A Review of Darkness Falls

 Don Summers gave a review of Darkness Falls and I thought I would add my "two cents" too!! Since I am a big fan of scary and thriller type movies this one "takes the cake" as mom always used to say....It's a real scary one and one that will leave you questioning the Tooth Fairy and maybe convince you to keep that closet door closed all night long!!!
Release: 2003
Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring:
Chaney Kley as Kyle Walsh
Emma Caulfield as Caitlin 'Cat' Greene
Lee Cormie as Michael Greene
Grant Piro as Larry Fleishman

Remember when you were a kid? Alone, in bed at night. Can’t sleep (because your mom probably made you go to bed at 8:00 PM) and so you peer around your room in the dark. What’s that shadow on the floor from moonlight spilling in from the window? A scarecrow? And what IS that I see through the closet door that’s open a crack? An eye? Oh no…under the bed…what’s that noise?!?

Once in a while there is a movie that captures the fears constructed in a child’s vivid imagination that never completely leave us even into adulthood. Darkness Falls is such a movie.

Darkness Falls begins with a boy, Kyle Walsh (Chaney Kley), who has lost his last tooth. He puts it under his pillow as any good lad should. He knows, however, that the town lore in (the cheerily named) Darkness Falls reports that the tooth fairy is actually the spirit of a woman that was persecuted and generally treated badly by those that lived 150 years ago, and that this “fairy” will do her job correctly and replace the tooth with silver unless…you have the NERVE to see her face while she’s replacing your tooth for money.

If you do see her, it is told, you will be killed horribly. (She is, it would seem, a bit sensitive about her burned up mess of a face) Talk about having trouble sleeping…who could sleep knowing that some frightful frauen is going to come in your room and dare you to take a peek…..

So, of course he can’t sleep, and of course he does see her…and because of that his poor mother is killed when she comes in his bedroom to and checks out his closet to prove to him that everything is alright.

Then Kyle is sent to a mental institution  because of rumors that he brutally murdered his mother…only he is  wrought with terror of the dark. It seems that the tooth fairy will not rest until she punishes Kyle for peeking, but she can only attack in the dark.

12 years later Kyle is still living in fear and trying to keep his world brightly lit, always holding a flashlight to fend off the attacker of the darkness. He comes back to town when his childhood sweetheart is concerned that her little brother is afraid of the dark and is apparently being stalked by the same spooky specter. I know why would he? But remember its a movie and you have to have the dumb decisions to make it more scary...

Is Darkness Falls a "B" movie? Sure. Does it use a lot of the horror tactics we have seen before to startle and scare the audience? Definitely. Does this mean that you should not see this flick? Absolutely not!

Sometimes I want to see a scary movie simply because I want to sit on the edge of my seat and feel that sensation in my stomach that makes me want to to hold my breath in anticipation. The tooth fairy monster is a  scary movie. She comes out at dark time to snatch people up and carry them away – and she is very creepy and very well done through the special effects. The monster herself is original and very believable. The scenes are interestingly constructed and promote the "throwing of popcorn in the air" when the music and the tooth fairy jumps out. The one thing that I did like was that Darkness Falls was extremely light on the gore. I peronally do not care for a lot of gore as others might, I just want to be scared! Which is why I always read thrillers...

If your looking for an excellent Acadamy award movie, then don't watch this one, but if you want some scary, hands over your eyes, movie then rent this one and enjoy. You'll be sure to be checking your closet all night long.....Be sure to put this on your "must see" lists but be sure that you have someone with you when you watch it!!!