(2002)
Dir - Jaume Balagueró
Overall: MEH
Front and back loaded with practically every "family moves into an old isolated haunted house in the country and starts arguing" cliche known to man, Jaume Balagueró's Darkness is impossibly derivative. The formulaic nature is not limited to the dark mystery revolving around the spooky setting and things like electricity not working, toys turning on by themselves, laughably creepy pictures being found, photographs showing things naked to the eye, phone lines being blocked by ghostly voices, kids making disturbing drawings, forlorn and ominous characters lingering around for expository dialog dumps, etc. People see unexplained things and either do not mention them, are not believed by anyone if they do, or such things simply are not taken seriously. Nearly every supernatural occurrence on screen is accompanied by the same stock sound effects or musical cues in every other such movie to the point where you could die of alcohol poising having a drinking contest over how many violin screeches and loud bangy noises show up. The issue with the sheer, overwhelming number of unoriginal components is that the story which is not very interesting to begin with has absolutely no chance of being engaging. Which leaves only a checklist of crap seen a billion times by now.
(2003)
Dir - Jean Paptise Andrea/Fabrice Canepa
Overall: WOOF
There is a nifty, otherworldly premise utilized in French filmmakers Jean Paptise Andrea and Fabrice Canepa's debut Dead End that very tragically gets handled in a multitude of awful ways. First off, the choice to make the film comedic is a terrible move both in how obnoxious all of the characters are, (particularly Mick Cain who is a parody of a smart-ass teenager that in any realistic situation would have gotten the ever loving shit beat out of him numerous times over to stop him talking to his parents the way that he does), and also because this clashes very poorly with the often severe and creepy mood the movie simultaneously goes for. Traumatic things happen to the family in this movie, emotional breakdowns transpire, and when characters smoke a joint and dance around soon afterwards or start talking like people with Alzheimer's disease for laughs, it is a messy contrast. The tone issues are the biggest detriment and it is also not helped by the crummy, second-rate performances, sadly including Ray Wise who seems to be overdoing it most of the time. The piss-poor script though is really to blame while a dysfunctional family unloads cliches at each other as they mentally deteriorate when instead there is much more interesting and frightening things taking place that are given far too little screen time in comparison.
(2006)
Dir - Hans-Christian Schmid
Overall: MEH
While not a horror film in any conventional or otherwise sense, German filmmaker Hans-Christian Schmid's Requiem finds inspiration from the infamous, real life case of Anneliese Michel who died at the age of twenty-three from malnourishment and dehydration after undergoing sixty-seven exorcisms. The film gets by on its bare-bones presentation which favors handheld camerawork and very little incidental music. The lead performance by Sandra Hüller as Michaela Klingeler, (a young woman struggling with epilepsy and a dysfunctional dynamic with her strongly religious parents), is also quite strong. It is a shame then that the film seems oddly rushed, particularly in its final act and very abrupt ending. Klingeler's overall relationships and eccentric personality are ill-defined and it is not quite clear to the viewer how either she or the ones trying to help her are processing her particular ailments. There are plenty of redeemable qualities to be sure, but they do not quite elevate it above the murky narrative.
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