The Horror Show
Dark Circles
by Paul Soter
You know something is wrong with a horror movie when the single interesting feature of it is an adorable little baby.
Starting off as a usual psychological thriller with touches of paranormal, Dark Circles tells the story of a family who moves into a secluded house in search of calm away from the city. Alex (Johnathon Schaech) and his wife Penny (Pell James) decide to take their newborn son and move to the country where they can raise him peacefully.
As it usually goes in such movies featuring haunted houses, Penny – because it’s always the woman who notices the first paranormal signs – starts to feel a weird presence in the house. Adding to that the lack of sleep due to daily construction work near their house, exhaustion and fear start to take over her and her husband, a promising musician who struggles to find inspiration for his music in the middle of nowhere. Of course, the newborn baby doesn’t make things easier, as his constant crying doesn’t let the parent rest.
The physical and mental exhaustion is a crucial element of Dark Circles, hence the extensive mention. Ironically the peace and solace they were looking for in the first place appears to be a far distant luxury and soon enough they’ll realize that there are bigger problems than not being able to sleep.
The figure of a creepy woman that lurks in the house and haunts their dreams will drive them crazy and eventually turn them against each other.
As I mentioned before, a lot of clichés make an appearance in Dark Circles. Mirrors reflect the ghost of a woman who immediately disappears when the protagonists turn around; they look through the window and see a dark figure staring at them; the baby is the center of the ghost’s attention, which clearly leads to the conclusion that we’re seeing a troubled and tragic figure of a mother.
However, there is one twist in the plot that the viewers might not see coming. That twist is revealed near the ending though, and I’m not sure if it’s worth it in the end. As far as the setting is concerned, there are no surprises there. Big house in the country, no one around besides our two lead characters, and hints of a haunting presence. Director Paul Soter tried really hard to create a suspenseful and eerie atmosphere, but the loyal fans of the genre won’t see anything they haven’t seen before…and that’s certainly a mood killer.
Maria Kriva, HMS
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