Dark Circles

source: Dark Circles

Alex (Johnathon Schaech) and Penny (Pell James) move into their "Malibu Barbie Dreamhouse" with Tanner, their newborn. They are under stress as any new parents, plus there is construction going on nearby which makes daytime rest impossible. The film boasts a very good suspense and creep factor as a phantom woman (Lucresha Wells) appears to haunt them. Both of them have seen her and believe she doesn't exist. Their relationship becomes increasingly strained. The acting and creep factor was done well. I really got into the film, but it seemed to go nowhere. You know everything seems to center around "the woman", but the film leaves you hanging about her until the very end, and then you say, "That's it?" The clues they give you don't allow you to piece things together. The climax doesn't do the rest of the film justice. A little more than a meh rental. Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity.

It's a good film for what it is I suppose but 2 things drastically stand out to me about this movie. Firstly in first 5 minutes that woman that appeared in hallway. How did the blond lady (can't remember her name) just bypass this as a dream then it jumps back to when they were having the baby etc? First up you wouldn't let any stranger in the house if you had a family in there. Secondly I just don't get how they just don't TELL EACH OTHER WHAT THEY ARE SEEING. Omg the husband wakes up to find his wife is downstairs and the ghost lady is next to him in bed. She comes up stairs and says 'whats the matter?' and he just answers something like 'i was having a bad dream'. Oh come on please! You've been seeing a woman in your back yard thats in all the pictures on the wall and then you wake up next to her but you STILL don't tell your wife. Same with the wife. She don't tell him nothing. Sorry I switched off after this it was frustrating me.

From the outset this title had all the hallmarks of being a really eerie & atmospheric supernatural thriller/horror. The 'haunted house' has been done to death (pun intended), but the premise remains stalwart & dependable to fans of the genre. A couple move away from the city to the peaceful countryside with their newborn child. From there on in, this movie seemed like a gruesome analogy for parenthood. Sleepless nights; fractured relationships; paranoia; doubt; deceit. All this with a question of 'not knowing what is real & what is nether worldly' thrown in, makes this gripping viewing. Then comes the conclusion to this tale of marital strife... >>>IT RENDERED THE WHOLE MOVIE NONSENSICAL<<< I give this title a 5 because I did enjoy it right up to (well prior to) the end.

I came to watch this film with low expectations as it was on the horror channel. I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the directing was excellent. Especially like the facing person perspective when the mother was exhausted and going through the motions of collecting clothes for washing. I have watched numerous mainstream horror films that have been well received but severely lacking in plot, suspense, acting skill and sense. This film ticked all the boxes for me. The acting was strong and the way their lives and relationship slowly degraded through lack of sleep and what was happening to them was really well done. As a mother of 4 kids I can fully understand the effects of sleep deprivation. I liked the way the couple were left doubting themselves and didn't know whether they were hallucinating from lack of sleep or whether the things they were seeing were real. I did find it unbelievable that they would have stuck so stubbornly to staying in the house. I think realistically they would have given up on the house long before. And where were family or friends in all that time? And why did they insist on keeping the child in his own room? Realistically they would have brought him in with them long before too. The ending surprised me and I thought it was a good twist. Although there were some believability issues I still gave this film a 9 as after, becoming jaded by so many over hyped under quality horror films, I felt this was really effective, very suspenseful and really well directed. I would definitely recommend it.

Alex & Penny have just become parents to a baby boy and have decided that the city life isn't for them to raise their child. Relocating to a house in the country, the couple finds their relationship deteriorating due to the demands of caring for a newborn, including a lack of sleep. When the couple begin seeing a mysterious woman around the house, they at first dismiss the sightings as hallucinations brought on by sleep deprivation. But as the visions appear more often, the parents are forced to consider that evil is at work in their home. By the time the truth about their new home is revealed, their tenuous grip on sanity has already begun to slip. Dark Circles is another of those movies that looks good in the trailers, but after you watch it, you realise that it only looks good because the best bits of the movie were in the trailers. 1-star ratings indicate that it's Awful, but it wasn't as bad as that so I gave it a generous 2 as it's not a hideous movie and I've seen MUCH worse, but it IS extremely slow going and just never really picked up. We all know the theme has been done more times than we can count - people move to new house, a person starts seeing things in said new house, things start to escalate - but films can still be good even if they aren't that original. This one isn't original and it's definitely not that good. Dark Circles is also one of those movies where nothing is really explained until the last two minutes. I don't mind movies where you have to use your brain and piece things together, but there was not even a hint of who the mysterious person was, where she came from, or what she was doing, so you can't piece parts together if you're not actually given anything. It wasn't really all that scary either, but it did have a wee bit of suspense in it. Unfortunately, it just gets far too repetitive, so it becomes very boring after a while. It's not the worst movie you'll see but there is definitely much better of this genre out there.

I was watching this movie late in the night. I was a bit scared. I strangely felt like the entire movie was shot in New Zealand. The babysitter girl was kinda cute. Sad to see her getting killed. Its surprising to the see construction workers reacting politely to Alex's sabotage. The movie has got the typical combination of moody weather, lonely place and far-away-from-city lifestyle. Except for the ghost part, this is the kind of world I wanna live in. Anyway I was expecting more antagonistic blood thirsty ghost but the film lacked them a bit. Also the film reminded me of another movie 'Uninhabited'. If you like 'Dark Circles' you will like that movie also.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this film. I did not expect much, but did receive quite a lot. I gave it 6 out of 10, I could of given it 7 out of 10 as well, it is somewhere between those two grades. Plot is very interesting, it connects with a problem which many young couples face and that is upbringing of a baby. Since I was stay at home dad, I know how hard it is to raise small baby. It constantly cries and it does not let sleep parents. Parents are usually exhausted ans sleep deprived. It sometimes creates a real horror in the homes of some families. Unfortenatelly it sometimes ends with a tragedy. I like cinematography, camera moves are interesting and unusual. Acting is very good, I especially like the character of the babysitter and the actress performing that role. All in all if you like horror films, this is a film for you. Definatelly!

DARK CIRCLES is yet another grim slice of ghostly horror, made by schlock purveyors After Dark films. This is a cookie-cutter production that looks and feels like at least two dozen other similar haunted house movies made in the last five years. You know the story by now: a young couple (with a baby in tow) are living in a creepy, run-down old building, where the wife is assailed by horrible visions and nightmares. Is it all in her mind or is the house really haunted? All of these films look grim with dull, washed-out colours and shadows lurking in every corner. The characters are subdued and depressed for the most part, and that transfers across to the viewer. The silly jump scares are too obvious to really work, and when it comes that twist ending is just dumb. I miss the old days of true ghost films like THE HAUNTING or THE INNOCENTS, with their strong writing and vivid characters...

I read some reviews here after watching the movie. I have watched a lot of horror movies since I am a big fan of the genre. To me, this movie was not scary except last minutes but it might be very interesting for someone else and the reason is that the acceptance of a horror movie is concerned with audiences in different way. Some people enjoy horror movies based on ghosts and haunting houses, some others may prefer slasher ones and some ones like all sub-genres of horror movies. This movie is about a newly purchased house by a couple with their new born baby who move there and have insomnia. Very soon some strange things happen and a chilling lady is seen by them. In my opinion, the film was directed not bad but the written story was not enough good. Paul Soter wrote the story and directed the film as well. I previously saw his other written and directed movie,"Watching the Detective (2007)" and I think that one was a better work as a comedy-romantic movie but this movie lacks very effective shocking elements. First of all that ghost- form lady was not terrible and creepy. Second, killing of the ghost- form lady was funny if you think she was just a homeless woman looking for a baby or revenge not a ghost! Third, 3 persons (Nancy, Micheal, and the creepy lady) were killed in that house at the end and the couple (Alex and Penny) were sitting in an ambulance after the arrival of rescue forces but who the hell didn't suspect to them as murderer(s)?! Apart of these problems, the movie had relatively good filming and acting. My rating to this film was 5 out of 10. Watching this movie is up to you I don't recommend you to see or not to see it but of course not worth for second time!