This is a pretty unoriginal ghost story that tries, unsuccessfully, to make sheep scary. Maria Bello and Sean Bean try hard as the parents of a missing child but the film concentrates too much on their rather predictable and dull relationship and not enough on delivering any real scares.
Take the house with a dark past (The Amityville Horror), add a ghostly child (Dead of Night) and a couple of grieving parents (Don’t Look Now) season with some Welsh mythology, stick it in the oven and you get a half-baked movie that’s far less than the sum of its parts. The film even tries half-heartedly to throw in a twist or two at the end but you’ll probably see it coming and if you don’t you’ll be too bored to care anyway.
It’s surprising that this even got a cinema release as it has straight-to-video written all over it. There is almost certainly a decent film to be made from Welsh myths and legends but this sadly isn’t it. And if it’s scary sheep you want, try Black Sheep instead, not only is it scarier than The Dark but you’ll have a few laughs along the way too.
Horror and Western film buff, Marvel comic geek, music lover and occasional gamer. 
Yup, “The Darkâ€? was a snooze fest – it put my feet to sleep instead of really SCARING me like a horror movie is supposed to do. But, let us be honest, girlfriend – wasn’t Sean Bean utterly
shag-a-delic in that movie? He played a hunky, earthy, artsy sculptor who was utterly devoted to his estranged wife and child, trying so hard to convince his cranky wife not to file for divorce.
The impossibly blonde, unruly, slightled rumpled long blonde hair with that compelling “just fell out of bed lookâ€?, his glinty green eyes, those lanky long legs that start at his earlobes and go on for miles, his snake hips in snug jeans, his strong masculine jawline, and sensual prominent nose…..for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what in the world his grumpy, perpetually bent- of of shape estranged wife was always so pissed off about with him – I would move heaven and earth for a husband like that! Sean Bean, The Mighty Bean is Lord Sexitude, His Holy Hotness, Mr. Sex on Legs…..the ONLY middle-aged man pushing 50 that makes my engine run. Even his lines and wrinkles – his “crinkly bitsâ€? are sexy!
Sean Bean is one of the few middle aged actors in Hollywood who don’t have a face pumped full of Botox and THAT is such a relief to see a middle-aged man, with some “mileage� on his face….his
“crinkly bitsâ€? give his face a patina like fine silver and vintage crushed velvet. Plus that luscious Yorkshire, Sheffield accent in his low, sultry growl – he rocks my world.
The movie earned a C minus from me in terms of a flaccid script with weak narrative development and thinly written characters. The cast was comprised of excellent actors struggling to work as hard as humanly possible to elevate the turgid script into some semblance of a film to hold the audiences interest. It was a shame to see such good actors stuck with such a BORING script…..and being bored in what is supposed to be a horror/terror film is pretty, friggin’ pathetic!
One redeeming factor in “The Dark� was the cinematography of the remote, rural Welsh coastline. The stark bleak ocean landscape and isolated shore was breathtaking.
Sean Bean is a classically trained actor with a career spanning over 20 years. He managed to successefully make the difficult transition from heart throb hunky sex symbol to character actor. A graduate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art – even in a truly flawed BAD film such as “The Darkâ€? – Bean managed to give a compelling, bravura performance despite a very weak script and limp direction.
The hallmark of a superlative performing artist is the ability to be in a real stinker of a movie, yet somehow uncannily manage to elevate poor material simply based on their sheer personna and stage presence.
“The Darkâ€? went straight to cable and DVD after a VERY brief theatrical release. But if you think “The Darkâ€? was bad – then just watch Sean Bean in “Silent Hillâ€? another turkey of a failed horror/terror film. “Silent Hillâ€? makes “The Darkâ€? look like Oscar winner material. “Silent Hillâ€? is really freakin’ WRETCHED and in comparision it makes “The Darkâ€? look like a masterpiece!
After “Hitcherâ€? flopped and tanked at the box office, Sean Bean won’t be doing any more horror/terror/slasher films anymore, thank goodness. His upcoming films include an indie, art house film set in the Arctic “True Northâ€? (it was “Far North but there was title change). He is currently filming “The Root of All Evilâ€? a pscyhological thriller and has recently been cast in “Last Battle Dreamerâ€? a Viking film set in the 7th century co-starring Ryan Phillipe. Bean is also set to film Oscar Wilde’s play “A Woman of No Importanceâ€? co-starring Annette Benning and Sienna Miller…..fortunately all these projects seem like very high quality projects – he deserves better scripts than potboilers like “The Darkâ€? and the truly excreble “Hitcherâ€? and “Silent Hillâ€?.
Grailmaiden