Darkness Falls
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: January 24, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
23
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
0
Mixed:
8
Negative:
19
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Once you get past the inherent silliness of the premise, what we've got here is actually a deft little chiller, stylishly directed despite the so-so cast. Read full review
50
Film ThreatKevin Carr
If you’re looking for a compelling horror flick, don’t waste your time with Darkness Falls. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Basically brings home the bacon for horror fans -- it offers decent special effects and a nice array of those moments where you shriek and jump and nearly pee your pants but it turns out to be Mom or the cat after all. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeJanice Page
So much schlock and melodrama find their way into Darkness Falls that when an exasperated character shouts near the end ''All this over a [expletive] tooth!,'' you know how he feels. Read full review
50
VarietyJoe Leydon
It's an instantly disposable and shamelessly derivative piece of work -- call it petit guignol, and you won't be far off the mark -- but first-time feature helmer Jonathan Liebesman shows a savvy flair for atmospheric visuals. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Stephen King without the snap, David Lynch without the kink, teen horror without the teen hormones, Darkness Falls falls apart in a crescendo of creepy-crawly hoo-ha. It's more like Darkness Kerplunks. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen Holden
About as scary as a ride on a minor roller coaster, it unrolls its amplified butcher-block shock effects within the first five minutes. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
You can barely tell what's going on half the time, but what you do see is effective. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Isn't satisfying or surprising. It doesn't even make sense from scene to scene. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The plot is as riddled with holes as Matilda's victims, making her sudden appearances more distracting than distressing. Read full review
33
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaul West
A joyless amalgam of horror movie cliches, none used more exhaustively than the false alarm. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Its real problem is that Matilda Dixon, apparently conceived as a cross between the Blair Witch and Freddy Krueger, is an oddly characterless bogeyman, perhaps because she's 100 percent special effects technology with no actor underneath. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Not good enough to qualify as classic Gothic horror, not nearly fun enough to qualify as great B-movie camp. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Do you really need me to tell you how scary this horror show isn't? Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
Dumb. Read full review
25
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Oh, this is all so terribly not good. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
A cheesy horror film can offer a vicarious cheap thrill or two. Darkness Falls offers only a test of the patience, not even providing much chance to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of its villain. Read full review
25
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Darkness Falls was formerly known as "Tooth Fairy," but could just as well have been titled "Dumb Then Dumber" for the way its plot makes decreasing sense even by the low standards of B horror flicks. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
God forgive me, but I worship the Bad Dialogue Fairy -- he gets me through these endless nights. Read full review
16
Entertainment WeeklyBruce Fretts
Darkness Falls is like something salvaged from Stephen King's wastebasket. Read full review
12
Chicago TribuneJohn Petrakis
A lamebrained attempt at horror that is just a derivative pastiche of ideas lifted from other bad films. Read full review
10
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Darkness Falls -- with a thud. But it does not go gently into the night, for director Jonathan Liebesman and his large crew cram as much style and energy as they can into a hokey and morbid supernatural thriller plot. It's a downer to see so much effort expended on such junk. Read full review
10
L.A. WeeklyDaniel Fienberg
Black cats, ill-timed power outages and children in peril are just a few of the hoary scare tactics ineffectively rendered in the style of so many films buried in the dark recesses of January. Read full review
10
Chicago ReaderStaff (not credited)
This moronic horror movie has the earmarks of a disastrous shoot patched up in editing. Read full review
10
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Powered by dim bulbs on both sides of the camera, Darkness Falls barrels ahead with unrelenting stupidity, forsaking many of its own rules in search of the next cheap shock. Read full review
10
Village VoiceAlex Pappademas
This is horror-flick boo-ya at its most rote. Read full review
0
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A truly awful and extremely loud scareflick. Read full review
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