up out of his sleep, just in time to see the Tooth Fairy trying to kill him. From that point forward he is considered crazy by everyone in town--except his childhood sweetheart, Caitlin, and her little brother, Michael. Years later, Kyle must return home to confront his troubled past, and save Caitlin and Michael from an unrelenting evil that has plagued the town of Darkness Falls for over 150 years.

Darkness Falls (2003) DVD Review:

Synopsis

When Kyle lost his last milk tooth as a young boy, he was visited by the sinister “Tooth Fairy”… a murderous apparition of an eccentric old woman called Matilda Dixon, wrongly accused 150 years before, of being involved in the disappearance of two of the town’s children.

The enraged locals, (who later found the two children safe), hanged her but it was too late – Matilda had put a curse upon the town with her dying breath, and vowed to continue collecting the children’s last teeth.

Where once she had kindly left them gold coins, she would now take their lives if they peeked…
Young Kyle did indeed peek, and the tooth fairy still aims to collect.

Twelve years later, Kyle’s childhood sweetheart Caitlin (Caulfield) tracks him down and pleads for his help – her younger brother Michael (Cormie) seems to be terrorised by the same visions as he was years before – and he’s just lost his last baby tooth.

As a result, Kyle must face his own fears in order to help Michael.

Critique

The problem with the movie, plot-wise, is that there are certain rules laid down in the opening sequence, which are then seemingly broken and ignored in order to maintain the thrills.

The impression is given initially that the witch, er, Tooth Fairy, only pursues those who see her as she tries to take their last tooth. However, it later materialises that when she is in hot pursuit, anyone can see her, and when they do, she’ll quite happily take them on too. This appears to veer wildly from the originally set curse, and therefore, detracts from its potency. Yep, it ups the body count somewhat, but it also leaves the tooth fairy looking a bit daft.

The impression is also initially given that she inhabits only Darkness Falls – that is where the curse was set, so, well, call it a presumption.
Therefore, when we see two of the characters drive past a sign, which quite clearly states, “You are now leaving Darkness Falls” you’d expect that the characters would be safe for a time. Hmm…

Again, it distracts the viewer as you may find yourself mentally rewinding back to the beginning, re-playing the rules, and possibly going “eh?”

So far, we’ve learned, the “Tooth Fairy” mainly goes for kids who have lost their last tooth, but if anyone else sees her in the process she’ll kill them too, and although she put the curse on Darkness Falls, she can catch up with people outside of it’s parameters if she so wishes. It just doesn’t seem tight enough.

Speaking of curses, if Darkness Falls is so rife with doomed children, how come none of the locals, cops, doctors etc, discuss previous incidents, or even make reference to them?

The story of the tooth fairy’s origins is extremely similar to that of the “Blair Witch” – eccentric, kindly, odd – looking old lady, ostracised by locals, life ended by lynch mob, vows for revenge.
She then taps into the same vein as Freddy Krueger, entering kiddies’ bedrooms as they sleep, slaying children and, if they escape, chasing them until they are hers. Then, the spooky Michael appears, coming over all “Haley Joel” on us, austere and haunted. It is, in actual fact, hard to find something about this movie that is not seemingly derived from another, superior source.

Although we learn a little about Matilda Dixon before her re-incarnation as evil personified, it never feels like she is a figure of terror. Perhaps a flash-back to ‘her’ time, rather than the use of a photo montage would have helped the viewer feel they had experienced her pain and need for revenge.

The acting throughout is varied. Lee Cormie is very cute and affecting as the terrified young boy, a real find in a young actor. He also does a mean American accent for an Australian kid.

This movie is main character Chaney Kley’s first major role, and he does have a strong screen presence, but the dialogue he is given to work with is flat and predictable. It is to his credit that his character is the most fleshed – out and believable. You may find he looks too old in the role though, as only twelve years are meant to have elapsed since he lost his last tooth, yet he could easily pass for thirty-five. Saying that, he has a certain world – weary appeal that would be hard for a younger actor to convey.

Emma Caulfield is nothing special, and there is little in the way of chemistry between her and Kley. She is passable as a secondary character but does not light up the screen or bring anything special to the role. In fairness though, she has not been gifted with any scenes to give her a chance to really take to the spotlight.

The idea of tapping into children’s mythology is reasonable – and ripe with sinister tales of boys who cry wolf and bogeymen. But “Tooth Fairy” brought to the big screen doesn’t work. No here, anyway. The attempts at visual shocks are dragged down by a thrill – free script, and predictable plotting, and it seems the movie can’t really decide whom it’s catering to. We know little about the characters, so it’s pretty hard to care about what happens to them.

The one thing to take into consideration is that this movie was a PG-13 in the US, and as a first - date horror movie for younger teens, it is likely to have had more impact on this audience, who may not have seen a lot of the movies it frequently doffs its cap to. This audience would appreciate the themes more readily. But it is presented to the UK as a 15 certificate (note – Cabin Fever is also a 15 certificate) – and although the certification shouldn’t matter if a movie comes complete with some classy scares (see The Others, a 12A), it may have been given more chance of success as a 12A as that is where its true audience lies.

It is not without redeeming features in terms of direction and set- pieces, as there are some nifty visuals of the wispy witch clinging to walls and shu -wooshing out of the darkness to claim some unwitting victim. Once established, the use of dark and light to signify danger/safety is used to great effect, and there is a brave and frequent use of almost fully dark screen which brings with it effective disorientation. Clever editing brings a feeling of deft, bird-like movements from the nasty fairy – she doesn’t always appear where you’d expect, and her blank porcelain mask has a certain eerie quality. As an adult viewer, you’re unlikely to get the heebie jeebies though. Again, maybe limited by the ‘safe’ US certificate, the scares are pretty tame, and the ending is a bit too saccharine and corny for most tastes.

Picture Quality

The picture is presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic and the quality is clear and sharp.

As previously mentioned, the contrast between the looming darkness and the clinically bright hospital is pleasing, and there is a certain stillness evoked in scenes which are played out slightly longer than necessary, with some success.

Use of light sources, such as torch beams and candles cast a sulphurous edge to silhouettes so you can still pick your way through the darkness most of the time. When you can’t, it’s all for effect.
Movement is often achieved through fleeting glimpses of characters and editing rather than fancy camera – work, making effective use of a fairly small budget.

Sound Quality

In fairness, this is where the movie makes up somewhat for what it lacks in visual styling, with Dolby 5.1 and a bombastic score by Brian Tyler.
Sound is a very important element of this film, as the thrill of the chase is where the higher points are located, and as you hear more of the “Tooth Fairy” than you see of her, it has to be effective. Her feral gurgling bounces around the room satisfyingly, taking you by surprise in ways you’d wish the movie would.

The Extras

2 Featurettes – “The Legend of Matilda Dixon” and “The Making Of”…

“The Legend of Matilda Dixon” appears to be a hastily cobbled together attempt to inject some authenticity into the tale, and give some background on the story of the poor old Tooth Fairy. In the spirit (again) of the Blair Witch Project – ‘locals’ are interviewed about the legend of Matilda in the small town of Port Ferry, Australia. These ‘locals’ deliver their lines as though reading them from the back of a cereal packet, and ruin any chance this had of acting as a complementary piece.

“The Making Of…” is more interesting, and offers a lot more insight into how the movie was put together. First time feature director Jonathan Liebesman discusses how the studio wanted a PG-13 picture, the constraints this created, and exhibits a discernable lack of confidence in his own abilities. But you do get a flavour of where he wanted to take the picture, and his passion for film – making is evident.

We learn of how the shoot was in Australia (credit to the director here, this is a surprise), and get to meet the cute little guy Lee Cormie, who played Michael, as well as the writers, producers, and the rest of the cast all exchanging the usual plaudits with each other.

Deleted Scenes (7)

These add little to the plot, and don’t give the injection of clarity you might hope, but are watchable.

Storyboard Comparison

Interesting to see how the director’s vision was translated, these snippets remind you of how good the sound quality and effects are, and for an avid fan, add real value.

Film – Makers Commentary/Director’s Commentary

Two commentaries – again, fans are well – catered for, and some of the approaches used are discussed at length. In the film – makers commentary be prepared to hear the phrase, “And this is our homage to…” frequently. It would have been pleasing if they had discussed more original flourishes at length. It’s pretty fun, though, to see if you can spot the ‘homages’ before they point them out. There isn’t any holding back; it would seem, in their chat. Neither party are shy of discussing what worked and what didn’t, and there’s some amusing trivia amongst their comments.

More revealing is how much they discuss re-shoots, re-writes and alterations to main character roles. It helps to explain the lack of cohesion in the film itself. Through the dialogue, it would seem that despite not hitting the nail on the head this time, there was a lot of raw talent involved in the project.
You may enjoy watching the whole movie with the commentary on, which some superior films with commentary cannot boast.

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Darkness Falls (2003) DVD review written by: Terresa Gaffney

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