DARKNESS
Blumhouse Tilt
2016 Color
92 Mins.
Horror/thriller
Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, Jennifer Morrison, Lucy Fry, Ming Na wen and Paul Reiser star.
Written and Directed by Greg McLean
Rated PG-13 for language violence and adult themes
I've never been a big fan of Greg McLean, not to say that he's not talented. His Wolf Creek films are well made but his execution is just way to mean and sadistic. So I was surprised to see him at the helm of a supernatural PG-13 family in peril movie. the film centers on a troubled family with a young autistic son. They are bbqing in the dessert when he finds himself in a mysterious underground chamber. He soon discovers a few ancient relics and of course takes them home. Skip forward to just a bit later and the family is going through a lot of negativity and just some plain spooky stuff. Ultimately they get a witchy doctor to try and exorcise the problem before it's too late. The film chooses jump scares and family drama over anything gruesome. A pleasant surprise especially considering the director but it's quite obvious that McLean has a problem navigating this area. The film sets up alot of intriguing angles but never follows any of them through. Ultimately it leaves much to be desired.
That being said there are more than a handful of mildly amusing bits and McLean especially in the beginning sets up an palatable atmosphere of mounting dread even though there is never any real payoff. Radha Mitchell is dependable as usual and it's good to see Reiser and Na Wen. Most of the other actors feel like they are just droning on through the material especially Bacon and an unintentionally funny and overly rambunctious Lucy Fry. All in all it's a decent watch, the less you try and think about it the better. It's not really a solid theatrical experience and works more as a lifetime creeper of the week. Still it's admirable to see that the new blumhouse tilt label is trying to do something new. Conceptually the film is really quite intriguing it just never gets anywhere it really needs to be. **.75/5
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