Darkness Falls (2003 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Darkness Falls | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster for Darkness Falls |
|
| Directed by | Jonathan Liebesman |
| Produced by | Joe Harris, John Hegeman, William Sherak, Jason Shuman |
| Written by | Joe Harris, John Fasano |
| Starring | Chaney Kley, Emma Caulfield, Lee Cormie |
| Music by | Paul Andrews Brian Tyler |
| Cinematography | Dan Laustsen |
| Editing by | Timothy Alverson Steve Mirkovich |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | 24 January 2003  9 May 2003  }28 August 2003  |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $11,000,001 (estimated) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Darkness Falls is a 2003 horror film written by Joe Harris and John Fasano and directed by Jonathan Liebesman. The score was composed by Brian Tyler. Although criticized, Darkness Falls opened No. 1 at the US box office and recouped its $11 million budget in its opening weekend on January 24, 2003 making $32,551,396 domestically and $47,488,536 internationally.
The film went under the "studio process." The original creature design and story was recognized as having potential. However with lack of funding and studio influence on the film, it turned out to be somewhat a failure with audiences. The film also debuted the band Vixtrola with their single Gunboat at the end of the film.
Tagline: Evil rises. Darkness Falls.
An Eye for an Eye. Your Life for a Tooth.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The story of the town Darkness Falls, (which is based on the town of Port Fairy, Australia) begins 150 years ago.
In 1827, a small group of people settled around a bay; among them was a newly wed couple, Sonny and Matilda Dixon. The town soon began to grow due to its fast developing fishing industry. Local stores began to spring up, and people started to cultivate the land.
However, in 1836, tragedy struck the small town when Sonny Dixon was killed in a fishing accident leaving his wife Matilda a widow. After her husbands death, Matilda became very close to the towns children. She would tell them stories, and give them gifts and gold coins when they lost a tooth, thus earning the name “Tooth Fairy.”
After a fire in her home left her horribly scarred, disfigured, and with an extreme sensitivity to light, she wore a porcelain mask, and only went out at nighttime.
One night, two of the town’s boys go missing, and they quickly blame Matilda. She was arrested and hung by the neck with her mask removed. Soon afterwards, the two missing boys returned home unharmed, and the town realized its grave mistake. A massive cover-up of the murder soon followed, and Matilda’s body was buried.
A year later, the first of many strange occurrences began. In 1842, the supply of whales and seals vanished from the sea; only their bones were left on East Beach. Freak storms began to terrorize the town and often resulted in the sinking of fishing boats. The two children who Matilda ‘kidnapped’ left a suicide note at the towns lighthouse, and their bodies were never found.
Nearly 10 years later, the local cemetery was moved to make way for local expansion. During the move, Matilda’s body disappeared and was never seen again. Since then, children have mysteriously disappeared from Darkness Falls, never to be seen again. Some say they ran away, while others believe it is yet another chapter of the Tooth Fairy’s curse.
And so, the story of the Tooth Fairy was born. The vengeful spirit of Matilda Dixon would visit the home of children in Darkness Falls the night they lost their last baby tooth. If the child laid eyes on her, she would whisk them off and murder them. Her weakness in life remained with her in death; she had an extreme sensitivity to light.
One boy, Kyle Walsh, learns that the story is more than just a story the night he loses his last baby tooth. He finds it hard to fall asleep after hearing stories of Matilda, and takes a flashlight to bed with him. As he tries to sleep, he hears a raspy breath over his bed, and dares to open his eyes. He sees the masked face of Matilda herself. Scared, Kyle shines the flashlight into her eyes, causing her to recoil in pain. He runs out of his room to his mother, who assures him that there is nothing to be afraid of. As Kyle’s mother goes to investigate, she sees Matilda for herself, and is brutally murdered. Kyle, hearing his mother’s death, hides himself in the bathroom, with the lights on, preventing Matilda from reaching him. The next morning, the police show up and believe Kyle to have murdered his mother. They arrest him and take him away.
Years later Kyle has left Darkness Falls, and moved to Las Vegas; a city where the lights never turn off. He always carries a bag of flashlights and lanterns with him in fear of Matilda finishing what was started many years before. After an old childhood friend, Caitlin Greene, calls to ask for his help with her younger brother, Michael, who also seems to have survived an encounter with the Tooth Fairy. Michael, like Kyle, now has a gripping fear of the dark, and is thought to have gone insane. Kyle returns, knowing that Michael is not crazy, and tries to help him. Since two people have now escaped from Matilda’s wrath, it has caused her to become more active; revealing herself to dozens of people, and killing them all in her quest to get Kyle and Michael.
Kyle, Michael, and Caitlin now must escape from Darkness Falls while avoiding the darkness until morning, just as one of the freak storms knocks out all the lights in the town.
Soon the storm hits the village with a loud bang and wallop and almost every light in the village is turned out. The last remaining light is only that of the Light House situated at the far coast of the village. There they illuminate the big lantern and throw Matilda in to it, where she ignites and turns in to a ball of flame and is thrown off the balcony. As she catches fire her spirit is destroyed forever.
[edit] Cast
Chaney Kley passed away on July 24, 2007.[1] Sleep apnea was the cause of death.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Chaney Kley | Kyle Walsh |
| Emma Caulfield | Caitlin Greene |
| Lee Cormie | Michael Greene |
| Grant Piro | Larry Fleishman |
| Sullivan Stapleton | Office Matt Henry |
| Steve Mouzakis | Dr. Peter Murphy |
| Peter Curtin | Dr. Travis |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Darkness Falls at the Internet Movie Database
- Darkness Falls at Rotten Tomatoes
- Darkness Falls at Box Office Mojo
| Preceded by Kangaroo Jack |
List of 2003 Box Office #1 Movies 2003-01-26 |
Succeeded by The Recruit |
