The Dark (2005)

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I liked it. Average score of 5.3 is really low for this one. It's not a classic or a masterpiece, but it's well directed, spooky and I even found it quite consistent. I really like these psychological sort of horror movies rather than splatter gore stuff. The cast is mostly adults here and of course the children, but this movie is clearly not aimed at young audience, but rather for people a bit older, parents of children will probably feel it the most as it is about loss of a child.I was a bit bummed to read that the author didn't like this (if the review really was his), but then again, I don't know if original authors ever do like adaptations. I think the movie works pretty well, even tho there are a few twists that might confuse. I think they were handled quite well actually.Only downside I could figure out is the sound editing and fx. They did go where the fence is lowest and add cheap fx where appropriate. You really wouldn't have needed an fx every time something a bit scary hits the screen. Maybe I'll try to watch this without sound later.Give it a shot if you like spooky horror. The scenery is really nice to look at if nothing else.

If you are a horror movie fan, and you want a horror film without any explicit stuff, then this film can be watched.Story is about a mother and daughter visiting the father in Wales, when the daughter goes missing and in her place comes a girl presumed to be from the dead. The rest is about how it all happened and whether the couple's child is able to return or not.The storyline is weak and unimpressive. But the locales of shooting are good, the acting is fine, there aren't many thrills, and no vulgarity at all. The ending is something I did not understand.You can watch this, but whether you like it or not depends...

Producers Jeremy Bolt and Paul W S Anderson deliver a confusing mess of a horror flick, part financed by Isle of Man films, who at least got great scenic visuals for their budgetary contribution.The film smacks of considerable re-jigging in post production, as if the first cut was disappointing, and standard horror editing/jump cuts were employed to deliver standard horror moments. I can only presume a grander ambition led all concerned into making this film, as it would be very disappointing to think that talent like Sean Bean and Maria Bello would sign up for such a poor and uninspiring venture into British horror.The Dark suffers from a major weakness – sheep aren't scary. Nobody told director John Fawcett, and there's a few scenes, built to scare that audience, that had me laughing. It was almost "Fast Show" in tone. The producers didn't have the budget to attempt a mass-CGI herd of sheep to rush a young girl off the cliff edge, so the director does his best with a crude edit of sheep close ups, designed to convince us that a herd has become possessed. You expect Mark Williams and Paul Whitehouse to appear.Basically, an estranged couple, played by Bello and Bean, are brought back together (ish) in a coastal farmhouse setting, thanks to their daughter Sarah, who goes missing. Although this happens almost half way through the film, the DVD box gives away this key development in the first line of its storyline summary, which pretty much dismisses the first half of the film. The prospect of bringing Sarah back from the dead, thanks to a local legend, is the focus of the second half of the film and this is where evidence of substantial re-editing awaits.To end on a plus, the cinematography is very good, and the locations are fantastic. The actors do a good job, and I suppose I've seen worse. If your quality threshold is low, this might pass 90 mins of your time but be warned, its not a film you'd want to see twice.

Spoiler: Fantasy sequel:The movie leaves lots open at the end. I guess after the movie finishes, the ghost father will end up helping the mother find her daughter, get her back to our reality from the dead world and then subsequently swap the possessed girl with her actual daughter and a happy ending for all at the end of the sequel. If there ever was going to be a sequel which there won't be.Sean Bean was good. I don't blame ghost girl for wanting him to be my dad. And mother was an idiot. I don't blame ghost girl for leaving her where she ended up either.The movie tries, but doesn't deliver.