DARKNESS
FALLS ($27) is another one of those horror movies about which I’ve
read less than favorable reviews, but decided to see anyway, only to be
pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it. While I am
certain that DARKNESS FALLS isn’t going to be winning any Academy
Awards, unless Stan Winston’s special effects work get a nod, this is
without a doubt an fun little creepshow. Instead of going with graphic
gore, DARKNESS FALLS harkens back to an older style of genre
offering- those that build suspense for a while, and then relieve the
tension through some mild shocks. Like the Lewton-esque horror flicks of
yore, DARKNESS FALLS actually makes good use of "the
dark" as a storytelling device.
What
I liked about DARKNESS FALLS is how the movie built its own
mythology to reflect the deadly consequences of a town’s murderous
conduct and the deadly curse that befell its populace in retribution for
the crime. It seems, that during the nineteenth century, in the costal
town of Darkness Falls, lived a woman named Matilda Dixon. Now Matilda was
very fond of the local children and gave them a gold coin whenever they
lost a tooth- earning her the moniker of the Tooth Fairy. Despite
Matilda's kindness, fate was unkind to her; while baking some treats for
the children, Matilda was horribly burned in a fire that broke out in her
house.
Unfortunately,
the fire left Matilda unable to venture out into the daylight, and she
needed to wear a porcelain mask to hide her facial disfigurement. Still,
being the Tooth Fairy, Matilda made her rounds after dark, exchanging gold
coins for any child that left a tooth for her at their front door. The
townspeople tolerated Matilda’s eccentricities, until two of the local
children disappeared. Blaming an innocent Matilda the children's
disappearance, a mob descended upon her home dragging her out into the
burning daylight and hanging her from a tree, but not before she could
curse the town for their misdeeds against her.
More
than a century later, the children of Darkness Falls are warned to never
look at the Tooth Fairy when she comes to claim the last of their baby
teeth. Kyle Walsh (Chaney Kley) was one of the unfortunates to have
survived an encounter with the Tooth Fairy, only to suffer from night
terrors and a debilitating fear of the dark for the next dozen years, even
though he has moved far away from Darkness Falls. However, when his former
childhood sweetheart, Caitlin Greene (Emma Caulfield) calls him because
her younger brother Michael (Lee Cormie) is also suffering from night
terrors a petrifying fear of the dark, Kyle makes an unexpected return to
his hometown. No sooner does Kyle step into the shadows of Darkness Falls,
does the wraith of Matilda Dixon descend upon him, trying to finish what
she started twelve years earlier… The cast of DARKNESS FALLS also
features Grant Piro, Sullivan Stapleton, Steve Mouzakis, Peter Curtin,
Kestie Morassi, Jenny Lovell and Peter Stanton.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made DARKNESS FALLS available on DVD
in a 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic
enhancement for 16:9 displays. A full screen presentation is also included
on a separate layer of the DVD, but this review will not be concerned with
it. The wide screen presentation looks great, maybe not demo quality, but
there is nothing to complain about either. Like any decently budgeted
movie just coming off of theatrical distribution, DARKNESS FALLS
features a virtually pristine appearance, with no signs of blemishes or
scratches.
Much
of the film was shot under limited lighting, and despite the darkness, the
apparent grain structure never becomes excessive. The image is generally
crisp and well defined, although there are a few shots that appear a tad
softer than the main body of the film. Colors tend to offer fairly natural
level of saturation, with moods being created by slightly muted tones, or
those that are a bit more vibrant. Blacks appear pure, whites are clean
and contrast is fairly smooth. Shadow detail is a bit variable, depending
upon how much the filmmakers want the audience to see, although the image
does produce a nice sense of depth. Despite two versions being relegated
to a single side of the DVD, digital compression artifacts were never a
cause for concern.
DARKNESS
FALLS comes with a terrific Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack. The
sound designers have pulled out all the stops to produce a highly mix
aggressive and thoroughly entertaining soundtrack. Surround junkies will
get a kick out of how well the rear channels have been implemented. The
entire soundstage is very active with sound effects zipping effortlessly
around the forward and rear hemispheres. Dialogue is always very crisp and
fully understandable. Fidelity is excellent, which enhances both the sound
effects and effectively off kilter score. The bass channel is very solid
and deep. A French 5.1 channel soundtrack is also encoded onto the DVD, as
are English and French subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as a few supplements. Starting things off are
two separate audio running commentaries. The first track features director
Jonathan Liebesman, producers William Sherak and Jason Shuman and
screenwriter James Vanderbilt, while the second includes additional
screenwriters John Fasano and Joe Harris. Both commentaries are highly
informative and pretty entertaining, so if you are like me and enjoyed DARKNESS
FALLS, you will want to give them a spin.
Two
featurettes are also included on the DVD. The Making of Darkness
Falls is a rather typical seventeen-minute promotional piece that
includes interviews with the primaries, as well as offering a look at the
Stan Winston Studios creature design. The Legend of Matilda Dixon
is a ten-minute "documentary" on the "real life
events" that inspired DARKNESS FALLS. Approximately nine
minutes of deleted scenes and scene extensions are also included on the
DVD, although much of the material is superfluous, there were a couple of
moments that could have been added back into the movie for good effect. Storyboard
Comparisons for three scenes close out the supplements.
Despite
what the big time movie critics had to say, I found DARKNESS FALLS
to be a rather fun little horror movie. The DVD looks and sounds terrific,
so if you are interested in checking out DARKNESS FALLS this disc
is definitely the way to go.
DARKNESS
FALLS ($27) is another one of those horror movies about which I’ve
read less than favorable reviews, but decided to see anyway, only to be
pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it. While I am
certain that DARKNESS FALLS isn’t going to be winning any Academy
Awards, unless Stan Winston’s special effects work get a nod, this is
without a doubt an fun little creepshow. Instead of going with graphic
gore, DARKNESS FALLS harkens back to an older style of genre
offering- those that build suspense for a while, and then relieve the
tension through some mild shocks. Like the Lewton-esque horror flicks of
yore, DARKNESS FALLS actually makes good use of "the
dark" as a storytelling device.
What
I liked about DARKNESS FALLS is how the movie built its own
mythology to reflect the deadly consequences of a town’s murderous
conduct and the deadly curse that befell its populace in retribution for
the crime. It seems, that during the nineteenth century, in the costal
town of Darkness Falls, lived a woman named Matilda Dixon. Now Matilda was
very fond of the local children and gave them a gold coin whenever they
lost a tooth- earning her the moniker of the Tooth Fairy. Despite
Matilda's kindness, fate was unkind to her; while baking some treats for
the children, Matilda was horribly burned in a fire that broke out in her
house.
Unfortunately,
the fire left Matilda unable to venture out into the daylight, and she
needed to wear a porcelain mask to hide her facial disfigurement. Still,
being the Tooth Fairy, Matilda made her rounds after dark, exchanging gold
coins for any child that left a tooth for her at their front door. The
townspeople tolerated Matilda’s eccentricities, until two of the local
children disappeared. Blaming an innocent Matilda the children's
disappearance, a mob descended upon her home dragging her out into the
burning daylight and hanging her from a tree, but not before she could
curse the town for their misdeeds against her.
More
than a century later, the children of Darkness Falls are warned to never
look at the Tooth Fairy when she comes to claim the last of their baby
teeth. Kyle Walsh (Chaney Kley) was one of the unfortunates to have
survived an encounter with the Tooth Fairy, only to suffer from night
terrors and a debilitating fear of the dark for the next dozen years, even
though he has moved far away from Darkness Falls. However, when his former
childhood sweetheart, Caitlin Greene (Emma Caulfield) calls him because
her younger brother Michael (Lee Cormie) is also suffering from night
terrors a petrifying fear of the dark, Kyle makes an unexpected return to
his hometown. No sooner does Kyle step into the shadows of Darkness Falls,
does the wraith of Matilda Dixon descend upon him, trying to finish what
she started twelve years earlier… The cast of DARKNESS FALLS also
features Grant Piro, Sullivan Stapleton, Steve Mouzakis, Peter Curtin,
Kestie Morassi, Jenny Lovell and Peter Stanton.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made DARKNESS FALLS available on DVD
in a 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic
enhancement for 16:9 displays. A full screen presentation is also included
on a separate layer of the DVD, but this review will not be concerned with
it. The wide screen presentation looks great, maybe not demo quality, but
there is nothing to complain about either. Like any decently budgeted
movie just coming off of theatrical distribution, DARKNESS FALLS
features a virtually pristine appearance, with no signs of blemishes or
scratches.
Much
of the film was shot under limited lighting, and despite the darkness, the
apparent grain structure never becomes excessive. The image is generally
crisp and well defined, although there are a few shots that appear a tad
softer than the main body of the film. Colors tend to offer fairly natural
level of saturation, with moods being created by slightly muted tones, or
those that are a bit more vibrant. Blacks appear pure, whites are clean
and contrast is fairly smooth. Shadow detail is a bit variable, depending
upon how much the filmmakers want the audience to see, although the image
does produce a nice sense of depth. Despite two versions being relegated
to a single side of the DVD, digital compression artifacts were never a
cause for concern.
DARKNESS
FALLS comes with a terrific Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack. The
sound designers have pulled out all the stops to produce a highly mix
aggressive and thoroughly entertaining soundtrack. Surround junkies will
get a kick out of how well the rear channels have been implemented. The
entire soundstage is very active with sound effects zipping effortlessly
around the forward and rear hemispheres. Dialogue is always very crisp and
fully understandable. Fidelity is excellent, which enhances both the sound
effects and effectively off kilter score. The bass channel is very solid
and deep. A French 5.1 channel soundtrack is also encoded onto the DVD, as
are English and French subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as a few supplements. Starting things off are
two separate audio running commentaries. The first track features director
Jonathan Liebesman, producers William Sherak and Jason Shuman and
screenwriter James Vanderbilt, while the second includes additional
screenwriters John Fasano and Joe Harris. Both commentaries are highly
informative and pretty entertaining, so if you are like me and enjoyed DARKNESS
FALLS, you will want to give them a spin.
Two
featurettes are also included on the DVD. The Making of Darkness
Falls is a rather typical seventeen-minute promotional piece that
includes interviews with the primaries, as well as offering a look at the
Stan Winston Studios creature design. The Legend of Matilda Dixon
is a ten-minute "documentary" on the "real life
events" that inspired DARKNESS FALLS. Approximately nine
minutes of deleted scenes and scene extensions are also included on the
DVD, although much of the material is superfluous, there were a couple of
moments that could have been added back into the movie for good effect. Storyboard
Comparisons for three scenes close out the supplements.
Despite
what the big time movie critics had to say, I found DARKNESS FALLS
to be a rather fun little horror movie. The DVD looks and sounds terrific,
so if you are interested in checking out DARKNESS FALLS this disc
is definitely the way to go.
