Kit (AnnaSophia Robb) is a troubled young lady. We first meet her in an office, talking to her long-suffering counsellor while her mother Ginny (Kirsty Mitchell) sits at her side, exasperated. The latest in a long line of offences, Kit now stands accused of attempting to burn down her school - something she vehemently denies.
Also present in the room is Dr Sinclair (Jodhi May), who's been brought along to offer Kit an alternative to the inevitability of prison: a stay at Blackwood boarding school, where young women such as herself are turned around and given the chance to evolve into something remarkable.
Kit hates the idea but Ginny and her partner David (Jim Sturgeon), who Kit resents for replacing her late father, are insistent that she give it a go. In no time at all they're dropping her off outside the isolated, foreboding country mansion of Blackwood.
Kit is not the only problem child to be newly enlisted in the place. She's met by four more miscreants: Veronica (Victoria Moroles), Sierra (Rosie Day), Ashley (Taylor Russell) and Izzy (Isabelle Fuhrman). Each one is equally surly in their own way.
This motley crew are greeted initially by creepy teaching assistant Olonsky (Rebecca Front), and then the school's headmistress Duret (Uma Thurman) - who, if anything, is even more sinister.
Understandably these delinquents are a tad pissed off with their new abode. Even more so when their mobile 'phones are taken from them and they're told they'll have no internet access during their stay. As Duret puts it, each one of these girls is gifted - and it's her job to draw it from them.
And so, the girls - all a little suspicious of each other, obviously - settle in to this unwelcoming dwelling. Before long, they're being taught during the day by Duret, and it soon becomes apparent that each one has a gift that they were curiously never aware of. Kit can suddenly play piano really well, much to the delight of her handsome music teacher Jules (Noah Silver); Sierra takes leave of her senses and finds a penchant for painting while in a somnambulistic state; Ashley insists she's receiving visitations from a woman named Elizabeth, who's responsible for the remarkable poetry she's been producing.
All of which is a little odd. Kit certainly thinks so. She begins to have doubts about the school, its European-sounded head-mistress and her motivations for wanting the most out of her girls. Kit's consternation grows tenfold when strange things start happening on the school grounds at night. Figures flit in the shadows, strange noises are heard in the dead of night, and Sierra swears she's been visited by a strange figure. Events only get creepier as the girls reluctantly agree to work together and dig deeper into the school's dark past ...
DOWN A DARK HALL is directed by Rodrigo Cortes, who is arguably best-known for his claustrophobic, tense Ryan Reynolds vehicle BURIED. That was a simple, taut affair - an economic thriller which took a single location, a lone actor and gripped its viewer. In contrast, Cortes's follow-up RED LIGHTS, starring Robert De Niro no less, was a messy, confused film which was bigger in ambition but infinitely less successful in execution. A poor box office result reflected this, and consequently the director's latest effort limps straight to DVD.
I'd like to report that this latest production is a return to form. While it's not a bad film per se, it's fair to say it's not going to set the director's career afire.
Everything is proficiently edited, lit and photographed. The Barcelona building which is utilised as Blackwood is an imposing beast, genuinely haunting and grandiose all at once. Pacing is astutely applied, while Mike Goldbach and Chris Sparling's screenplay - based on Lois Duncan's 1974 novel of the same name - does a fair job for the most part in building intrigue incrementally along with the growing scares.
However, their characters aren't fleshed out terribly well. We don't learn enough about Kit for her to be sympathetic, while her supporting cohorts are one-dimensional brats; why should we care about what happens to them? Front has fun as a po-faced sow but comes over as unintentionally comical. Thurman's French accent fluctuates bizarrely between scenes: sometimes it's convincingly understated, while at other times it's really forced to the point where she actually looks to be dying of embarrassment while delivering her lines.
Perhaps the film's greatest offence is that it comes across as generic. It's a stately ghost story for the most part, with an agreeable sense of aesthetic atmosphere and a credible if unremarkable cast. But there are lots of films of this ilk nowadays, and Cortes doesn't attempt to offer anything that would distinguish his movie from all others. So, while it's not a bad film, it's also not a memorable one. It's suited to DVD.
Lionsgate bring DOWN A DARK HALL to UK DVD in an uncut print which retains the film's original 2.35:1 ratio. The picture is enhanced for 16x9 televisions and is a generally warm, pleasing proposition. Muted colour palettes appear to be stylised and intentional; images are clean and sharp throughout. Blacks hold up well.
English audio comes in a reliable 5.1 mix which makes fine use of the dramatic piano compositions scattered throughout the film. Optional English subtitles are well-written and easy to read at all times.
The disc opens to a static main menu. A static scene selection menu allows access to the film via 12 chapters.
All we get in the form of bonus features are two trailers which play upon the disc's load-up: WINCHESTER and GHOST STORIES.
DOWN A DARK HALL is an okay film which receives an okay DVD release from Lionsgate.
Review by Stuart Willis
| Released by Lionsgate |