Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Darkness Falls - 2003


Synopsis From Back Cover:

As a young boy, Kyle claimed to have seen the tooth fairy.  He also claimed that she tried to kill him.

Now over twelve years later, Kyle has left the town that never believed him.  He has also left behind the two people who though he was telling the truth, his childhood girlfriend Caitlin and her younger brother.  And when evil again emerges in Darkness Falls, Kyle must return to do battle with the winged creature of doom he saw that night so many years ago.  Because evil is back with a vengeance.  And it's not leaving without Caitlin's brother.

I love a good horror movie, there is no wrong time of year to watch them, and for some reason, I tend to like them even more in the winter.  I'm not sure if the shorter days and longer nights, allows me to get in the mood, or if I just like a good scare, either way, I love horror movies.

I first saw Darkness Falls in the theater when it came out in 2003.  I'm a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fan, and I tended to follow the careers of it's main stars, years after the show ended.  When I saw that Emma Caulfield, who played Anya Jenkins, had a new movie coming out, I jumped at the chance to watch it.  It also had two really hot guys in it, Chaney Kley as Kyle, and Sullivan Stapleton as Matt Henry.  On a sad side note, Chaney Kley died from sleep apnea in 2007.

I'm not going to say this movie is horror genius, cause it's not.  What it is, is a solid scary movie, that doesn't rely on a bunch of gore or blood, for those seat jumping moments.  The acting is solid, if not all that memorable, but there really isn't a weak performance in the entire film.  Emma Caulfield is spectacular, as are Chaney Kley and Lee Cromie as young Michael, Caitlin's brother.  Sullivan Stapleton is pretty good too, but he could have been horrible, and I still would have liked looking at him on screen.

As far as the plot goes, innocent woman is condemned for the murder of two children, burned at the stake, and promises revenge.  Come to find out, the children weren't dead, so she was condemned for no reason.  Before her unfortunate demise, she was the neighborhood tooth fairy, exchanging teeth for a coin or two.  When she was disfigured in a house fire, she was forced to wear a porcelain mask, which in turn, turned her into the town pariah.  Why that would be, I never understood, but that's a horror movie plot for you. For whatever reason, when those kids disappeared, she was the logical choice of a culprit, and the rest is history.

She spends the next several decades, haunting her town, and when children lose their last baby tooth, she is on them like nobody's business.  If anyone looks upon her, she will kill them as painfully as possible.  It's what happened to Kyle's mother the night he lost his last tooth, and it's what may happen to Michael if it can't be stopped.

4 comments:

bermudaonion said...

That looks way too scary for me!

Unknown said...

Great review! I don't know whether this is my cup of tea, but it sounds like a fun pick for around Halloween. :-)

Unknown said...

Ha. Being a Buffy fan, I honed in on this movie for the exact same reason. :)

Teddyree said...

I'm going to have nightmares just from looking at that cover lol. I read horror but no more horror movies for me, I like my sleep ;)