This will be a quick review. A wee bit of advice Kevin, stick to EE ads mate.....

THE DARKNESS is another hodge podge of tired ideas like many horror films today. The story is about an ordinary family who visit the Grand Canyon. A kid brings some rocks back home, but it turns out they're cursed by a demon which proceeds to follow them and make their family life a misery. Despite the presence of some useful players here this is very much an ordinary production which I found very mundane. There are bits and pieces of THE EXORCIST, POLTERGEIST, INSIDIOUS and plenty of other films visible throughout and yet the film has no distinct voice like any of those other movies. Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell are good value as the parents but they have little to work with here and Bacon's STIR OF ECHOES was much more entertaining. Director Greg McLean previosly made mini-masterworks like ROGUE and WOLF CREEK so it's a shame to see him wasting his time on this; try THE BELKO EXPERIMENT for a much more enjoyable time.

There are both good and bad reviews of this film. I like my dose of supernatural horror so I went into it open minded. Pretty big names as actors and the director of Wolf Creek, so why not.A family goes camping in grand canyon, autist boy picks up some indian rocks from a cave, an imaginary friend appears at home, weird things start to happen, family seems to break up.In short, it's somewhat well made, but script lacks. It's never that engaging and the characters aren't THAT likable. Kevin Bacon is pretty good in the lead, but in all honesty I was thinking whether he's a bit old for such role already at almost 60 (feels weird Kevin Bacon is that old!). A minor detail, but he seems to play a role better suited for a 40 something.The script is the worst here tho, not a lot feels relevant. In the beginning they are camping with friends, but we never hear from the friends again. There's plenty of family drama (eating disorder, alcohol, extramarital affair), none of which really work in the whole. On the other hand their sons autism would've deserved a lot more script time. The story is not very interesting really.And who was that imaginary Jenny in the end? Maybe I just missed it.It feels really strange that they got known actors, not only Kevin Bacon, but Radha Mitchell and Paul Reiser in this, while it's clearly a passable b-movie. Watch it if there isn't anything better available, but don't expect a masterpiece.

"The God you might be familiar with cannot help you now." A quote from an American Indian expert in the film. Really? Well, if we're talking about Mammon, which the family obviously worships, then I might agree. But it's pretty evident that the writer meant the Creator of All, and since that is likely the reference, it's ludicrous at best to think for a second that God can't handle a few Indian demons. If that's not enough, since the idea of the pre-1980s atmospheric "slow burn" is popular again, the director attempts it here, and fails miserably. This one is a worthless piece of tripe.