nitestar95
Rather than write a whole review, let's just say it's a remake of The Innocents. It's good enough for most people to watch, I watched plenty of 'B' movies way back when theaters had double features on Saturday afternoons. They threw in some enticing nudity of Miss Sobieski to bring in the men, who will bring their women with them. Like most remakes, it doesn't compare to the original. I don't understand why so many Hollywood people think they can improve on the classics, and then somehow convince others to give them millions of dollars to do it. And they wonder why we don't go to see their crap movies.
Leofwine_draca
IN A DARK PLACE is a cheap modern-day retelling of the Henry James story THE TURN OF THE SCREW, shot in Luxembourg with an American lead. It's a cheapjack version of the tale that does away with much of the plot and atmosphere you can see in earlier versions of the story - THE INNOCENTS will always be the granddaddy of these - and instead replaces them with B-movie tedium.There's no denying that Leelee Sobieski is an attractive young actress, but her acting skills seem to be rather limited. It says something that she spends most of the running time showing off her figure as much as possible, so you get the idea that the director was more interested in her looks than her talents. To make up for this disappointment in the acting stakes there's a welcome supporting role for the reliably good Tara Fitzgerald, but she doesn't have a great deal to work with.IN A DARK PLACE is slow, slow, slow, with unappealing characters and a distinct lack of momentum that makes it difficult to sit through. There are hints at nastiness here and there but they're way too subtle, and the film just sort of crawls to a sleep-inducing conclusion without ever interesting the viewer en route. It's a bore, frankly.
lizette-13
Recently I saw the movie The Nightcomers from 1979 with Marlon Brando as Peter Quint and Stephanie Beacham as Miss Jessel. So when I started watching the movie In a dark Place all the names and the children's characters seemed very familiar to me. The nightcomers is the story of miss Jessel, Peter Quint (who in In a dark place appears as ghosts) and the children and their relationship until the death of Jessel and Quint. So this movie must be continuing story of the children and their life with a new nanny. This movie is not very thrilling, at times i even got bored. I will not recommend the movie and my vote for this movie is 2.
slayrrr666
"In A Dark Place" is a somewhat slow and boring horror drama with a few good moments.**SPOILERS**Fired from a teaching job, Anna Veigh, (Leelee Sobieski) is offered a babysitting gig and eventually takes the position. Brought by assistant Mrs. Grose, (Tara Fitzgerald) to the house, she meets her charges Miles, (Christian Olson) and Flora, (Gabrielle Adam) and is soon tending to their problems as a full-time nanny. When she starts to suspect that something is amiss with them, she decides to learn about the history of the position, and realizes that there's a violent history involving the ghosts of previous residents of the house haunting the grounds and targeting the children. Taking matters into her own hands, she tries to prevent the same thing which happened to them from repeating itself with the children.The Good News: This one didn't have a whole lot to really get excited about. One of the most memorable aspects of the film is it's lesbian relationship, even though there isn't much of that going on. The one sequence where one of them writes in agony in a flowery shirt is nice, and the one sequence where they give in to the temptation and it goes for a mild sex scene is the real highlight, offering up a lot of good points to really serve it well. Some of the haunting scenes are actually good, mainly the ones coming at the end. The fact that they all occur in the frosty winter-land is a little chilling, giving it a nice atmosphere due to the stripped, dead trees reaching out to their victims. It's quite impressive and eerie altogether. The other plus is that they're used in conjunction with the ghostly hauntings, all of in the distance and making them seem even creepier. The last good point is the really nice chase at the end. The stalking in the house is pure gold, lasting much longer than normal and going out to really get a lot going for it. Then it moves out into the wintery forest, which is always great and it's combined into a spectacular conclusion. These here are all that really work for the film.The Bad News: This was an all-together huge missed opportunity for something decent. One of the biggest problems is that the supernatural hauntings are nowhere near center-stage in this, making the drama the real focus of the action. There's very little, if anything at all, in the beginning which is all that great, or even entertaining, centering around the efforts to understand the children. That's not a wholly entertaining avenue to explore in this, especially once it starts dominating and nothing at all really happens, and when they do happen, it's usually a quick-cut sequence that isn't followed up on, rendering it of no importance other than a cheap-jump gag or is written off as hallucinations, which is really a shame since the hide-and-seek game played is rather cheapened of a great, genuine thrill by it's lame revelation. Other scenes are also hurt by this, and it really hurts the film altogether. Another missed opportunity comes from the weakened lesbian angle. Not enough nudity is really shown outside of one sequence, and with a coupler bathing scenes, a make-out fondling and a couple dressing scenes all offering up nothing, all coming off as teasing rather than anything else and coming up as plain irritating. The main missed opportunity with the ghostly haunting also manages to slow the film's momentum down, really making the beginning quite boring, especially with the fact that it's more or less an unnamed remake of a classic in the genre, only with a few minor changes. It's quite easy to pick up on the references, to the manner of job acquisition to the antics between the two to the school problems and much, much more, really taking a large piece with it. The last flaw is the film's rather misused house. This could've been a really creepy, old-style house with modern twists that really could've been a creepy and unsettling place, but is shot all the wrong way and really does the film a huge disservice. These here are the film's flaws.The Final Verdict: With a couple of good parts and some really big flaws, this one is a really big disappointment when it could've been worthwhile. Really only give this a chance if you're a huge fan of the style or those who like the creative side, while those who want some action in their films should heed caution.Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence, Nudity and a mild sex scene
