The Darkness (2016) Review: zzzZZZzzz

The Darkness is a horror film released on May 13, 2016.

Honestly I couldn’t decide if it was actually a horror film about an upper middle class American family or if it was a movie about an upper class American film that just happened to have so-called demons appearing from time to time.

I had gone into the film without knowing ANYTHING about it, and was pleasantly surprised to see Kevin Bacon playing the father, as I am quite the fan (and had recently watched tremors). Throughout the film I had desperately tried to cling to fond memories of Bacon in other films, but just couldn’t do it. This film took a lot out of me and not because it was intense or tumblr_inline_obxewvyovh1s4eof8_540emotionally draining, but because it was just so boring I could barely stand it. I am a firm believer that one needs to watch/read/listen to the entirety of whatever it is that they are going to publicly review so as to give it a fair chance, but this really tested my will.

Most of it didn’t make any sense, either. I understand setting the scene and explaining the family dynamic that will later play into whatever is plaguing them, but this family had too many cliched problems smashed together that were unnecessary, and not even properly solved. One thing that I liked at first was the fact that Autism was being represented in the youngest child. I had never seen that before in a film, let alone a horror film. In the beginning I thought it was interesting and new and I really felt it promised a good film–but I was so wrong. It turned into the regular idea that children are more susceptible to the supernatural, with a twist! Wowee! Color me unimpressed. It wasn’t new or a representational, it was just this film trying to say “Hey! Look! I’m different than the rest!”

Continuing, I’m so TIRED of demons being the enemy in horror films. Demons aren’t even what most people think of them as, and seeing them constantly in horror films gets so BORING after a while. It’s become some sort of stock monster and it’s not even accurate. At least in the end they tried to fight whatever was attacking them with culturally similar people, compared to when the family first fled their house the wife search for a bible. A BIBLE. TO FIGHT SUPPOSED NATIVE AMERICAN “DEMONS”. Not only does that make NO SENSE but it got on my nerves that Bacon and his wife made fun of the fact that bibles are put into hotels anymore because it’s seen as culturally insensitive to represent only one religion. Did they not realize they were FIGHTING NON-CHRISTIAN “DEMONS”.

EVEN THEN it makes so sense for demons, something that doesn’t even correlate with the idea that they were worshipped by the natives in the Grand Canyon because then they would make them gods, or deities, AND demons themselves aren’t even PLAUSIBLE. Demons are supernatural entities created BY EARLY MAN to explain mental illness, general illness, and small unfortunate happenings. Whatever they faced in this film were not demons.
In conclusion, The Darkness was boring, poorly done, confusing, a money grab for Kevin Bacon, and a waste of time.