Billy: You hear a baby crying, you hear a kid crying, you keep moving, okay? Children can sen-sense them. It's your warning.

After psychology student Julia witnesses her friend's suicide, she begins to notice the signs of an unholy entity stalking her. Now as rolling blackouts plague New York, she begins to be stalked by creatures that live in the shadows, "They", now as her
friends begin disappearing, she must search for a way to stop "They", but are they real or figments of her mind and trauma?

I'm a big fan of "Nightmare on Elm Street", and many of the themes and influences of trauma and nightmares and the setting's follow that, which is why I took such a liking towards this film.

It barely made a dent at the box-office, was basically panned by critics, and disappeared without anyone noticing, but I liked this a lot. Director Robert Harmon who helmed the cult classic "The Hitcher" (one of my favorites), and the little seen "Highwaymen" goes to work on this film, and boy can this dude direct.

He has it down; the mood, the tone, the feelings of dread and sorrow followed by the creepy creatures that go bump in the night, and I was sucked in right from the beginning. Instantly he sets the mood as we watch the victims being taken away by "They" and he manages to present some startling and breathtaking visuals along with cinematographer René Ohashi (To Catch a Killer) capture the dread and feeling of isolation required for a mood horror piece such as this.

I was startled by the dark blue and deep dark gray tones presented in many of the scenes and they click perfectly. Along with that, there's a good story considering this wasn't the original concept writer Brendan Hood envisioned. Y'see, the original concept was completely different and his script was doctored by nearly ten writers without his knowledge.

However this is a solid piece of horror with a truly gripping story about trauma and past life tragedies which the creatures feed off of. They use darkness and shadows, and tragedy to break into the real world to kidnap the children, and while we may not know what they are, we're sparked with curiosity as to their origins.

The themes presented in the film are universal centering about childhood fears of the dark
and the tragedies involved with psychological torment. What are the creatures? What are "They"? That's for the audience to decide, and that's what made this movie so enjoyable.

We're never told what these creatures are and where they come from which actually
lets the audience come up with their own conclusions. They use tar for some odd reason, and they're very fast; it's hinted that they're Incubi, or perhaps bogeymen from another dimension but we're never truly given an explanation and that's what makes it fun.

It leaves a lot for the imagination and the audience. Director Harmon knows how to direct a horror film with scenes that build-up and then explode leaving the audience tense and entertained. There were scenes of sheer sleek visuals with the very grim and somber motif;
some of the best scenes were the glimpses into the world of the creatures.

The characters are pretty interesting considering the scarce dialogue and poor development. Along with that, there are some truly interesting and exciting sequences involving the climax where the character Julia is stranded in the subway attempting to escape "they", her attempt to unfold the mystery behind "they" soon discovering that her friend's incoherent ramblings actually made a lot of sense.

There's many plot set-ups and foreboding tension amidst the story including the rolling blackouts across New York and the upcoming full blackout that will give "They" a clear passage into our world leaving them a free pass to kidnap plenty o' children; there are also many scenes in which the director relies on tension to get the audience wound up including the great scene involving the pool, and the final minutes of the film.

Some may not like the last moments of the film, and the resolution of the characters, but I thought it was excellent. It was a sure sign that these creatures got the power to toy and destroy, and it you realize this was just a tale of a woman who crossed paths with these creatures and lost, not only that, but there's the inevitable blackout which will lead to the feasting and kidnapping of children. It's perfect horror fodder for people looking to kill time and have fun.

Screenwriter Brendan Hood got duped. No disrespect to him, but the studios duped him. This film you may have seen is not what Hood had in mind. His script is much more original, his concept innovative, complex, and downright imaginative. Thinking
about what may have been had his true film been made would have had audiences watching a truly incredible thriller, but alas the studios had up to 10 writers alter the script into this mess.

The film "Darkness Falls" was released in January of 2003 while this was released in November of 2002; now I'm not saying these are the same film, but they're practically alike in tone, texture, and story. There's an obligatory opening sequence that establishes a horror film that has been done all too often lately and I'm tired of it.

We watch a young kid about to go to sleep become spooked by something in the dark, the parents dismiss the child as simply being scared and foolish, they leave, and the child witnesses a monster firsthand, then enter the obligatory "X years later" insert.

"Darkness Falls" and this had the exact same opening sequences which were so alike that it was hard for me to enjoy and instantly had me furrowing my brows in skepticism. Now "Darkness Falls" wasn't as awful as everyone says but it was a mess film-wise and these two
have almost everything in common, including a film that was sliced, diced and altered by the studios into a commercial property taking it away from the creators who envisioned a completely different concept.

It's a shame how creativity isn't celebrated and cherished in a time where Hollywood is running thin of creativity with prequels, sequels, and vapid box-office fodder. The tone, setting, characters, and opening sequence resembles too much of "Darkness Falls" and it doesn't help that these two films came out at practically the same time.

So, we're brought to the film which has director Wes Craven added despite the fact he has nothing to do with the film. Don't believe the hype; his name is simply a ruse to draw viewers into the film. He has nothing to do with the film, so don't go in expecting his creation.

However, this film does have some themes from "Nightmare on Elm Street" including themes about nightmare or "night terrors" (trademark issues Wes?), the darkness at every corner and the creatures that rely on nightmares to enter the world, it's too much like "Nightmare", and that's a shame considering every aspect in the film is so contrived.

After witnessing her friend's suicide, Julia must deal with her own traumatic childhood issues while she and two others are being stalked by mysterious creatures that shroud themselves in darkness. Is she being stalked by benevolent creatures from hell or is it her own psychological torment finally taking toll on her?

I didn't know what to make of this; while the ingredients are here for a perfectly tasty horror stew, it all goes down so wrong. As always, there are characters in the film that one dimensional, disposable, and drastically underdeveloped.

We get Julia (Laura Regan: My Little Eye, Someone Like You) who is very underdeveloped as a character and looks just plain bored, her rocky relationship to paramedic Paul Loomis (Marc Blucas: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, View from the Top) who pops in and out of
the movie and never really plays a pivotal role in the story, Ethan Embry (Can't Hardly Wait, Sweet Home Alabama) plays Sam an artist who has a link with Julia but is just a caricature of a bad-ass machismo dude, and Terry (Dagmara Dominczyk: The Count of Monte Cristo, Rockstar) who is so underdeveloped it's hard to explain what she does in the film exactly.

Anyways, the disappearances begin rising and Julia begins suspecting that she's being stalked while around town the lights begin flickering and blackouts increasing along with many unanswered questions and plot holes. There are plot developments that are never truly touched upon or don't add up.

We know these characters are marked and are being taken, but why? Why are they so special? Why do the creatures want them? What connection do they bear to each other? What makes them a prime target? What did they do to fight off the creatures in the first place? Do the creatures only take children and why do the creatures only take children? Why are they called Night Terrors and not nightmares? Is it a copyright issue from Craven? Why do the creatures call the main character Julia on the phone only to gurgle on the other line? Is there telephones in alternate dimensions? It's never resolved, so while we're being being led into a drawn out story, we're not sure what is there to watch exactly.

As far as plot developments go, there's little to none, and most of the developments that occur aren't much to notice. At the opening of the film, Julia is called by an old friend (John Abrahams: Scary Movie, Boston Public) who is noticeably distressed and psychotic and begins warning her about the creatures in very vague explanations and tells her to look out for warning signs, then proceeds to blow his brains out.

What was the scene with his suicide about? What relevance did it hold to the film? He suddenly pops into the film without any real purpose, we watch him blow his brains out and Julia barely reacts considering she claims they're childhood friends only dismissing him as crazy and still as the signs begin appearing that he warned her about, she continues to ignore them.

The creatures in the film are hard to make out, and I was never sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. This attempts to pull off an "Alien" by showing off certain parts of the creatures bodies and keeping them shrouded in darkness but it was odd watching their hands and bodies which made them look a lot like aliens. Otherwise, the film has no idea what it wants to be, there are themes of trauma, it's never resolved, there are themes of creatures from another dimension, it's never resolved, there's Julia's relationship with her boyfriend that is left incomplete and the ending which I really liked but was all too abrupt. What a shame.

This is contrived, cliché and filled with plot holes galore and poor character development, but it's good horror fodder. Sure, Brendan Hood's vision wasn't followed and it sucks but this is an enjoyable piece of horror and I liked this a lot. The last ten minutes of the film really stuck with me.

• The original script written by Brendan Hood had a completely different plot: Having just graduated College, a group of friends drive up to a cabin on a dark and creepy night with some "R&R" in mind. On their way there, they accidentally hit a dog with their car. When they check out the road kill more closely, they discover that the beast has mechanical parts imbued into its carcass. This peculiar mishap triggers our heroes' gradual discovery of the existence of "THEY"; flesh and metal entities, that not only are able to tamper with our reality, but who also use human beings as spare parts to prolong their existence on our wretched planet. Who are these creatures roaming about our society? Who are "THEY"? The script was said to be much more intelligent, layered and character based, yet the studio Dimension bought the script and had numerous writers re-tool the script creating a different product. It's amazing what goes through the mind of Hollywood. Perhaps they thought the concept was too intelligent, or too inventive, or maybe they thought it was too original. Original, that's a word missing in movies today. Despite Brendan Hood being credited, he has nothing to do with the finishing article. Check out his interview at "Arrow in the Head" and his thoughts on the final film HERE.
   

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