Touches You

Simply A Masterpiece

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The opening of the film sets the pace (or lack of rather) for what's coming! If you find the stair scene somewhat exciting then by all means, keep watching, but be aware - this is as 'spooky' as it gets. It is all dragged out and without suspense, no jump scenes - though they do try their hardest, a bit too hard.. it just falls flat. This movie is completely non-convincing (both acting and script). The twist is OK but they could've done so much more with it. Stiles make a bad movie worse by just walking around yelling in the end, for what feels like forever. When you are forced to turn down the volume on a scary movie then there is something very wrong! Do yourself a favour and watch something else. My (generous) rating: 3/10. This is simply a weekend filler and make sure to save it for days when there is absolutely nothing else, and I mean NOTHING else, left to watch.

This story takes place nearly twenty years prior where several children fell sick due to mercury poisoning from a specific company. A doctor is hired to try and cure them, but instead he fails to do so and the children do not make it. Further, business decisions are made so as to cover it up – the families involved are never notified, nor are they informed of why their children died.Years later a new family moves into the area – namely near a jungle. Their daughter starts to show odd behaviors and symptoms at first thought to be caused by a strain of the flu; portrayed to the viewer they look as if she is possessed. The parents, especially the mother feel that something more specific and peculiar is up. They do some investigating and get to the bottom of it – mercury poisoning. They confront the doctor involved, and as it turns out it was his father that was the doctor that tried to fix things – only he is dead.As the plot further unfolds; their daughter is further possessed and finally finds her way into an underground labyrinth. The family, and presumably the doctor's father are all there. The doctor's father becomes possessed by the haunted spirits of the children from twenty years ago as he tries to save the new family's daughter. The family steps in to mourn their presumably dead daughter; whom in movie theatrics actually snaps out of it.The movie seems like something out of "Children of the Corn" and the "Exorcist" where young children and a young girl are possessed by seemingly paranormal and supernatural causes; only as in the case of the latter film, it is revealed to be less supernatural with an actual reason – poisoning from external events – only it turns out supernatural causes are involved anyway.The film reminds me of something out of the 90s where families in distress were more of a commonality. The film is more of a weekend filler in my eyes and not much praise beyond that.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/? p=9634).

The story is one that has been seen before in similar films to "Out Of The Dark" with a family moving to a new place but unfortunately pick one cursed by a tragic past, and lingering paranormal influence. Quilez's story is a good one though, framing this construct in a beautiful, subtropical location, disturbing historical area steeped in superstition and legend. Plus he gives us a clear message of cruelties brought about by foreign companies exploitation of almost "third world" regions for profit, all wrapped nicely in a chilling supernatural thriller with some vengeful spirits. "Out Of The Dark" does have some pretty cool make-up artistry and special effects. It is a mix of semi-gory practical design and expected CGI ghost-y stuff. Although instead of feeling redundant, the CGI in "Out Of The Dark" is creative and at times beautiful in its cinematography. The atmosphere is a blend of warming with the family taking in the beauty of their new home, and the darker, chilling aspects of past tragedy, a cursed people, and a family hunted by angry spirits. The soundtrack is equally intense and eerie. Plus there are moments when the quick shock gimmicks actually scared me a bit. Overall "Out Of The Dark" is a nicely produced, creative thriller with a lot of suspense and drama. The cast give acceptable performances and the characters are developed nicely, the native Colombians more so than the family. The ghost children are haunting and creepy. On the down side though it becomes too clear too early in the story as to the true nature of "Out Of The Dark" so some of the thrill and suspense does get lost during the final 3rd of the film. The ending feels a bit drawn out and unnecessary at the very end, not in the actually story aspects but more the visual- conceptual stuff used at the end. It could have used less theatrics and been more effective. Anyway "Out Of The Dark" is a cool, entertaining story with a more mature narrative that shows some real heart.

. . . a message that should go without saying, let alone requiring an entire feature-length film to get the point across. Any American with their head screwed on straight realizes that Antarctica, New Zealand, Iceland, plus parts of Australia, Western Europe, and Canada are the ONLY places to visit without risking the high expenditure of U.S. taxpayer dollars and possible peril to our brave Special Forces personnel for the so-called "thrill" of selfishly traipsing around world trouble spots slumming. However, "Sarah" (Julia Stiles) and "Paul" (Scott Speedman) set fit to drag their young daughter to a haunted portion (what isn't?) of Columbia, South America. (Since Ms. Stiles has been paired on screen at least once with every minority actor in her age group, she has NO chemistry with the white-bread Mr. Speedman, proving the adage which rhymes "Black" with "back.) This atmospheric horror tale has plenty of rain, thunder, lightning, mist, fog, and gloom. Mostly what it lacks is a compelling story line and characters who are not total idiots.