Taglines: Some secrets should never come to light.
There’s something in this house… Something ancient and dark that remains still, hidden and silent. It can only wait, having been concealed in the shadows for years. In fact, its milieu is darkness. Only in it can it show itself and move. It even takes its name: DARKNESS. It’s lived here since someone tried to call it, more than forty years ago. Because this house hides a secret, a terrible past, an inconceivably evil act… Seven children, faceless people, a circle that must be completed. And blood, lots of blood…
Darkness is a 2002 English-language horror film, directed by Jaume Balagueró and starring Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Giancarlo Giannini and Fele Martínez. The film was produced by Julio Fernández and Brian Yuzna.[1] The film’s plot follows an American family who move into a house in the Spanish countryside, where six children disappeared during an occult ritual forty years before; the teenage daughter and young son of the family are subjected to increasing disturbances in the house.
The film premiered in Spain on October 3, 2002, and was then given a wide release there on October 11, 2002. It was released in a number of European countries throughout 2003, and was then sold to Miramax Films, but was shelved for nearly two years. It was eventually theatrically released in the United States through Miramax’s Dimension Films branch, on December 25, 2004. It was given an even later release in the United Kingdom, in March 2005.
Despite many negative reviews and very little promotion, Darkness still did moderately well at the United States box office. It was released Christmas Day 2004, which was a Saturday. It was the seventh highest earner that weekend with $6.1 million (at $3,625 average per theater), earning over half of its budget over two days. The following week, it dropped to tenth highest earner with $4.6 million. Darkness eventually earned $34.4 million worldwide, with a $10.6 million budget.
About the Story
Forty years after an unfinished occult ritual resulted in the disappearance of six young children, an American family has moved into a never-before inhabited house in Spain. The mother, Maria (Olin), wants to get the place in order, while the father, Mark (Glen), goes to work, and their children, teenager Regina (Paquin) and her younger brother Paul (Enquist), try to settle into their daily routines.
It helps that Mark’s doctor-father, Albert Rua (Giannini) has furnished them with their residence and is nearby, especially when Mark begins to suffer from seizures again due to the progression of his Huntington’s disease, which also causes him to become increasingly mentally unstable. Regina is not only worried about him, but also Paul who is now scared of the dark for the first time. The young boy has reason for that, however, as there seems to be some sort of supernatural entity beneath his bed. Furthermore, there are instances when ghostly figures of children are seen standing in the shadow and darkness, watching the family.
As Paul becomes more scared and their father continues to mentally deteriorate, Regina eventually figures out it must have something to do with their home where the power is lost every day. With the help of her new friend, Carlos (Martinez), the two eventually meet the man, Villalobos (Reixach), who designed the house, and learn that it was built for a supernatural ritual requiring the sacrifice of seven children (each sacrificed by “hands that love them”) to coincide with an eclipse that only occurs every forty years. With the next one quickly approaching, and now armed with the knowledge that the earlier occult ritual needs one more death to be completed, Regina races to make sure that Paul is not the final victim.
Stopping first at her grandfather Albert’s house to warn him as well, Regina finds out that her grandfather is, in fact, a member of the cult which has been performing these satanic rituals. Her grandfather explains that in the ritual forty years ago, there actually were seven children in the original ritual, the seventh child being none other than Regina’s father, Mark.
Albert did not sacrifice his son because at the last minute he realized that he did not love Mark. Waiting 40 years he has brought Mark and his family to the house with the intention of completing the ritual during this eclipse. Regina also discovers the target is not Paul but still Mark, who is to be sacrificed by “hands that love him.”
Darkness (2004)
Directed by: Jaume Balagueró
Starring: Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Giancarlo Giannini, Fele Martínez, Fermí Reixach, Stephan Enquist, Craig Stevenson, Paula Fernández, Gemma Lozano
Screenplay by: Jaume Balagueró, Fernando de Felipe
Production Design by: Llorenç Miquel
Cinematography by: Xavi Giménez
Film Editing by: Luis de la Madrid
Costume Design by: Eva Arretxe
Set Decoration by: Deborah Chambers
Music by: Carles Cases
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for disturbing images, intense terror sequences, thematic elements and language.
Distributed by: Dimension Films
Nelease Date: December 25, 2004
Visits: 113
