Darkness Falls review.
Let’s get in the time machine that is cinema and check in with a minor hit movie that you may have enjoyed upon its release 20 years ago. Will you find it as entertaining in the aftermath of the two decades of horror movies that followed? Darkness Falls turns 20 today.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.
Darkness Falls
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman
Screenplay by Joe Harris, James Vanderbilt and John Fasano
Starring Chaney Kley, Emma Caulfield, Lee Cormie and Grant Piro
Darkness Falls Review
The early 2000s aren’t the most renowned period in horror. The post-Scream years had failed to provide an uptick in quality to go along with the surge in quantity. Add in the over reliance in CGI that would follow and the early aughts left us with a slew of unmemorable films that would hold up even worse. Darkness Falls was critically panned upon release…but was a minor hit at the box office and to a specific age group is something of a cult classic. On the 20th anniversary of its release…let’s look back and see how it holds up.
The first question that comes to mind while watching Darkness Falls hits you immediately. Why is this movie about the Tooth Fairy? The idea of a horror movie based on a mythical creature that can enter your child’s bedroom when they lose a tooth is something, I guess. It’s completely unnecessary to this movie, however. The rules of the Tooth Fairy here only create gaping plot holes that the script barely attempts to address.
At one point our main character Kyle (Chaney Kley) asks a police officer about all the unsolved murders in the town of Darkness Falls in the last century. It’s a band-aid on a gaping wound. Every child in the town will have lost their last tooth (the inciting incident that brings the Tooth Fairy forth) at some point. The question isn’t “Look at all these unexplained deaths” it’s “Hey…how does everyone not believe this when they would have lost their last tooth at some point?” Or…” How has anyone survived this, let alone so many people an entire town is still here?”
The actual concept of the antagonist, discounting the Tooth Fairy part, is strong enough. An elderly woman named Matilda Dixon was accused of killing missing children in the 19th century. She is put to death by the town. She curses them and vows to return. The children are found safe the following day. The basic rules of the villain here are that she comes for you when you lose your last tooth, she can only move in the darkness and…maybe you’re safe if you don’t look at her? It’s hard to tell because 2 of these 3 rules are seemingly broken repeatedly and the moving in the darkness thing brings its own set of issues. Does she regenerate in a different patch of shadow when she gets stuck in one? How is she moving between shadows? It’s not explained in any way that sticks.
The good news is that the Tooth Fairy looks decent for a 2003 CGI creature. The effects have held up remarkably well compared to other horror movies of the time. She moves very fast, swooping in and out of frame to snatch people who find themselves in the dark. This is a place where Darkness Falls falters. Despite many deaths throughout the film, almost all the violence happens off-screen. There are scenes where the action is frantic enough to cover for the sedated nature of the kills…but there are many moments where some splatter would have been welcome.
The plot of Darkness Falls is pretty good if you take out the unneeded Tooth Fairy conceits. The opening scene shows that Kyle’s mother was killed by the Tooth Fairy. We then cut to modern day where his old friend Caitlin (Emma Caulfield) is dealing with her brother Michael’s (Lee Cormie) fear of the dark. He believes someone is going to get him if he doesn’t stay in the light. Caitlin contacts Kyle to find out how he got past his fears…not knowing that he never has, and that the danger is real.
Kyle reenters Darkness Falls with all his baggage and a town that believes he murdered his mother. How has no one else ever had a run in with the Tooth Fairy? No one knows. I guess Caitlin never lost her last tooth. Or the entire police station. Or…anyone else. As the only person who, inexplicably, knows what’s happening, Kyle attempts to save Michael from the Tooth Fairy. Being a studio film from 2003…he saves the day and rids the town of evil once and for all.
Darkness Falls doesn’t take any risks. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have some fun with the convoluted setup. The standout sequence is set in a police station. Kyle is locked in a cell while the Tooth Fairy wreaks havoc on the entire police force. There are also some good moments about staying in the light to keep her at bay. Trying to jump through shadows and avoid her grasp…the tension of a light source about to go out. The best attribute of the film is how little fat it has. This is a short, brisk movie that explains its villain and then jumps right into trying to survive it. It’s too faced paced to be boring…even though it is predictable enough that it should be.
Darkness Falls could use some laughs to go along with the silliness of its story. It could stand to spend a little more time developing both our heroes and the antagonist. There are enough plot holes to leave you annoyed. But…the truth is that it isn’t nearly as bad as the contemporary reviews would suggest. It’s got a fun core concept and flies from set piece to set piece. There is a better version of Darkness Falls that we easily could have gotten…but compared to a lot of early 2000s horror…the one we got is passable enough.
Scare Value
Darkness Falls showcases all of the best and worst impulses of early 2000s horror. A soundtrack that will make you chuckle at every needle drop…but a straight to the point style that more movies would benefit from nowadays. There are moments that work and stretches that don’t. Generic characters and a needlessly gimmicked antagonist keep Darkness Falls from shining. Fun pacing and some nice set pieces keep it from floundering. It is very much an of its time movie. If you loved Darkness Falls when you were younger…it’s probably best to leave it there.
2.5/5
Darkness Falls Links
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Darkness Falls Trailer
If you enjoyed this review of Darkness Falls, check out Wrong Turn
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