Darkness (2002)

Dir: Jaume Balagueró

Make sure you get the uncut version of this rather than the Disney edit which cuts out a lot of the plot, almost all of the gore and dubs over the swear words with "gollly darn gosh" style silliness that takes you right out of it. However, if you watch it as the director intended, it's a very nice surprise indeed. Much like Balagueró's debut, "The Nameless", "Darkness" is a creepy and vicious depiction of pure evil as a supernatural force. It begins with the tired, overused motif of a family moving into a new and creepy home, but gradually unfolds into something far more sinister and original. The magnificently bleak ending is stylish, sombre and sobering stuff. ***1/2