Darkness Falls (2003)

 Darkness Falls (2003)

So what happens if you see the Tooth Fairy, when she comes for your teeth?  In Darkness Falls, she stalks you at night for the rest of your life, until she kills you, or in the case of Kyle Walsh of Darkness Falls Maine, she also kills your mother.  According to the film the Tooth Fairy was a widowed woman named Matilda Dixon, who was wrongly hanged for the disappearance of two children in Darkness Falls Maine.  Though in the special features it changes the location of the legend to Port Fairy Australia.  The film itself was filmed partly in Maine, but mostly in Australia.

Darkness Falls was directed by Jonathan Liebesman, with a screenplay by Joe Harris, James Vanderbilt, and John Fasano.  The film was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, though was an independent film produced by Revolution Studios, Columbia Pictures, and Distant Corners.   Liebesman attempted to make a film that is more of an atmospheric horror film, without relying on gore for the horror, and I feel like he was successful in that aim, because the film does have some truly terrifying parts, especially when watching it in the dark.   The film was successful in the box office, grossing $47.5 million against a budget of $11 million.

Darkness Falls stars Chaney Kley as Kyle Walsh (Joshua Anderson plays young Kyle Walsh),  Emma Caulfield plays Kyle's childhood love interest Caitlin Greene (Emily Browning plays young Caitlin Greene), Lee Cormie plays Caitlin's younger brother Michael Greene, Grant Piro plays Larry Fleishman (childhood friend of the main character who grows up to be a lawyer and who is trying to have a relationship with Caitlin), Sullivan Stapleton plays Officer Matt Henry, and Antony Burrows plays Matilda Dixon.  Interestingly Emily Browning who plays young Caitlin Greene was also the little girl in Ghost Ship, and has gone on to be in some great films.   I can't really say that the cast of this film is great at all, I think really the cast is the weakest part of the film.  I really can't think of anything about any of the actors that stands out.  

The film is built on an interesting idea, of the "Tooth Fairy" being an evil spirit that purchases the teeth of children, but if you see her then she hunts and kills you, and you are only safe in the light.  I also appreciate the use of atmosphere, especially light and dark, to convey the horror rather than relying on cheap gimmicks like gore.   However the film never feels anything more than a low budget independent film, with subpar acting.   The film both looks good and cheap at the same time, the special effects, especially the effects of Matilda Dixon look quite good, though there is something about the film that also just makes it feel like it is dated, and like it is trying to ride the coattails of films like The Ring, even though it does have its own original concept.  There is something that I just can't quite put my finger on that makes this film feel cheap and subpar.   However that being said, I do think that this is an effective horror film, and actually gave me chills while watching it in the dark in a cabin in the woods of Maine.   I think that if you struggle with night terrors and a fear of the dark, that this film might be more terrifying than it would for others who do not deal with those things.   I think that the premise of the film is actually terrifying, that there is this spirit that comes into your home when you are a child to take your teeth, and if you see her then she will kill you, or hunt you for years until she can kill you, and the only way to stay safe is to stay in the light.   

Though Darkness Falls was a box office success, it was definitely a critical failure, and holds one of the lowest scores that I have ever seen on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.   I think that the negative critical reaction is fair enough, though I also do believe that it is a valid horror film, and I think that it does its job quite well, which is simply to be scary.  There are plot holes, and there are things that don't make sense if you think too much about them, but that doesn't change the fact that the film is an effective horror film, that definitely has its terrifying points.   This is definitely not a must-see film, but I do think that it is worth watching.

The Maine connection...well there isn't much, the film says that it takes place in Maine, in a fictional coastal town called Darkness Falls.   There was a limited amount of filming done here, though I couldn't find the actual locations of the shots, otherwise this film could just have easily just been set in Australia where most of the filming took place.   So thought it is a Maine film, only barely.

So I guess, to wrap this up:  Darkness falls is a below average quality film that delivers some moments of true terror, and it has a fast pace, that moves quickly from scene to scene not allowing the viewer to get bored or their anxiety to got down from the previous scene of horror, until the climax.   Worth seeing, but maybe not worth paying to see.