It should
be pointed out right from start that Darkness Falls is a
bad movie. The plotting is simplistic and familiar, the
directing pedestrian, special and creature effects are nothing
great, and the little boy at the center of it all definitely
suffers from acute Haley Joel Osmet-itis which is far from a
good thing. In spite of all of this – or maybe because of it– I
sort of enjoyed the thing in a bad, B-movie schlock sort of way.
The plot,
what there is of one, takes place in the town of Darkness Falls.
This is the type of town people leave their doors unlocked and
the policeman all act like they are the second coming of Andy
Griffith. But the town harbors a dark secret, the vengeful
slaying of Matilda Dixon for a crime she didn’t commit, and her
spirit hovers over it like the flatulent leftovers of a rancid
bean burrito.
Kyle
(Chaney Kley, Legally Blonde) knows Matilda’s spirit does
far more than hover. It killed his mother when he was a child,
and when old flame Caitlin (Emma Caufield) convinces him to come
back to town to help her investigate the cause of her
nine-year-old brother Michael’s (Lee Cormie) nightmares, Kyle
knows the next time he sees the ghoul’s face it could be his
last.
Ok, this
movie is thin even beyond your typical horror movie thin. In
fact, my guess is the only reason the studio didn’t release the
movie directly to video was that they figured they could squeeze
a couple bucks out of a dimwitted January audience. Heck, if
Kangaroo Jack can make 20 million in week than I’m sure
Columbia can get something close to that with this silly idiocy.
Yet, for
some insane reason I enjoyed myself while watching Darkness
Falls. The opening ten minutes is undeniably creepy and,
even if the rest of the movie isn’t remotely scary, something
about it all at least kept my attention. Probably because, at a
certain point (about the time the umpteenth adult acts like a
stereotypical horror movie boob) it just started getting so darn
silly. Just about every horror movie cliché imaginable gets
thrown into the pot, and goodness knows why but I just had a
jolly time finding and dissecting them all.
Feel sorry
for the talented Caufield. She plays the former vengeance demon
Anya on televisions Buffy the Vampire Slayer and while
making this she probably knew early on how badly it was all
progressing. Granted, a girl could get spoiled fast after five
seasons on one of the most perfectly written and intelligent
shows on TV, so missing Joss Whedon’s elegantly witty dialogue
is just something she’s going to have to get used to.
Granted,
Darkness Falls wouldn’t even rate remote consideration
during script meetings for the acclaimed program. I can just
imagine the extreme giggling that would have come out of a
reading of John Fasano, James Vanderbilt and Joseph Harris’
screenplay. Whedon and company probably would have reacted just
like I did during the screening, callously picking the whole
thing apart and having a big old blast doing so.
But this
all creates a quandary for me. I once read in the writings of
another critic – I believe it was Roger Ebert – that any film
that you enjoy on some level you can’t dismiss as being utterly
terrible. A guilty pleasure is still a pleasure, at least
for you, so I can’t very well write this film off completely.
All the same, it is bad, and most of my enjoyment came
out of that very awfulness.
Oh heck,
who cares? I had fun with this movie. Sad to say, I can’t really
imagine too many else having the same reaction. Call it a
one-star film warranting a two-and-a-half star review mainly for
keeping a tired film critic partially amused. It might not be a
recommendation, but it’s the best I can do.
