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Out of the Dark

Julia Stiles (Save the Last Dance) and Scott Speedman (Underworld) star as the parents of their young girl who move to Columbia to settle on a new life away from city life. Taking over the family business she quickly learns that some secrets are better left undiscovered as her new home in the jungle becomes the centre of a haunting of children.

 

Opening with the mysterious death of one of the company’s employees, the story unfolds into a dramatic climax that sees the couple surrounded by the spirits of nine deceased children in the midst of the family business.

 

‘Out of the Dark’ shares many similarities with some of world cinema’s lesser known gems and pivots its plot on the essence of family and the unfinished business surrounding death. For anyone who has seen the Taiwanese ghost flick ‘Vinyan’ and James Cullen Bressack’s ‘Pernicious’ will instantly find similarities here, for the other 99% of readers, the film’s spirit lies firmly with its storytelling and mild chills. There's no denying there a moments of unnerving, due mostly to the great make-up job of the children, but never enough to creep under the skin.

 

Stiles, Speedman and Pixie Davies do a great job of putting together a believable family unit and with Stephen Rea added to the mix as Stiles father, the casting could not be more spot on.

 

It is a shame then that despite its mediocre tone, a good tale written by ‘Carriers’ and ‘The Last Days’ suffer for their art. While trying to create something a little more outside the box and more subtle from the usual repetitive jump scares, there is a simple rumbling of the supernatural that not so much makes this scary but rather dilutes the horror in place creating an intriguing mystery.

 

If it’s a bedtime ghost story you want, you could do a lot worse than ‘Out of the Dark’ but without any stand out moments or a truly original plot, it falls just short of being a must see for fans of the genre instead opting for the more casual and calmer horror fan.

 

Director: Lluis Quilez

Released: 22nd June 2015

Running Time: 92 minutes

Age Rating: 15

 

Reviewer: Martyn Wakefield

RATING


Plot: 3
Fear: 3
Gore: 1


R3/5​

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