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Darkness Falls - Special Edition
Stars:
Chaney Kley and Emma Caulfield
Writers:
John Fasano, James Vanderbilt, and John Harris
Director:
Jonathan Liebsman
Feature
length: 86 minutes
Extras:
Director’s Commentary, Writers’ Commentary, The Legend Of Matilda Dixon, The
Making Of Darkness Falls, Deleted Scenes, Storyboard Comparisons
Languages:
English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 28
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2003/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
There
was some potential in “Darkness Falls” to make a horror film worthy of a
franchise, but there are just too many plot holes and missed opportunities to
make the film creepy, but retain the PG-13 rating the filmmakers had to adhere
to while producing the feature. The opening prologue giving a fictional tragedy
regarding the creation of the “Tooth Fairy” from the ashes of a wrongful
death for a crime she never committed creates a sense of promise that we are
going to get a going to get a good chiller. Unfortunately the film’s rules to
how and why this vengeful spirit does what she does doesn’t make a whole lot
of sense because they seem to change with the needs of the script, but not
within any strict manner so that once the established rules are broken it
crushes the suspension of disbelief. I’ll believe something in a story no
matter how outlandish it seems as long as the storyteller sticks to the rules of
the universe he are she creates. However if the storyteller does break the
rules, there better be a good reason for doing so.
The
filmmakers aspire to something truly disturbing, but terrifically scary like
“The Exorcist” and they do not even get close to the slick realm of the
original “A Nightmare On Elm Street,” which I think shares some similarities
with this film on a general level and should have perhaps been a loose template
from which to develop the ominous qualities of the creature and tap into the
primal fears of that thing we can’t see in the dark, but know is there. In the
first “Nightmare” feature “Freddy Kruger” was actually scary and not the
one liner-spewing icon that he became. I respect that fact that the filmmakers
wanted to stay away from self referential horror camp, which is why I think the
first “A Nightmare On Elm Street” would have served as a good foundation for
balancing the chills with the effects without going off into the realm of a
“Scream” clone or whatnot.
I
am not suggesting gore or outlandish visual effects so much as understanding
what does this entity prey upon, which appears to be the fears of children and
their parents or guardians. Then why not build upon that horror the way Stephen
King would by suggesting the tragedy of murdered children and mix them with the
psychological fears like of a mother who is overprotective of her children and
even take it a step father and complicate the plight by making the central
character not be the sister of traumatized buy, but his mother. She’s already
married by that time in the film anyway and is not the bond between the mother
and her child more visceral than brother and sister in an archetypal way? They
could have even had the doctors think that maybe the mother was responsible for
the boy’s difficulties like that illness where the parent makes the child ill
so that he or she can get attention. I am not saying that that should be the
case, but something to make the problem of protecting her sibling from the
creature more difficult other than, “you’re brother is mentally ill and we
don’t believe him or you.” In short “Darkness Falls” is a lot of missed
opportunities wrapped within a shell of a story that barely makes it feature
length. The film ends before the credits role at about the 76-minute mark. Now
that maybe okay for a TV movie, but not a feature length theatrical film. I’d
be real pissed off if I paid between 7 and 9 dollars to see this in a theater
and this was I got!
Making
perhaps one of the fastest journeys from the big screen to the small, Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment is releasing “Darkness Falls” onto DVD as a
“Special Edition” release with both an anamorphic widescreen (2. 40:1)
aspect ratio presentation and a pan and scan (1.33:1) aspect ratio presentation
encoded onto the same dual layered DVD. The results are mixed. The film looks
too murky at times especially on the widescreen version, which is a shame
because had this been a “Superbit” release the picture quality would have
been stunning and at least that would have made the film watching experience a
bit more enticing. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is loud and
aggressive and triumphs over the disappointing picture with a discrete use of
sound and the excellent score by Brian Tyler mixed in for good measure. I think
the soundtrack rivals some DTS soundtracks I have heard as well. A French
Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Soundtrack is included as well along with English
Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and French Language
Subtitles as options. There are two
feature length audio commentary tracks as well with one featuring Director
Jonathan Liebsman while the other features Screenwriters John Fasano and Joe
Harris. The Director’s commentary is more serious in tone while the Writers’
commentary is more relaxed and humorous.
Other
extra features include 7 letterboxed deleted scenes in a (2.35:1) aspect ratio
that can be watched individually or as one reel and are made up of “Young
Caitlin’s Necklace” (1:17), “Dr. Murphy’s Advice” (1:02), “Kyle
Decides To Help” (: 46), “The Specialist” (: 36), “Dr. Murphy Sticks
With The Group” (: 30), “Hallway Of Lights” (3:30), and “Final
Confrontation” (1:55). The “Legend Of Matilda Dixon” (10:45) featurette is
perhaps the strongest extra feature included on the DVD with a style similar to
“The Curse Of The Blair Witch” fictional documentary that aired on the
Sci-Fi Channel a few years ago. The “Making Of” featurette (17:17) also has
a few interesting moments though it can also be a bit fluffy in tone too.
Three
picture-in-picture like storyboard comparisons for “Larry Dies” (1:29),
“The Elevator Scene” (1:49), and “Final Confrontation” (1:03) wrap up
the extra features on this DVD. If you liked this film in the theater then I
guess there is nothing that I could note that would motivate one to buy or not
buy this film, but for everyone else, I recommend “Darkness Falls” as a
rental first. “Darkness Falls: Special Edition” will debut on DVD-Video on
Tuesday, April 22, 2003 from Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Text Link Below!
Darkness Falls - Special Edition