''Darkness'' is a 2002
supernatural horror film directed by
Jaume Balagueró
Jaume Balagueró Bernat (; born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish film director widely known for his horror films, most notably the acclaimed ''REC'' series.
Early life
Balagueró was born in Lleida, Spain, and grew up in Barcelona. He studi ...
and starring
Anna Paquin
Anna Hélène Paquin ( ; born 24 July 1982) is a New Zealand actress. Born in Winnipeg and raised in Wellington, Paquin made her acting debut portraying Flora McGrath in the romantic drama film '' The Piano'' (1993), for which she won the ...
,
Lena Olin
Lena Maria Jonna Olin (; born 22 March 1955) is a Swedish actress. She has received nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Mentored by filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, she made her screen de ...
,
Iain Glen
Iain Alan Sutherland Glen (born 24 June 1961) is a Scottish actor. Glen is best known for his roles as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the ''Resident Evil'' film series (2004–2016) and as Ser Jorah Mormont in the HBO fantasy t ...
,
Giancarlo Giannini
Giancarlo Giannini (born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beauties ...
and
Fele Martínez
Fele Martínez (born Rafael Martínez; 22 February 1975) is a Goya Award-winning Spanish actor.
Early years
Martínez was born in Alicante, Spain. A product of the Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático in Madrid, he began to act and direct theater ...
. The film was produced by Julio Fernández and
Brian Yuzna
Brian Yuzna is an American producer, director, and writer. He is best known for his work in the science fiction and horror film genres. Yuzna began his career as a producer for several films by director Stuart Gordon, such as ''Re-Animator'' (1 ...
. The film's plot follows an American family who move into a house in the Spanish countryside, where six children disappeared during an
occult ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...
forty years before; the teenage daughter and young son of the family are subjected to increasing disturbances in the house.
The film premiered in Spain on October 3, 2002, and was released in theaters across the country eight days later on October 11. It was sold to
Miramax Films
Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California.
It was initially a lead ...
for American distribution in 2003, but ended up being put on hiatus for over a year; it was eventually released in United States theaters in an edited,
PG-13
The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...
-rated cut on December 25, 2004.
Plot
Forty years after an unfinished occult ritual resulted in the disappearance of six young children, the Rua family has moved from the United States into a new, never-before inhabited house in Spain. The mother, Maria, wants to get the place in order, while the father, Mark, goes to work, and their children, teenager Regina and her younger brother Paul, try to settle into their daily routines.
It helps that Mark's doctor-father, Albert Rua has furnished them with their residence and is nearby, especially when Mark begins to suffer from seizures again due to the progression of his
Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is a neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or mental abilities. A general lack of coordination and an uns ...
, which also causes him to become increasingly mentally unstable. Regina is not only worried about him, but also Paul who is now scared of the dark for the first time. The young boy has reason for that, however, as there seems to be some sort of supernatural entity beneath his bed. Furthermore, there are instances when six ghostly figures of children are seen standing in the shadows and darkness, watching the family.
As Paul becomes more scared and their father continues to mentally deteriorate, Regina eventually figures out it must have something to do with their home where the power is lost every day. With the help of her new friend, Carlos, the two eventually meet the man, Villalobos, who designed the house, and learn that it was built for a supernatural ritual requiring the
sacrifice of seven children (each sacrificed by "hands that love them") to coincide with an
eclipse that only occurs every forty years. With the next one quickly approaching, and now armed with the knowledge that the earlier occult ritual needs one more death to be completed, Regina races to make sure that Paul is not the final victim.
Stopping first at her grandfather Albert's house to warn him as well, Regina finds out that her grandfather is, in fact, a member of the cult which has been performing these
satanic rituals. Her grandfather explains that in the ritual forty years ago, there actually ''were'' seven children, the seventh child being none other than Regina's father, Mark. Albert did not sacrifice his son because at the last minute he realized that he did ''not'' love Mark. Waiting 40 years, he has brought Mark and his family to the house with the intention of completing the ritual during this eclipse. Regina also discovers the target is not Paul but still Mark, who is to be sacrificed by "hands that love him." As Regina laments, Albert realizes her true love for her father. He suddenly frees her to return to the house, aware that she will be able to unknowingly carry out the ritual.
Regina races back to her home to find her father in the midst of another attack, choking on pills as the eclipse begins. Maria tries to perform a
tracheotomy
Tracheotomy (, ), or tracheostomy, is a surgical airway management procedure which consists of making an incision (cut) on the anterior aspect (front) of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea (windpipe). The r ...
on him, but is unable to bring herself to make the cut. In a panic, Regina does it instead, but Mark bleeds out and dies when the supernatural forces within the house hide the pen tube needed to complete the procedure. Since Regina genuinely loved Mark, the ritual is finally complete. The darkness then takes the form of Regina and Paul, convincing their mother to turn off the lights. The darkness kills Maria, and then takes the form of Regina's friend Carlos, who picks them up in his car; shortly after they leave, the real Carlos arrives at the house, and is called inside by the darkness, manifesting as Regina's voice. Carlos'
doppelgänger drives Regina and Paul into a dark tunnel, implying their doom.
Cast
*
Anna Paquin
Anna Hélène Paquin ( ; born 24 July 1982) is a New Zealand actress. Born in Winnipeg and raised in Wellington, Paquin made her acting debut portraying Flora McGrath in the romantic drama film '' The Piano'' (1993), for which she won the ...
as Regina "Reggie" Rua
*
Lena Olin
Lena Maria Jonna Olin (; born 22 March 1955) is a Swedish actress. She has received nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Mentored by filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, she made her screen de ...
as Maria Rua
*
Iain Glen
Iain Alan Sutherland Glen (born 24 June 1961) is a Scottish actor. Glen is best known for his roles as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the ''Resident Evil'' film series (2004–2016) and as Ser Jorah Mormont in the HBO fantasy t ...
as Mark Rua
*
Giancarlo Giannini
Giancarlo Giannini (born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beauties ...
as Albert Rua
*
Fele Martínez
Fele Martínez (born Rafael Martínez; 22 February 1975) is a Goya Award-winning Spanish actor.
Early years
Martínez was born in Alicante, Spain. A product of the Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático in Madrid, he began to act and direct theater ...
as Carlos
* Stephan Enquist as Paul Rua
* Fermin Reixach as Villalobos
*
David Martí
David Martí (born 1971 in Barcelona, Spain) is an actor and makeup specialist. He won the Academy Award for Makeup for his work in ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006: original Spanish title ''El laberinto del fauno''), which he shared with his fellow make ...
as Man Sleeping on Bus (uncredited)
Production
Director
Jaume Balagueró
Jaume Balagueró Bernat (; born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish film director widely known for his horror films, most notably the acclaimed ''REC'' series.
Early life
Balagueró was born in Lleida, Spain, and grew up in Barcelona. He studi ...
noted that ''
The Amityville Horror
''The Amityville Horror'' is a book by American author Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released from 1979 onward. The book is based on the claims of paranormal experiences by the Lutz family, b ...
'' (1979) and ''
The Shining'' (1980) as key influences on ''Darkness''.
Release
The film premiered in Spain on 3 October 2002, and was then given a wide release there on 11 October. It was released in a number of European countries throughout 2003, and was then sold to
Miramax Films
Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California.
It was initially a lead ...
, but was shelved for nearly two years.
It was eventually theatrically released on 25 December 2004 in the US, via
Miramax's
Dimension Films branch, in a heavily censored Miramax-mandated PG-13 version.
It was given an even later release in the United Kingdom, in March 2005.
Despite many negative reviews and very little promotion, ''Darkness'' still did moderately well at the United States
box office.
It was released
Christmas Day
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
2004, which was a Saturday. It was the seventh highest earner that weekend with $6.1 million (at $3,625 average per theater), earning over half of its budget over two days.
The following week, it dropped to tenth highest earner with $4.6 million. ''Darkness'' eventually earned $34.4 million worldwide, with a $10.6 million budget.
Reception
''Darkness'' received extremely negative reviews from both critics and audiences. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
it has an approval rating of 4% based on 55 reviews. It received an average rating of "F" on
CinemaScore, indicating overwhelming dislike.
The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
''s
Kevin Thomas awarded the film one out of four stars, deeming it "trite and flat," and "too mechanical to be persuasive or scary." Ned Martel of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' noted: "''Darkness'', which crept into theaters nationwide on Christmas Day, tries to spook holiday revelers with a guessing game about which member of a handsome American family, relocated to Spain, will kill another. But the real mystery is why such a mangled film was not junked altogether."
Owen Gleiberman of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' said the film is "a horror movie so vague about the nightmare it’s spinning, it seems scared of its own shadows... ''Darkness'' was clearly tossed together like salad in the editing room, since it’s little more than the sum of its unshocking shock cuts." David Blaylock ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' also gave the film a middling review, writing: "Moments hint at a metaphoric statement on child abuse, but the film proves mainly to be a commentary on poor electrical wiring." Bilge Ebiri of ''
The New York Sun
''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New Yor ...
'' similarly noted the film as containing elements of a "a disturbing family drama," adding that it is "at its best when exploring Dad's bouts with his inner demons - but it's quickly stifled by tired attempts to jolt the audience and more narrative dead-ends.
''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' praised the film's cinematography, but criticized its script: "Although director Balaguero displays a talent for spooky visuals and creating an atmosphere of quietly simmering tension, his screenplay (co-written by Fernando de Felipe) is a compendium of barely connected scenes that ultimately lapse into incoherence."
Professor Ann Davies wrote that ''Darkness'' shares similarities with the
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
story ''
The Fall of the House of Usher
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839 in ''Burton's Gentleman's Magazine'', then included in the collection ''Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque'' in 1840. The short story ...
'' (1893). The breakdown of family relationships (especially the father's ancestry) are reflected in the "increasing evidence of evil" within the house. Davies also sees the film's representation of a haunted house as "part of a wider Gothic mode" both in Spanish cinema and beyond, which "tap into memories and reflections of traumas that are unconfined by national boundaries."
See also
*
List of Spanish films of 2002
A list of Spanish-produced and co-produced feature films released in Spain in 2002. When applicable, the domestic theatrical release date is favoured.
Films
Box office
The ten highest-grossing Spanish films in 2002, by domestic box offic ...
*
List of films featuring eclipses
There is a body of films featuring stellar eclipses and eclipses of natural satellites. Compared to other astronomical events featured in films, such as full moons and asteroid strikes, solar eclipses are less commonly seen. When they have featur ...
References
Sources
*
External links
Official US site*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darkness
2002 horror films
English-language Spanish films
American haunted house films
Films set in Spain
American supernatural horror films
Films directed by Jaume Balagueró
Spanish supernatural horror films
2002 films
Dimension Films films
Films shot in Spain
Films with screenplays by Jaume Balagueró
Filmax films
Castelao Producciones films
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
Films shot in Barcelona
Films set in Barcelona