Review: ‘Darkness Falls’ is Brutal and Raw, Yet Familiar Serial Killer Tale

Darkness Falls was just released on VOD and streaming services this past Friday. Directed by Julien Seri, Darkness Falls follows Detective Jeff Anderson (Shawn Ashmore), when he becomes convinced that his wife’s suicide was actually a murder.

Obsessed with his investigation, Anderson finds out that his wife was the victim of a team of father-and-son serial killers. He’ll have to break all the rules to stop them from killing other women. The film also stars Gary Cole, Richard Harmon, Daniella Alonso and Lin Shaye.

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The way the film is shot is beautiful and brutal. (Spoilers) The opening of the film zeros in on the murder of Detective Anderson’s wife, Elizabeth (Vahina Giocante). The scene is shot in a wide frame with the focus on her being forced to swallow sleeping pills at gun point. By centering in on the simplicity, and cruelty of the two serial killers the director gives the audience a deep and unsettling experience.

The directors use of this strong imagery is pulled throughout the film. The elegance of the imagery creates a beautiful contrast with the grittiness and brutality of the story. However, even with the brutal focus of the misogyny of the two serial killers, there is no strong sense of giving the women focus other than to watch them die. The film battles with a focusing on the hatred and murder of women without giving them any meaningful part of the story.

Even Lin Shaye’s character is undeveloped and does little to help move the story forward. Shaye plays Anderson’s mother who feels her son needs to move on from his wife’s death to be there for his son. Only to do a complete turnout when she discovers he was right the whole time.

The story feels very familiar, a cop with a hunch about his wife’s death. Tormented and ignored he starts stalking other suicide calls as he attempts to find proof. Overall, we’ve seen this story before, but we get a different view. Did viewers get a better view of the same story? Not really. While the serial killer backstory had potential to give the film more meat. The film ends up feeling like a feature length episode of ‘Criminal Minds’ or any other cop drama.

The ending is also painfully cliche as many of the television versions of the police force. As Anderson attempts to call it quits from the police force, his son steps in a reminds him that he saves people. Appearing to reverse his decision, Anderson and his son drive off into their new future.

Moreover, the director was able to pull off the brutal and uncomfortable view of serial killers. However, the story is muddied from the get go and does little to pull at the heartstrings it attempts too.

You can check out the trailer for Darkness Falls below, and the film is now available on VOD and Digital platforms including iTunes, Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, FandangoNow. Be sure to follow ScaryNerd for more of all things horror.

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