First off - to the positives. This movie is beautiful in terms of cinematography. The locations where they filmed looked like really beautiful places. However The cinematography is not all this movie has to stand on (Why would I give it 7 then?).The acting of this movie - in terms of the genre is actually very redeeming. I have seen a couple of horror films in the past and I have seen actors look blankly when they're supposed to be scared (I've seen a few of the "worst movie of all time" votes). Maria Bello and Sean Bean are very good actors and it shows in this movie.Without the scares this movie in terms of writing also is very good (becausee this is the same person who wrote Ginger Snaps 3 I was very surprised) you know the emotions that Adele and James are going through. A previous reviewer compared it to the Spanish movie El Orfanto (The Orphanage), The drama portrayed in El Orfanto is much better in comparison. I just thought I'd point that out.So as far as movies that are basically devoid of any scares (but mainly due to the sound engineer putting in every cliché imaginable) this is worth the watch.

I absolutely love this movie. I bought it several years back when it came as a Silent Hill double DVD bundle. It is similar to Silent Hill as a mother goes to the depths of the underworld to save her child. It remains a unique story in it's own right, introducing the American public to an almost Lovecraftian segment of Welsh Mythology.The acting is good. Sean Bean is always a treat. I read the user review of the author, and I am disappointed that they didn't like the way the movie turned out. I got all the ideas described and more, although it is subtle will be lost on a disengaged audience. I found the story absorbing. I sympathized with the characters. They were all complex and written very well. If you like Silent Hill, you may like this one as well.

Adelle (Maria Bello) and her daughter, Sarah (Sophie Stuckey) visit James (Sean Bean) on the Welsh coast. When Sarah is presumed drowned, Adelle does not give up the fight to find her daughter alive......and who is the strange girl, Ebril (Abigail Stone) who suddenly appears...?The story is a scary one with an original plot, if a little complicated at times, especially near the end. But the story will scare you if you are wanting to be scared. You won't guess the end as there are several twists and just when you think it's all over......it's not.......and then it's still not......and then again.... It's definitely one to watch again. Not sure about the effectiveness of sheep as a scary animal form, though. There are a few loose ends that are left unresolved but so what.

THE DARK has a lot going for it . It's directed by John Fawcett the man who made cult werewolf movie GINGER SNAPS and stars Sean Bean . It also has an interesting premise of a couple who's young daughter hasdrowned which while not original - Everyone remembers DON'T LOOK NOW - has a lot of potential . Unfortunately this is a film that proves unless you have a well structured and compelling screenplay then all the other aspects of movie making are redundant The problem with THE DARK is the longer it continues the more confused everything becomes . According to the trivia section this is the first film in history to involve the concept of " Annwyn " an underworld from Welsh mythology . I'd certainly never heard of this legend and I doubt if many people watching the film had done so either . Worse still it becomes obvious that most people who made the film don't know either . To hide this fact Fawcett starts throwing every cliché he can think of to disguise this fact and the audience have to endure startling sound effects/ noises , dark interiors of houses , apparitions and < insert our own cliché here > , so much so that you'll be at a loss what's going on long before the end credits There is another major flaw and that is the " monsters " in the movie are sheep ! No I'm not making this up , I'm being deadly serious . Some films have aliens as villains , or spiders , or rats or any other skin crawling creatures you can think of while THE DARK has fluffy , four legged mammals famous for chewing grass and running away when anyone goes near them as objects of terror . It might seem amusing to see people being trampled by sheep but everything about the movie is constructed , framed and written in overly dead pan dramatics that it's impossible to raise a smile at this ridiculous plot turn To be fair THE DARK is a fairly good film on a technical level . Both the cinematography and editing are impressive as is the sound mix so I've awarded it 4/10 . The down side is that I'm probably giving it a higher mark than it deserves since the storyline incidents are incomprehensible and has been stated most of the audience will be totally confused as to what's going on . Let's hope this is the last film to revolve around Annwyn . To be blunt a film about Ann Robinson would be more interesting