The "summary", refers to the film's weirdest line, at the climax of the film.It goes something like this, " Education used to be easy, but these days everyone has an opinion." ???? Was that supposed to be a joke? The film- makers seemed to concentrate on the looks of the film and the actors, more than the story. All the actors were "pretty", as was the scenery. I liked listening to the rich Irish accents. Unfortunately, the story seemed quite amateurish, as it contained bits and pieces from other movies, stuck together haphazardly. It jumbled "Carrie", "Who can Kill a Child", "Village of the Damned" and another recent Irish horror story,"The Daisy Chain", in which a little girl/elf burns her parents to death. The imagery was well done, but the plot was basically incoherent, with very little real story.

I remember watching this little film and thought I should watch it again.The story opens to a young girl named Niamh who's parents died on a horrid night by some unknown force. But when really.. it was Niamh all along. What I thought was interesting about this film was the girl and how the people handle her after her parents death. The only two people who were doing things right with her, are of course the welfare woman and her baby's daddy- not forcing her to touch them or anything. The other parents, however.. were forcing her to do things that weren't making her comfortable, not making her trust them enough (i.e. barging in the bathroom, forcing hugs and touches on her), which you are not suppose to do with a child who has been abused. And I will say; the children killing part was confusing at first-- But I believe Niamh killed them because she thought she was "saving" them from their "abusive" parents.

Dark Touch looks like a rework of Stephen King's Carrie, except it's more keen at the themes of suffering with abusive parents. Even though that this is a horror movie, it is at its most interesting when it deeply focuses on the main character dealing with her trauma. The supernatural elements only becomes the allegory of her feelings against the violence she faces at home. The narrative can get a little clunky and once it gets hateful at the third act, things felt sort of incoherent. Still, Dark Touch offers a compelling core that keeps it from being like any generic horror film we usually get these days.The movie is pretty slow, while it satisfyingly shows enough disturbing violence, the movie is more concerned at the traumatized young girl who is unable to overcome on what she was treated by her family. We often just see the motions of her new life trying to fit in to a normal new family and visiting some therapy. The final note of the movie seems to indicate that this is a personal message against child abuse from one of the filmmakers. It's quite compelling when it keeps things grounded, the girl's supernatural abilities is only a symbolism of her anxiety and a growing tension of harming the people who cares for her. Apart from that realism and analogy, the movie becomes sort of clunky at its horror movie elements. This as well sets up to an ending that has an obvious meaning, but felt a little unfitting to what has accomplished. As a result, it looks glorious to those who agree with its sentiment, but also disappointing for how much better it could have been.The movie still deserves a lot of credit. As much as there are characters dying violently, the movie doesn't try to make that the whole point of it all. It doesn't even bother explaining the origins of Niamh's curse. What's important here is to portray the terrible effects of abuse to a child. The movie brings a stunning cinematography that reflects their world's melancholic atmosphere. Young Missy Keating does fine as Niamh. Her limited expressions do work for hiding the pain of her character. Better are the supporting who decently back her up.Dark Touch is alright, there is a potential of a better movie that may become an excellent allegory, but it's still difficult to explain what to exactly feel about the third act. It's probably to add more camp since it doesn't offer much horror within its storyline, or the filmmakers just hate child abuse too much that it has to take it that far. Wasn't her telekinetic powers already enough for their consequence? And it's also a pretty compelling one if you think about it. The point is, the conclusion just doesn't quite fit in the process, as it largely shifts the tone. But the movie has a clear statement, and I think that's enough for it. Horror fans may appreciate its bloody death scenes, though that's not exactly what this movie is about, the movie just could have been tighter in its messaging. There is an absolute reason why we must hate child abuse, but out of caricatures, too much hate really affects the experience.

I watched this at the Fantasy Film Festival in Stuttgart and the director was attending. I stayed through the movie (which was not easy at all) and was curious to see what the director had to say. Unfortunately (but somehow to be expected) she only confirmed what I already knew. It's unfortunate for the child actors, if they have to go through an (bad acting) experience like this.On the other hand, as others have already stated here, there is not much acting going on in the whole movie. The clichés and the bad lines follow each other hand in hand. It is offensive to its own characters and to the viewers nerves and stomach. Yes horror movies have people do stupid things, but denying yourself (and the audience) even what you saw with your own eyes goes too far. A shame, because underneath it all, there is a Carrie like vibe, that could've been a really good movie ...