DVD Artwork
Seriously I have set myself up to review yet another PG-13 “gem”. It isn’t like I enjoy the watered down version of horror films but I seem to always have one in my list of films to review. And the Boss always seems to pick that one out for me. Oh well, life goes on.
The town of Darkness Falls has a secret, the kind of dark secret that turns into a horror movie. It seems there was once an old lady who was a little on the strange side. She liked to bake a little cake for kids when their last baby tooth fell out. Okay so far she is just a little creepy nothing to worry about. Then one night there is a fire and she is horribly burned. She is burned to the point where light hurts her and she can only go out at night wearing a porcelain mask. Now she is super freaky and the townspeople are starting to notice. One night two town’s kids turn up missing and before you can say “Ass out of U and Me,” the town is lynching the old lady. Of course after she curses the town, the two kids are found the next morning safe and sound.
Fast forward 150 years and Kyle (Chaney Kley, Gotham Café) has lost his last baby tooth and is really excited to loose his virginity at the school dance to Cat (Emma Caulfield, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”). He puts the tooth under his pillow and the shit hits the fan. The spirit of the old burned up lady that was lynched comes to claim the tooth and for whatever reason (some ambiguous thing about vengeance that is never really well explained) the life of young Kyle. The Tooth Fairy it would appear is one bad bitch.
Kyle’s mom comes to his rescue and just as she is about to tell him there is nothing to be afraid of the Tooth Fairy descend. Forever ruining Kyle’s chances of leading a normal life and getting with Cat before age 25. Kyle flees to the bathroom and discovers the weakness of the Tooth Fairy, light.
Fast forward another 16 years and now Cat, is Caitlin and her brother Michael (Lee Cormie) has had a brush with the Tooth Fairy, of course no one will believe him. Caitlin knows that Kyle was diagnosed with night terrors so she calls him up hoping to find some help. Kyle finds that Michael is experiencing the same turmoil as he is (after all, the Tooth Fairy is still after him) and reluctantly sets out to save young Michael. Much running and hiding in the light ensues.
This might be one of the most reviled movies of 2003, I can easily see why. The acting is wooden and “made for TV” at best. The only actor that doesn’t deliver his lines like they are on cue cards is Kley. The monster is ridiculous; I mean seriously, the Tooth Fairy for God’s sake. Though her back story reeks of Nightmare on Elm Street rip off, she doesn’t have the same kind of hateability, Freddy was a pedophile, that is something that you want to kill. The Tooth Fairy is more of a sad figure than anything and that makes her a lot less scary.
This movie also reeks of the post MTV director. It is full of jump cuts, and slam cuts and the kind of cuts that let you know some one cut them. It is irritating and something that I really have come to detest watching some of the classics recently. I mean seriously is it so much to ask to have a reveal shot of the Tooth Fairy that last more than a half a second, I think not.
It isn’t all bad though. The plot though it sounds really stupid is interesting enough to keep me engaged for the duration. And it does build decent suspense through the use of shadows and light. It is fun but I think they blur the lines of what “darkness” really is so they can get away with more. Now if you want to see some really effective use of darkness check out Session 9, you’ll know what part I’m talking about when you see it.
The DVD of course is the “Special Edition”, featuring commentaries, and a making of and something that I actually found really interesting; the true story that Darkness Falls was based on. This is something that you don’t see every day, a movie that is “based on a true story” that isn’t advertised as such. But it turns out that in Point Fairy, Australia/ there was a woman by the name of Matilda Dixon that the back story of the Tooth Fairy comes from. I never would have guessed.
I like the creature feature, and occasionally it is done really well still, Jeepers Creepers comes to mind. This one falls a little flat. All the elements are there, a tortured hero, a monster that has a weakness, a cute kid and a hot chick. Unfortunately the acting and the fear aren’t there. I’m just not buying into their panic because it seems like they are “acting” panicked as opposed to me having to remind myself that it is only a movie.
