geminiredblue
Having recently gone through a slew of paranormal movies (including THE RING, SINISTER, UNFRIENDED, ALWAYS WATCHING, and THE CONJURING) I heard about this film. So I shrugged and gave it a shot. Story-wise, it's pretty good. Not entirely original, but still eerie. The problem with OUT OF THE DARK is... just read on. THE STORY: An American couple, Sarah & Paul, (played by the wonderful Julia Stiles and a bland Scott Speedman) along with Hannah (Pixie Davies) their British-accented daughter(?) travel to Colombia. Once there, Sarah takes a job at her father's paper mill. As strangers in a foreign land, they soon learn of the odd customs that their neighbors have. And along the way, they learn about the shocking history surrounding the disappearance and death of several children. Before you know it, the family starts to see weird shadowy figures in bandages and have all sorts of paranormal events. Things get even worse when their own daughter gets kidnapped by these ghostly apparitions. And it's about then that everything starts to fall apart. Instead of doing the smart thing, like call the cops or even attempting to speak in Spanish, Sarah and Paul frantically barge and stomp around town, blabbering in English (which the locals obviously don't understand), until finally learning the truth behind the ghosts. Like I said already, it's a good story. But, the film needs to be ratcheted up in some way. Either there have to be more scares, or there's gotta be more of a sense of dread and doom. Honestly, if the film were more tightly edited, (maybe if the parents were written to be a little more effective) it would be a better movie. But as it is, you can take it or leave it.
Nitzan Havoc
As a Horror fan, the ghost-story and haunting sub-genre has always been my favourite. As a general cinema fan, Julia Stiles has been one of my favourite actresses since 10 Things I hate About You. And then we have the privilege of a child actress taking her first steps in what might become a long and successful career! What could possibly go wrong? The answer is everything else.Yes, the acting is decent, though I would really like to see Stiles starring as a main character in a Horror film. When your favourite actors aren't usually taking part in films from your favourite genre, it's frustrating at times. Yes, little Pixie Davies is everything a passive child victim is cut out to be in such films - innocent, adorable and helpless. Here ends anything really positive I have to say.While I can't think of an example for this story being used before, it doesn't feel original or innovative, and doesn't really keep you on edge guessing till the end. The ghosts are simply not scary. The "jump scares" are predictable and ineffective, and that's really saying something, since as we all know well thought off and finely designed jump=scares work even when you're expecting them (how could a film mess up the cheapest horror trick of the 21st century?). I actually found myself bored towards the second half of the film. Me? Bored in a horror film? Never happens. Honestly. Never.I can't stress how much I wanted to be able to give a good review. Getting Julia Stiles in a ghost-story was a dream come true. But the dream turned into a nightmare, and not in a good horror kind of way. I'm painfully disappointed. Then again, my disappointment is probably due to my high expectations. If you watch this with no expectations whatsoever - you will probably enjoy it. It's good for a few scares, especially for people who aren't usual horror viewers. But personally and subjectively - ugh, what a let down...
imatosser182
Think of what you want most in the world.The good news is that it's probably going to be replaced by something more realistic when you get to around the 20 minute mark of this film. The bad news is it will feel just as unlikely to happen."Out of the Dark" is a mercilessly slow, plodding and derivative drama, not a horror/thriller as advertised. There is little to no action to speak of until the last few minutes and nothing to break up the laborious crawl towards the finale. The half decent twist towards the end will be wasted on the comatose audience.A pointless regurgitation of scenes and clichés filmed a million times before, in the form of a 20 minute story dragged out for three and a half hours. 2 marks for the film itself plus a bonus mark for the fact that it defied the odds and did actually end.
kosmasp
Actually you are not so much in the dark during the movie (metaphorically speaking, literally there is quite some darkness here). But the clichés and the direction the movie takes is so obvious, that some might feel insulted by the movie. Still the acting is decent enough and the story flows in the right direction.Kids in danger/peril is always something that will get peoples attention, especially under the circumstances it happens here. The decisions people make are not always great, but we have seen characters behave worse in other horror movies. Plus the little girl is really sweet and it will be tough not to like her for people. A thing needed, otherwise the movie wouldn't work at all ...
AD
