I know this movie came out in 2003 so it may be exempt from this complaint but I'm lodging this complaint anyway. Please stop with the child-drawing-creepy/ominous-picture cliché. It wasn't terribly essential to the plot but it did play a role.It took some time for the true nature of "Darkness" to materialize and it wasn't that impressive. From the beginning the characters were just too odd, primarily the daughter Regina (Anna Paquin). Either she was whispering or speaking in an expressionless monotone fashion which just didn't seem normal. Later other family members exhibited socially awkward moods and behaviors. I suppose it all could have been attributed to the "Darkness" but I don't think so.The climax of the movie involved extremely strange behavior and a shaky cam; both of which I didn't understand. Even if I were to say that the home they lived in had a psychological effect upon them that still doesn't explain why the camera was shaking--or was it supposed to be an earthquake? For whatever reason shaking the camera has come to signify fear and distress. What happened to screaming and running to a suspenseful musical score? Sigh.

Moving with her family to Spain, a teen and her family believe the series of weird occurrences there are the result of the ghosts of children killed in the house for a deadly ceremony and must prevent it from happening again to her family.Overall this one turned out enjoyable if slightly flawed. This one really manages to work quite well at building a pretty noteworthy atmosphere here by really going for a subdued approach to the haunting found within here, which range from the innocent to the subtle. While initially starting with the innocent fare of the discovery of the pictures and the drawings, or the subtle versions of ideas from the father's freak-outs and behavior around the family, the constantly flickering lights and the obsession over the beings under his bed all might seem like non-entities there's a great build-up throughout the first half which sets up the latter half of this one nicely. That gives the second half much more to work with as the investigation into the original traumatic incident and the ghostly visions of the children around the house manage to really ramp up the action and pacing even more for the finale. There are some good times here as this section features the battle to get the father under control during one of his freak-outs while setting up the chilling walk-through of the house in complete darkness while surrounded by the ghosts and their temptation tricks that make this one quite fun. Even as much good as this becomes, this section here really highlights the flaws present in the film. Among the biggest here is the fact that there's just not a whole lot of action here, as the film is decidedly against the supernatural to prove the point of its haunting back-story. This one here is instead more like a drama by focusing on the idea that something's happening rather than do anything about it which simply makes this one go by without anything of any real interest throughout here. Not only is this section not filled with action but it's also part of the really low-key and dragging pace that doesn't offer up a whole lot of energy that doesn't move the plot along any better. These here are quite problematic here as they give this quite a dull pace without much of a true horror film here to start this one off which makes this problematic. The other real flaw to this one here is the utterly haphazard finale, not only filled with wretched editing during the action scenes but filled with cliché moments and action here that feels pretty common and not that original which really makes for some troubling times here in this section. These here are the film's biggest issues that hold it down.Rated PG-13: Violence, minor Language and themes of child abuse.

We have a saying in the UK about the food product Marmite, that it's one of those foods that you either love or hate. Jaume Balagueró's Darkness is one such Marmite Movie. You will get it and find it intriguing, or you will be like me, wanting to stick your head in the microwave until death comes mercifully. Plot finds an American family moving into a Spanish country house only to find it haunted by the ghosts of evil deeds past. Starring Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Giancarlo Giannini and Stephan Enquist, it's a film that's as muddled as it is silly. Cast work hard to make the flimsy material work, but the repetitiveness and unadventurous formula of the whole thing hamstrings their efforts. Balagueró is let loose with his digital editing device and tries desperately to induce shocks, but it all looks so fake and lazy. While the script produces dialogue that is wholly unbelievable and the ending thinks it's clever, but really it's a very unsatisfactory and cheap pay off.3 jars of Marmite out of 10.

:SPOILER: Lights Don't Work When Things Get Scary, But Carlos Is there...Usually When I'm Looking Around A New House And I Find A Giant Snake Emblem Under My Hardwood Floors, I Just Kinda Keep It To Myself Also..List Of Clichés: SPOILERS:Old Music, Flickering Lights, Poor Lighting To Hide Faces, The Knowledge Guy Whom For Some Reason Can't Tell The Characters EVERYThing, But Just Enough To Scare The BeJesus Out Of Them, Moving Objects, Parents Disbelief, Moving INto A New home. This Might Be The Worse Movie Mother Of All Time..Saying Freaking Instead of F***in Makes You Just As Lame As The Situation.. The PG13 Level Boobs Bouncing IN The Same halterTop All Movie is Terrible The Darkness Constantly Is Terrible The Mother is Unbelievably Stupid The Music Had Nothing To Do With The Movie The Boyfriend Was Stupid As Hell Her Willingness To Discover Things On Her Own Were Stupid The Father Going Crazy Was Like "OOOOOK" No Connection With Anyone In The Movie All Characters Were ClownsAnd Then Of Course Pour In The WhysWhy Did The Grandfather Kidnap Her Tell Her The Story Then Let Her Go? Why Didn't She Scream before He Tied Her Mouth? Why Did The Boyfriend Walk In So Unknowingly After He Found Out The Grandfather Knew Something? Why Didn't The Mother See The Snake Emblem?