Hi 65 / Lo 55
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Hi 65 / Lo 55 |
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Volume 68, Issue 83,
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
Arts & Entertainment 'Darkness Falls' fails to frighten By Shireen Connor
Jonathan Liebesmanis feature film debut Darkness Falls may have grossed $12.5 million during its first weekend at the box office, yet many are willing to bet that it will not do half as well this coming weekend. In fact, if word of mouth gets around, this film will be lucky to remain in theaters past Valentineis Day.
Oh, perhaps itis not right to judge so quickly. The film was not all that bad; it just promised a lot more than it delivered. Scary movies these days all seem to fit a certain mold. Darkness Falls just was not full of any of the surprises that make scary movies scary. The plot is pretty basic, set in a small town that is haunted by the spirit of an old woman nicknamed "The Tooth Fairy" who continues to exact her revenge through the generations. She strikes only under the cover of darkness since she is apparently allergic to light. The ghost is actually easily able to kill people despite this disability since lightbulbs and flashlights mysteriously keep on going out right when someoneis life is on the line. Twelve years after the ghost murdered his mother and then cornered him in a bathroom, Kyle Walsh (Chaney Kley) finds himself going back to the city of Darkness Falls. Heis there to help save a young boy, Michael Greene (Lee Cormie), the younger sibling of his old love interest Caitlyn (Emma Caulfield). Apparently the witch innately knows how to appeal to Hollywood even though she died 150 years ago. Although the trailers for this movie show glamorous special effects, do not expect anything even close to Matrix-esque visual stimulations. During one scene, involving an elevator, the appearance of the ghost was downright cheesy. Instead of making me grip my seat in suspense, it made me wonder what kind of budget the film had. Some of us are suckers for horror films. Many are easily terrified by even the slightest mention of the paranormal or anything involving extra-terrestrials. This film however, unlike The Sixth Sense or even The Ring, is incapable of even fazing the audience. It definitely wonit cause them to jump and tear off their friendis arm or spend sleepless nights with their heads under the covers. In fact, if my Winnie the Pooh nightlight happens to malfunction tonight, I will still be able to get my usual six hours of shut-eye. Darkness Falls Rated: PG-13 Starring: Emma Caulfield, Chaney Kley and Lee Cormie. The verdict: Do yourself a favor; save Darkness Falls
for rental, preferably with a coupon.
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