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Darkness Falls
2003 - PG-13 - 75 Mins.
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| Director: Jonathan Liebesman | | Producer: Lou Arkoff, Derek Dauchy | | Written By: John Fasano, James Vanderbilt, Joseph Harris | | Starring: Emma Caulfield, Lee Cormie, Chaney Kley |
| Review by: Joe Rickey |
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When Kyle Walsh (Chaney Kley, Legally Blonde) was just a young child, he once awoke to find himself face to face with the legendary Tooth Fairy, a creature that formed out of an old legend in the town of Darkness Falls. He said that the Tooth Fairy tried to kill him but no one believed him and he was labeled a crazy person. Only his friends Caitlin Greene (Emma Caulfield) and her brother Michael (Lee Cormie) believed his story. When he returns to Darkness Falls as an adult, he finds that an evil presence is terrorizing the town. There’s only one explanation: The Tooth Fairy has returned to wreak havoc. Jonathan Liebesman directs Darkness Falls.
A short film extended to feature length, Darkness Falls suffers from being too padded at times despite the fact it only runs a still very short 75 minutes. The film works in spurts but it doesn’t hold up to close scrutiny afterwards. Disappointing after a thrilling start that the rest of the film couldn’t maintain the momentum. It becomes very evident that the idea works much better in shorter spurts such as the original short film probably did. The film does feature some very flashy and stylish photography and a good degree of atmosphere. The suitably effective musical score also plays a part in making the film have a good amount of brooding atmosphere.
The acting is fine for a film starring a cast of unknowns with Caulfield probably the most well known for her role on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She has an air sweetness about her that makes her fine for the role. Chaney Kley is suitable but nothing special in what is essentially the lead role. The supporting cast is peppered with satisfactory performances from all but no one performance stands out. The rather wooden dialog of the script doesn’t help in the development of the characters for sure. The story suffers, although it’s not its own fault, from a striking similarity to November’s They, which also featured a plot about childhood terrors that return. Consequently, the film seems tired and clichéd despite the fact that it has some originality of its own a lot of people will probably draw comparison between the two films at some point.
Overall, Darkness Falls is a altogether fine effort that unfortunately, is unable to maintain the energy of the first half of the film all throughout its running time.
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