Darkness is a 2002 supernatural horror film directed by Jaume Balagueró and starring Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Giancarlo Giannini and Fele Martínez. The film was produced by Julio Fernández and Brian Yuzna. The film's plot follows an American family who move into a house in the Spanish countryside, where six children disappeared during an occult ritual forty years before; the teenage daughter and young son of the family are subjected to increasing disturbances in the house.
The film premiered in Spain on October 3, 2002, and was released in theaters across the country eight days later on October 11. It was sold to Miramax Films for American distribution in 2003, but ended up being put on hiatus for over a year; it was eventually released in United States theaters in an edited, PG-13-rated cut on December 25, 2004.
Plot[]
Forty years after an unfinished occult ritual resulted in the disappearance of six young children, the Rua family has moved from the United States into a new, never-before inhabited house in Spain. The mother, Maria, wants to get the place in order, while the father, Mark, goes to work, and their children, teenager Regina and her younger brother Paul, try to settle into their daily routines.
It helps that Mark's doctor-father, Albert Rua has furnished them with their residence and is nearby, especially when Mark begins to suffer from seizures again due to the progression of his Huntington's disease, which also causes him to become increasingly mentally unstable. Regina is not only worried about him, but also Paul who is now scared of the dark for the first time. The young boy has reason for that, however, as there seems to be some sort of supernatural entity beneath his bed. Furthermore, there are instances when six ghostly figures of children are seen standing in the shadows and darkness, watching the family.
As Paul becomes more scared and their father continues to mentally deteriorate, Regina eventually figures out it must have something to do with their home where the power is lost every day. With the help of her new friend, Carlos, the two eventually meet the man, Villalobos, who designed the house, and learn that it was built for a supernatural ritual requiring the sacrifice of seven children (each sacrificed by "hands that love them") to coincide with an eclipse that only occurs every forty years. With the next one quickly approaching, and now armed with the knowledge that the earlier occult ritual needs one more death to be completed, Regina races to make sure that Paul is not the final victim.
Stopping first at her grandfather Albert's house to warn him as well, Regina finds out that her grandfather is, in fact, a member of the cult which has been performing these satanic rituals. Her grandfather explains that in the ritual forty years ago, there actually were seven children, the seventh child being none other than Regina's father, Mark. Albert did not sacrifice his son because at the last minute he realized that he did not love Mark. Waiting 40 years, he has brought Mark and his family to the house with the intention of completing the ritual during this eclipse. Regina also discovers the target is not Paul but still Mark, who is to be sacrificed by "hands that love him." As Regina laments, Albert realizes her true love for her father. He suddenly frees her to return to the house, aware that she will be able to unknowingly carry out the ritual.
Regina races back to her home to find her father in the midst of another attack, choking on pills as the eclipse begins. Maria tries to perform a tracheotomy on him, but is unable to bring herself to make the cut. In a panic, Regina does it instead, but Mark bleeds out and dies when the supernatural forces within the house hide the pen tube needed to complete the procedure. Since Regina genuinely loved Mark, the ritual is finally complete. The darkness then takes the form of Regina and Paul, convincing their mother to turn off the lights. The darkness kills Maria, and then takes the form of Regina's friend Carlos, who picks them up in his car; shortly after they leave, the real Carlos arrives at the house, and is called inside by the darkness, manifesting as Regina's voice. Carlos' doppelgänger drives Regina and Paul into a dark tunnel, implying their doom.