Okay, I know from the get-go that this was going to be a horror movie and they are going to apply the conventions that is so typical of the genre i.e.: scary music, mystery plot line, dodgy camera angles, scary make-up and screaming girls. I love horror movies and I was mentally prepared for this to just be another typical film.
My problem with it was it was TOO typical. You know that when the daughter sat too close to the edge of the water that she was going to fall in. You know that when the camera focuses on someone's back, something is going to creep up on them, making them squeal. You know that when the man follows the girl into the barn, he's going to get killed.
In short, it is just too predictable. The worst thing however, was the fact that the climaxes are too many and the twists and turns of the plot are too tedious to really leave an impact on me. The ending was disappointing and I felt that it would have left a bigger impact if without the entire "bad girl wins scenario". Pathos is a powerful theme in a horror movie, which was why I felt that movies such as The Exorcist, The Ring and Ju-On (Japanese version of The Grudge) excels in the genre that they represent. The Dark doesn't even manage to do that.
I think it would be better just to have Ebrill and her father in the realm of the dead, Adele stranded in the house while Sarah and her father reunited. The pathos would work very well here on various levels because 1) Ebrill's wish to have a loving father is unfulfilled, especially sad because she was cruelly tortured 2) Adele finally managed to do something right for her child at the price of her own life 3) Sarah, the victim throughout the show, is finally allowed that one bit of happiness and can think fondly of her mother at last.
Instead, they made Ebrill the "bad girl" like her father and that upsets me because I can't feel sorry for any of the characters now. Understanding her plight was the key I think, but since they made her "bad", it just ruined it for me. Plus, the whole issue with Sarah isn't resolved which leaves me thoroughly dissatisfied also.
In short, this had the potential to be a rather good film but falls short due to its too ambitious attempts at wanting to be different from the other movies of the same genre. Which is a shame, considering the excellent cast that they had working for them.
My problem with it was it was TOO typical. You know that when the daughter sat too close to the edge of the water that she was going to fall in. You know that when the camera focuses on someone's back, something is going to creep up on them, making them squeal. You know that when the man follows the girl into the barn, he's going to get killed.
In short, it is just too predictable. The worst thing however, was the fact that the climaxes are too many and the twists and turns of the plot are too tedious to really leave an impact on me. The ending was disappointing and I felt that it would have left a bigger impact if without the entire "bad girl wins scenario". Pathos is a powerful theme in a horror movie, which was why I felt that movies such as The Exorcist, The Ring and Ju-On (Japanese version of The Grudge) excels in the genre that they represent. The Dark doesn't even manage to do that.
I think it would be better just to have Ebrill and her father in the realm of the dead, Adele stranded in the house while Sarah and her father reunited. The pathos would work very well here on various levels because 1) Ebrill's wish to have a loving father is unfulfilled, especially sad because she was cruelly tortured 2) Adele finally managed to do something right for her child at the price of her own life 3) Sarah, the victim throughout the show, is finally allowed that one bit of happiness and can think fondly of her mother at last.
Instead, they made Ebrill the "bad girl" like her father and that upsets me because I can't feel sorry for any of the characters now. Understanding her plight was the key I think, but since they made her "bad", it just ruined it for me. Plus, the whole issue with Sarah isn't resolved which leaves me thoroughly dissatisfied also.
In short, this had the potential to be a rather good film but falls short due to its too ambitious attempts at wanting to be different from the other movies of the same genre. Which is a shame, considering the excellent cast that they had working for them.