Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cool and creepy -- intriguing images, gripping story, only gets a bit hokey towards the end, October 25, 2007
This is a very creepy horror film that deserves comparison with some of the best of the non-exploitation and non-slasher scary flicks like The Others. The approach of the film, especially to begin with, resembles that of classics like Don't Look Now, or Picnic at Hanging Rock -- above all, the strangeness of the circumstances and the fear they invoke mirror the psychological turmoil of the characters -- and, as with those films, the hints at a deeper supernatural mystery are nicely balanced with the growing anxiety of the characters. That is true, at least, until the latter quarter of the film when it gives in to the supernatural and to the twists and turns of more mainstream scary fare and begins to seem more like, say, The Skeleton Key. Maria Bello gives her usual strong performance and, while he has less to do, Sean Bean is convincing as a distraught and loving father and estranged husband. The real star of the film, though, is the cinematographer and crew: the colors of the Welch coast are both beautiful and evocative of a deep and mythical past; the anxiety of the characters and the power of the ocean when they are looking for a drowning girl is captured by the frantic, but not shaky, movements of the camera; the look of "the dark" (you'll know it when you see it), is both subtle and believable. A worthwhile and intriguing film, that has unfortunately not received the attention it clearly deserves.
|
|
|
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Dark Side Of Welsh Mythology, May 6, 2007
That "The Dark" is largely unknown on this continent is a shame, because this is a movie that could have and should have enjoyed a vastly larger audience, and brought more mainstream viewers over into horror, without watering the film down to '97-style 'horror-lite'. The tagline is 'One Of The Living For One Of The Dead', referring to an old part of Welsh folklore where a death on this side could sometimes bring back someone from Anwyth, the afterlife in ancient Welsh beliefs. The family in "The Dark" consists of two parents who recently broke up (Sean Bean and Maria Bello) and their twelve-ish daugther Sarah, who lives with the mother in America while her father has relocated to his native Wales. During a mother-and-daughter trip to see the father, a terrible accident happens and Sarah is washed into the ocean. Not knowing if she's alive or dead, an extensive search is organized drawing on pretty well everyone from the nearby village. And as the search is ongoing, strange things start to appear and to happen, and the supernatural elements enter.
"The Dark" is well acted - with a standout performance from the perrennially under-rated Sean Bean -, well made with realistic effects and high production values, has an upper-level musical score, and is all played out against the magnificent vista of Wales's green fields, high rocky cliffs, and mighty crashing waves, the beauty of all of which can turn very threatening under the right conditions. With a powerful emotional punch on top of all that, this one's highly recommended.
|
|
|
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Dark, April 17, 2006
I was amazed to see the 2 and a half overall rating this movie got here, when I reviewed it. It deserved more than that. This movie has a dream cast Maria Bello and Sean Bean, and the locale was stunning. Adele(Bello) is trying desperately to hang on to the idea that she can resurrect her daughter (from a drowning), and is determined to follow some folklore she discovers. Her husband tries his best to dissuade her from this obsession, but far too late for she is well on her way by this time. The movie creeped me out, I watched it late at night, and was pretty tired, but it had a sense of impending doom that made it really work.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Video On Demand ~ Michelle Yeoh
Video On Demand ~ Gabriel Byrne
Video On Demand ~ Sean Bean
Video On Demand ~ Odette Yustman
Video On Demand ~ Leah Pipes
Video On Demand ~ Steffany Huckaby
Video On Demand ~ John Lynch
Video On Demand ~ Bruce Campbell
Video On Demand ~ Jeff Daniels
