The premise is intriguing, and you can tell it tried it's darn hardest to be a successful supernatural, suspense drama/thriller, but this film just could not weave together these elements well enough to tell a captivating story. The actors were great, but the writing and character development was lacking. The cinematography and grand setting was beautiful, but was not accompanied by a well written story. The first act had promise, the second was questionable and then the final third just fell flat on its face. By not layering successful elements of supernatural horror in a consistent method, the final act's horror reveal, which should have been thrilling, just look plain weird. I was really looking forward to this movie, but it failed to deliver a decent film despite having all the right ingredients.
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liv30322 August 2018
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matdemon25 August 2018This is all you need to know about this movie:
- First Act shows promise and intrigue, with decent and well-acted characters.
- The Second Act treads upon questionable ground, straddling somewhere between "Umm, maybe?" and "Umm, No."
- The Third Act is a complete mess, from start to finish, where the movie tracks off the rails, where the wheels fall off the wagon completely and utterly.
The end leaves you with a firestorm of garbage (literally); a story that was told so poorly; with throwaway characters and plot lines that leave you regretting you stuck around.
The perfect example of work that starts well and finishes terribly, just as so many movies and novels before it. I simply don't think most people understand how to tell a complete story. Usually because most people have a good idea, and start that idea before finishing it, only to try and make up a slapdash ending before they run out of time or simply become bored with their work. There's obviously more to it than that with movies ... but who cares the cause and reason, this one is just more suffering of the same. Terrible. -
I'd never heard of this, but the moment I saw the cast I had to make it my bedtime movie and initially I felt happy about my decision. Sadly like most things, that didn't last.
Starring Uma Thurman, Isabelle "Orphan" Fuhrman and AnnaSophia "Bridge to Terabithia" Robb this is a teen horror with a great concept but weak delivery.
It tells the story of a group of "Bad" girls sent off to a mysterious boarding school run by Uma Thurman. There they are taught 4 core lessons, and take to each subject at alarming rates.
Now I have to speak of AnnaSophia Robb, when Bridge to Terabithia (2007) came out I saw big things in the girls future. I predicted that she'd have a great career, she was a solid actress for her age so she'd go far..........right? Well that didn't quite work out, I missed the mark on that one but I stand by her competence and it was nice to see her leading here.
The film looks the part, the setting is fantastic, the cast do a great job and I liked the ideas as they began to unravel but something wasn't quite right. The pacing? The finale? I think it was a concoction of these things and more, ultimately the film is filled with great ideas but the creators didn't know what to do with them.
Down a Dark Hall is an interesting movie and you can do worse with 90 minutes. Sadly like me you might come away thinking it should have been better when the credits roll.
The Good:
Great cast
Solid setting
The Bad:
Doesn't come together very well
Rushed finale -
reallyevilboy20 August 2018I had high hopes with the one after seeing the preview. The Flitting shadows that disappear had me intrigued. But no, it was not to be. There was a whole lot of movie, but really a whole lot of not much. When I rate horror movies I usually give a little leeway as there are so many bad horrors out there. Slowly but surely though there are so many horror movies entering the realm that are just nothing. P.S. Uma does a really annoying job at pretending to be a person pretending to be french.
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amichnea21 August 2018Seriously, I kit you not. %80 of the movie is filmed in almost complete darkness to the point I could hardly see what the hell was going on. Must have bean dead cheap to make if nothing could be seen.
Film is OKish, nothing that wasn't done before but the freaking darkness just annoyed me. -
diedyef3 January 2019I read this book a long time ago and I still have the original paperback version. The book is amazing and scares you in subtle ways, whereas the movie wastes too much time with the antagonism between characters and very little on what the story is supposed to be about. They changed the movie so much that it is unrecognizable from the book, and the casting is way off. I've waited years for a decent movie version of this book and alas, it seems I'm going to have to keep waiting. My advice? Skip the movie, read the book. You won't be sorry.
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claudio_carvalho25 August 2018The outcast troubled teenager Katherine "Kit" Gordy (AnnaSophia Robb) is invited to study in Blackwood and her mother and stepfather drive her to the old and isolated manor. She is welcomed by the headmistress Madame Duret (Uma Thurman) with four other colleagues and forced to develop their talents in mathematics and arts. Soon Kit realizes that supernatural forces are possessing them and increasing their talents. "Down a Dark Hall" is an almost good film with a promising and intriguing beginning. The storyline is good, but the screenplay is flawed after the confused ball in the manor. The performances are not bad, but Uma Thurman has a weird accent and AnnaSophia Robb does not convince as a seventeen year-old teenager despite the good acting. The cinematography is too dark and difficult to see. It is a pity since very few improvements would be necessary to make a great film. My vote is six.
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jfgibson7318 July 2021Well I like the idea of spooky stuff going on in an old boarding school. I just didn't think this movie did it very memorably. Uma being miscast was distracting, although I thought Anna was likeable. The ending did have some level of satisfaction, but nothing that will stay with you. Just a cheaply made disposable horror that no one will find scary.
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WisdomsHammer6 November 2021I think I know what happened to this movie, at least in part: It's adapted from a book written in the 70s, and that's why part of it feels like a period piece and so much of it feels just a little "off." Why didn't they just set it in the 70s? Did they think the audience wouldn't relate to timeless issues like rebellious kids in a nightmare school? Setting it in present day didn't fit the feeling of the school at all. That felt disjointed.
But ultimately, the problem for me is that the movie isn't fulfilling. The ending feels cliche and attempt to give some kind of closure but fails. I absolutely loved the premise of this thing and wished they would have gone further with it, but they didn't. In fact, I felt like they hardly spent any time with it at all. They spent so much time showing us that the kids are all delinquents and the headmistress is controlling and the school is dark and spooky but ignored the good stuff until the end, when it was supposed to be an a-ha! Moment but it just kind of falls flat.
I loved the performances, the setting, the score, and, like I said, the premise, but I kept getting angry at the movie and its characters for doing dumb things and for constantly bombarding me with conflict rather than resolution. They tease you with it, but never really give it to you, even when they try, and it's maddening.
You're gonna laugh at me, but I didn't even recognize Uma Thurman at first. I didn't recognize Anna Sophia Robb, either, but she's grown a little since the last movie I saw her in. I thought both did a wonderful job. The girl from the movie "Orphan" was in this, too, but she didn't have as much screen time.
There's a lot I liked about this movie, and I really wish the story had been more fulfilling than it was. In my head, I'm comparing it to The Kingsmen, where similarly, kids are sent to a school with strict rules to be refined into better versions of themselves, but that journey was MUCH more fulfilling and fun. It also kind of reminds me of the movie Seance, which I didn't like because it turned out to be something other than what it was advertised as, but felt more complete than this did. I also got shades of Harry Potter from this, and now that I think of it more, there are a ton of parallels. I'd recommend watching any of those over this one, but, according to most people's ratings here, if you want to watch this, you probably won't hate it, it's just probably not going to be high on your rating list either. -
noa_dinman22 August 2018Boring incomprehensible plot that utterly fails to keep the promise of the beginning. Bad!
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jarnao-arnao6 August 2018I just watched it yesterday, with no big expectations, and it truly surprised me. It's way more elegant and classy than I expected, well-performed and beautifully shot. The music is unbelievable, the piano scenes and the way they're shot shocked me and moved me. If this is a teen movie, then it must the best and classiest teen movie in a long, long time.
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The movie starts really well. The location is amazing. The story begins to develop well. Unfortunately, the character development is superficial. The story never fully develops and the end is like "bah...no mas". Uma, Anasofia, and the rest of the cast do a good job, the story did not do them justice.
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SnoopyStyle8 March 2021Troubled teen Kit Gordy (AnnaSophia Robb) is accused of a past incident and sent to a special school with other troubled girls run by Madame Duret (Uma Thurman). It's an old mansion under renovation.
Nothing happens in the first half. It's a little moody but nothing special anyways. Then everything happens in the second half and I'm not sure that I understand it all. It has some elements of a good moody gothic horror but it's not pulled together that well. -
mf281219 August 2018Just finished watching this and to be honest, I couldn't wait for it to end. This movie just shows you can have a great cast, decent score, and a great setting but still fall by the wayside. It's not terrible, just meh. It gave off vibes of "The Orphanage" (2007) but it is nowhere near the class of that movie.
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scarecrow_n_tinman5 July 2019AnnaSophia Robb and Uma Thurman lead the cast in the supernatural horror film Down a Dark Hall. Based on a bestselling book, the story follows a rebellious teenage girl who's sent to a reform school for troubled youth called Blackwood, but she soon discovers that something strange is going on and begins to suspect that she and her fellow students are being used for some nefarious purpose. Robb gives a fairly good performance and director Rodrigo Cortes does an impressive job at creating an atmospheric mood. However, the storytelling is a little weak and lacks strong villains. Also, the supernatural isn't really played for scares, and the scares that are there seem a little out of place. Still, despite its problems, Down a Dark Hall is a creepy thriller full of mystery and intrigue.
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Wish the screenplay was written by a talented ghost as well, but it seems to be the opposite. Poor pacing and lack of focus makes this movie incredibly boring as well as sub-par, and that's the worst combination a movie like this can be.
Nothing funny/bad and worth laughing at either until the end, assuming you haven't fallen asleep by then. -
SgPepr20 August 2018I felt this movie didn't quite live up to it's potential. It had an interesting premise but seemed to lack something so it's basically a missed opportunity.
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kstruh-6411926 August 2018Start out ok, but then falls apart. Fake accents and a terrible plot line. Gets worse and worse. Don't waste your time. Couldn't wait for it to be over.
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carrychris8 September 2018Competently made with decent acting and an interesting concept but you will figure out the mystery behind it long before the Girls at the school do and the plot Is revealed and the school staffs unscrupulous intentions are revealed. But still worth a watch..Good performances all around.
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liderc8 September 2020What annoyed me the most about this movie was the drab, very dark photography. There are lots of scenes where you can barely make out what is happening onscreen. It's fine to make a movie using only natural candles (and low light bulbs) as lightning, but it should be done professionally, and without everything looking gray and washed out.
The plot begins nice, moody and intriguing, but the minute Ms Duret is on the screen, it starts to border on the comical. Her flat character acts, talks, sounds and dresses like a cynical parody of a dumb, pompous headmistress who has no clue what she is doing, but wants to appear competent no matter what.
The script looses focus, basic reason and coherency in the middle of the movie, and it all pretty much falls apart in the end. The last scenes are very touching, but hardly make you feel satisfied or rewarded for watching a dark screen (with some fire and candlelight on it) and listening to Duret blabbering about being a Genius or feeling inspired. She is a deluded narcissist living in a dream world, but how she could ever establish & run this surreal, otherworldly school is another of the many questions the sketchy script does not care to answer.
The score is very classy and stylish though, unlike the rest of this forgettable production. -
I had not heard of this movie. Didn't know ONE thing about it before I watched it. I was pleasantly surprised. The acting was wonderful, the score/music was absolutely beautiful, and the plot ran nice and steady. Not any huge surprise twists or turns but the movie provides enough with several interesting characters, setting and music that I didn't need them. (And Isn't Uma always fascinating to watch?!} I thought it was a very well made movie that an average family (although I would put the littles to bed...I'd say 10 and 11 years and up) could enjoy together. It isn't gory, it doesn't have foul language or violence. No sex or nudity. Just a NICE creepy strory presented with a high level of class!!
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fiendingforfood10 February 2022Misbehaved smart teen sent to spooky mansion boarding school. Weird disappearances of fellow students. Sinister headmistress. Plentutude of weird staff/ghouls, it all ends badly with misbehaved smart teen yelling "We've got to get out of here!" over and over and over and over. The end.
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baunacholi-8615930 August 2020Troubled girl(s) sent to a dark mansion in the middle of nowhere. Strange things happen. This is it basically. I'd love to give a higher rating or say more substantial about this movie. But it's hardly possible. There are so many loose ends and plenty of unfinished business in my POV. The setting was great, the countryside, interior etc. But the actual story didn't take off even though everyone tried very hard. Mrs. Thurman however was brilliant.
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jtcaldwell2222 August 2018Nothing special here. From beginning to end, there is almost no redeeming quality. Find another movie to fill your night.
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epona66630 April 2019It's awful, Una Thurman's accent is laughable as is most of the acting. It's just not a good movie.