Kyle: Chaney Kley
Caitlin: Emma Caulfield
Larry: Grant Piro
Michael: Lee Cormie
Matt: Sullivan Stapleton
How fitting that a direct-to video like theatrical films hits DVD so quickly.
Yep, you read right. This film was released theatrically here
in the states on Janurary 24th and this title just debuted on DVD on
April 22nd. Geez, barely three months! Now the first thing you're
probably asking, besides what this has to do with the actual review, is
did it turn slow box office revenue. No and in fact it actually made
some bank.
So why did this come out so fast? Tie-ins. 'The Ring' is insanely
popular here, almost to the point of where I choke back bile every time
I hear someone say: "I saw The Ring last night, it was so scary!". Let's
face it folks, "The Ring" is NOT that scary, maybe creepy but not scary.
On the cover of this DVD you'll find the quote: "In sheer terror, it
runs rings around 'The Ring'". The Ring premiered here on DVD on March
4, about a month ago and ample time to let the film sink further into
pop culture. Now one month later you release a "scary" movie with a
cover that mentions "The Ring" AND sports a pretty similar backdrop to
afforementioned DVD cover and you've got more bucks than before. A
dastardly and sneaky move by Columbia but altogether clever. But does
all this rushing around affect the film? Let's find out.
To it's credit Darkness Falls offers a good premise. Long ago, inn the
sleepy town of Darkness Falls (at the next town meeting I suggest a
prompt name change to Sunlight Falls), Matilda Dixon was adored by
children. They would bring her their teeth in exchange for coins or
presents. A fire scarred her features and she was doomed to wear a
porcelian mask. Light further scarred her and she only went out at night
to give the children their coins. Then one night two children
disappeared. The townsfolk immediately blamed Matilda and hanged her.
Soon after the children were found safe and sound leaving Matilda's
death pointless. Just before she died she put a curse on the town. Okay,
sounds good right?
Now jumping ahead to present day, Kyle is forever haunted by the brutal
killing of his mother. Only his mother was killed by the Tooth Fairy
(told in the film's soley creepy moment), Matilda Dixon acting out her
curse. Now he takes medication and always carries flashlights because
once you lay your eyes upon her porcleian face she'll hunt you down.
Kyle returns to the town to help an old flame's brother who claims to
have the same problem as him. Of course carnage ensues when the Tooth
Fairy starts attacking the town and now Kyle, Caitlin, and Michael must
find a way to rid Darkness Falls of the curse forever.
Aside from the opening scene of Kyle under attack this film is a dud.
The Tooth Fairy, herself, is done by Stan Winston and it's the only real
highlight of the film. The creature flies around and makes these screams
to an effect where they're actually pretty damn scary. But what's so
comical is the stupidity of the plot itself. The only way to stay alive
is to stay in the light essentially. So when the town is hit by a
blackout the emergency lights come on. Well every time our characters
need to rely on one of these emergency lights they, surpise surpise,
burst into pieces.
There is also a scene where our characters need light
inside a car... DOME LIGHT you idiots! Ugh. One more thing is how the
Tooth Fairy kills her victims. Much like the creatures in
Pitch Black
she swoops down, picks them up, and they're never seen again. If you
can't tell I got nothing from this movie and it's a slap in the face to
what's left of the horror genre.
Darkness Falls comes complete with both anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
and 1.33:1 FOOLscreen transfers on the same disc. Why Columbia, and
other studios for that matter, don't just ween these people off
fullscreen is beyond me. Eventually people who hate widescreen would get
used to it and thus save the studios money by releasing one version. But
until that day we'll be stuck with discs like this which have the
widescreen version crunched in.
The widescreen image appears crisp in many scenes but this film is so
dark. I know it's intentional but geez it's pretty ugly. Lighted scenes
offer some nice visuals but pixelization and edge enhancement are
noticed throughout. Certainly the picture would have looked much better
it weren't crunched in with a wortless fullscreen transfer.
The audio on another hand is the highlight and only pro to this disc.
The scenes involving the Tooth Fairy are awesome. Her screams and swift
motions surround you and when she pounces on her victim you'll jump too.
This is what makes the film moderately scary, without this great 5.1
track the film would be an even bigger joke than it is now.
Here's how the extra features stack up:
Audio Commentaries:
Two are offered. The first offers insight from the
filmmakers. The second is the highlight and features all three writers.
The writers' track sounds like the film could have been something great
and they seem to know what they intended. At one point the script was
extremely violent and an R rating was in tow but the film was
drastically rewritten to accommodate a PG-13 rating. Grrrr... pop culture
and it's minions.
Deleted Scenes:
7 total, non-anamorphic. None of these are of interesting nature and only
prolongue the suffering that is Darkness Falls.
Featurettes:
"Legend of Matilda Dixon" explains the "real" legend of
the Tooth Fairy and the basis for the film. Hmm... these interviewees
sound a little too knowledgable and reheared to not be acting. The short
is also narrated by the owner of one of the worst voices I've ever
heard, trust me you've got to hear it to believe the cheesiness.
"Making-Of" is 17 minutes long and offers interviews with the cast and
crew. Not too much fluff but a little is present.
Storyboard Comparisons:
3 split screen sections are offered highlighting the differences in 3 scenes.
But why would you want to watch a shitty movie in the early stages of shitivity?
Overall, the extras are mediocre much like the movie.
Packaging is amaray sporting a cover much like another popular film's
cover as mentioned before. The front menu is animated and the rest are
static. 28 chapters are offered.
Overall, Darkness Falls is another mediocre splash in the ailing
horror genre. I recently saw Rob Zombie's much delayed horror flick
House of 1000 Corpses and while many are not in favor of it I thought
it was a swift jump start to the genre even if it was much like
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
And now this comes along and slams it right back
down again. Rent for the aggressive soundtrack but buyer beware of the
steaming pile that is... Darkness Falls ...cue menacing laugh now.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
To it's credit Darkness Falls offers a good premise. Long ago, inn the
sleepy town of Darkness Falls (at the next town meeting I suggest a
prompt name change to Sunlight Falls), Matilda Dixon was adored by
children. They would bring her their teeth in exchange for coins or
presents. A fire scarred her features and she was doomed to wear a
porcelian mask. Light further scarred her and she only went out at night
to give the children their coins. Then one night two children
disappeared. The townsfolk immediately blamed Matilda and hanged her.
Soon after the children were found safe and sound leaving Matilda's
death pointless. Just before she died she put a curse on the town. Okay,
sounds good right?