Darkness | 
| Director: Jaume Balaguero
Actors: Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Giancarlo Giannini, Fele Martinez
Studio: Dimension
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.99
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $19.98 (100%)
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Rating:  171 reviews
Sales Rank: 97369
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Full Screen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Genre: 0
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
ESRB: Teen
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 102 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D28647D
UPC: 786936204131
EAN: 0786936204131
ASIN: B0007MCQQ2
Theatrical Release Date: December 25, 2004
Release Date: April 26, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Soon after regina begins living in her familys remote country estate she learns that theres something horribly disturbing about the old place. Even as her parents dismiss her concerns strange things begin to happen whenever the lights go out. Soon regina realizes that the full evil is about to be unleashed. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 02/07/2006 Starring: Anna Paquin Iain Glen Run time: 88 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Jaume Balaguero
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| Customer Reviews: Read 166 more reviews...
 Not Enough Darkness... April 12, 2009
Bindy Sue Fronkuenschtein (under the rubble)
The main problem I have with DARKNESS is that it feels so incomplete, as though half of the story was left out. I love the blackened mood and overwhelming sense of doom and dread, it's just that it seems to lead up to a disappointing finale. If more time had been spent on developing the history underlying the house, the cult, and their child victims, the strength and depth of the story would have carried the horror elements. Of course, the movie would have been longer by maybe 30-60 minutes, but it would have been a lot better for it. As it stands, DARKNESS is a half-baked film full of untapped potential that never quite terrifies. I wish people would stop trying to cram everything into 90 minutes, even when more time is absolutely necessary! AAAARGG!!...
 An hour and a half wasted April 17, 2008
Chad A. B. Wilson (Houston, TX)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love horror movies. Good ones are genius--scary, intriguing, memorable, and revolutionary in their conservatism.
Darkness is none of these things. When I finished it, I was actually angry at the crew for subjecting me to an hour and twenty minutes of drivel. In fact, I turned to the special features and found a behind the scenes featurette there, but even that left me with nothing after it ended abruptly in three minutes.
On the one hand, the plot is completely contrived and obvious: an eclipse is approaching and a ceremony involving children must be performed during the event. On the other hand, the plot is completely preposterous and unexplained: "the darkness" is coming, a darkness that is pure evil. The characters discover it through an old book that they mysteriously know about. None of it makes any sense. If I tried to explain it, you would be left shaking your head, just as I am thinking about it.
The good thing about this movie is the camerawork. The light and shadow used throughout the movie is actually pretty great. I like the way the movie lets us see what is in the shadows even though the main characters can't see it. Most of the scares here, what few there are, are through interesting camerwork and the use of darkness.
If it were not for the camerawork, I would give it zero stars (if such a thing were possible).
DARK ISN'T THE WORD March 15, 2008
Mark Turner
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There are movies that come out that present high expectations in their viewers. And there are movies that come out that don't offer expectations all that high, but enough to make fans curious. Horror fans love their stuff, and are sorely tempted when watching a preview for this movie. But this one goes beyond showing the good stuff in the previews. This one sinks to showing nothing but those scenes AND trying to convince you that it is at least a decent movie. It falls far short.
The story revolves around Regina (Anna Paquin), a young teenage girl whose parents have just moved her and her younger brother Paul (Stephan Enquist) to Spain where her father grew up. Their grandfather lives there and helps them and they settle in a remote house just outside of town, one that needs a little work.
From the moment the movie begins, there are unsettling things happening in the house. Paul begins drawing some disturbing pictures that seem to relate to the film's prologue where a young boy is on the run from something or someone terrible found in the house.
Regina's parents Maria and Mark (Lena Olin and Iain Glen) seem to be very loving parents. But dad has an attack while driving one day and that's when we, the viewers, find out that he has had them before. And they terrify Regina. Afterwards, dad begins to have more frequent bouts of attacks and starts to act irrationally, scaring Regina and Paul even more although mom refuses to admit there is anything wrong.
Anyway, the films unravels slowly, offering us glimpses into what is causing all of these problems but never totally telling us until near the end. And the answer is one most will figure out early on. Not to mention the fact that is not the least scary. Any film maker can offer a few jump scenes in a film. But to truly terrify an audience, you have to come straight at them. This movie plays around way too much.
The story behind the house and those who inhabit it offer the briefest glimpse of where this movie might have gone, offering just a speck of something interesting. But plot and the secret revealed are so overly convoluted that by the time you finish, you just don't care. And then ending is completely disappointing.
If you love horror films, rent one of the newer releases out there or go see something...anything...new in theaters. But as for THE DARKNESS, leave it in the dark.
In the Shadows.... March 9, 2008
David S. Jenkins (On the Road)
First let me stress that this is no masterpiece but it stands head and shoulders above the last two Hollywood "horror" films I tortuously endured, "Invasion" and "1408."
Perhaps because it seems to be the product of a number of international production finance groups (too many cooks in the kitchen) the script is a bit confusing and has some gaping holes in it... but the performances are excellent and the direction gently raises the hair on your neck enough times to make it an intelligent late night popcorn flick. The director understands that shadows aren't meant to reveal everything, and that oddities fleetingly glimpsed just outside the corner of your eye can be the most chilling. The ham fisted director of "1408" may want to take note...
You can justifiably find a number of things to complain about in this film but you definitely won't be buying any spooky old houses in the Spanish countryside in the immediate future. And like me you just might watch it a second time, where some of the details at last reveal themselves.
What a horrid mess of a movie February 24, 2008
Jay (USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I hate to really bash films but this one deserves it. This was by far one of the worst movies I have ever sat through. I actually saw it when it was in the movies and barely mad it through without leaving. It had plenty of potential to be something but it seems as if the writers gave up a quarter of the way through the story and hired a group of chimps to finish it up. It really was that bad I assure you. I can't find one positive thing to say. My only advice is stay far away. And if you happen to be one of the few unlucky owners of the film you may want to resort to using the disk as a frisbee.
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