Undescribable Perfection

Absolutely the worst movie.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I do believe the film is a bit underrated... it's better than what the critics say it is. I will say it's your basic ghost slow burning horror-thriller story but one of the better one's I've seen. The acting is really good - super pairing with Maria Bello and Sean Bean.8/10

This is generally overwrought and feels far too long in terms of the limited story it's telling. Despite this, it seems like a lot may have been left on the cutting room floor. There's a lot of darting around in the narrative between the flashbacks and present day, and on focus on certain characters and motifs. The result is a sense that the editors and director have lost control of the movie, and that they can't decide what they want to say or how. A bit of discipline could have helped, maybe forcing out certain elements and stylistic flourishes to keep the narrative more streamlined. I'm thinking especially in the latter part of the film here. At this point I think it goes into too many horror film territories, as if deciding it has to appeal to more eclectic and contemporary tastes.The acting is appalling from the three female characters, two of whom are children - though the worst is from Maria Bello. The fact there is the arbitrary American in order to boost the film's transatlantic profile we'll gloss over. Why does she have to scream, shout, and thrash around so much? You feel a lack of sympathy with her, and her daughter. When the film ramps up in the later stages the child actors really overact. Direction could be partly to blame on this front. Sean Bean manages his usual capable and impassioned job, and is believable. Also good is the understated and studied handyman character. In conclusion, this is a mess with a lot of shouting, running, swimming and smashing things. The rather underused Welsh mythology concept could have been developed better within the piece, making for a less generic horror film. Crucially it isn't scary, or interesting, or emotionally moving. You're soon looking to see how long is left and considering making a cup of tea.

First off - to the positives. This movie is beautiful in terms of cinematography. The locations where they filmed looked like really beautiful places. However The cinematography is not all this movie has to stand on (Why would I give it 7 then?).The acting of this movie - in terms of the genre is actually very redeeming. I have seen a couple of horror films in the past and I have seen actors look blankly when they're supposed to be scared (I've seen a few of the "worst movie of all time" votes). Maria Bello and Sean Bean are very good actors and it shows in this movie.Without the scares this movie in terms of writing also is very good (becausee this is the same person who wrote Ginger Snaps 3 I was very surprised) you know the emotions that Adele and James are going through. A previous reviewer compared it to the Spanish movie El Orfanto (The Orphanage), The drama portrayed in El Orfanto is much better in comparison. I just thought I'd point that out.So as far as movies that are basically devoid of any scares (but mainly due to the sound engineer putting in every cliché imaginable) this is worth the watch.

This horror-mystery-thriller has plenty of potential but never really makes good use of it, despite solid production values and a couple of decent actors in the leading roles. THE DARK, much like the Demi Moore-starrer HALF LIGHT, finds sinister mystery and ghostly goings-on on the coastline of rural Britain, although the setting is Wales this time around. The story sees estranged couple Maria Bello and Sean Bean shacked up at a creepy old farmhouse with their daughter Sarah, and it's not long before it becomes clear that something has designs on the young girl.So far, so good. I always love the isolated locales of films like this, and the wind-swept setting (with Devon and the Isle of Man standing in for Wales) is well achieved. It helps to have the excellent Bean playing a non-villain for once, and Bello is almost his match as the complicated mother. But for a film that's all about the fate of a young girl, they made the character of Sarah really obnoxious and not somebody you particularly want to see rescued or saved.This film's biggest failing is the story, which is all over the place. It starts off with a mysterious standing stone, which turns out to be a red herring and has nothing to do with the plot line at all. Then we throw in some weird-acting sheep (which just aren't menacing, and can only be used as villains in a film if you go for an out-and-out comedy like they did in BLACK SHEEP), a tragedy in the past involving a religious cult, and the apparition of a little girl who's more irritating than frightening.The plotting falls to pieces as the story goes on, and no amount of atmospheric creeping-about in old abandoned rooms is going to make up for it. By the end, it's become farcical; the scriptwriter obviously has no idea how to tie things up, so we get around five different endings, one following the other, until the viewer feels bludgeoned by the sheer bloody-mindedness of it all.