DARK TOUCH - THE HALLOWEEN HORRORS COLLECTION

By Guest Reviewer The Creepy Concierge 

In a remote town in Ireland, eleven-year-old Niamh finds herself the sole survivor of a bloody massacre that killed her parents and younger brother. Suspecting a gang of homicidal vandals, the police ignore Niamh's explanation that the house is the culprit. To help ease her trauma, dutiful neighbours Nat and Lucas take her in with the supervision of a social worker. Niamh has trouble finding peace with the wholesome and nurturing couple, and horrific danger continues to manifest.  

And so begins DARK TOUCH Director Marina de Van’s moody and unsettling entry into the ‘Troubled-little-girl-at-the-mercy-of-the-supernatural’ genre. Despite the intriguing title, compelling premise and fast faced set-up DARK TOUCH (2013) doesn’t quite hit the mark it feels like it’s shooting for. It’s a shame because there is a lot to like here.

The film is dripping with atmosphere, has some moments of lush moody cinematography, a suitably disturbing score and production design that effectively roots the other worldly happenings in a real-life everyday environment that we can all probably identify with. Performances are solid all round, the cast feel authentic in their roles even if there is a little too many knowing nods and glances and not enough plain speaking considering the situation the young protagonist finds herself in.  Missy Keating as Niamh, the young girl who finds herself at the centre of corporeal trauma and non-corporeal intrusion, does the best she can with dialogue that doesn’t entirely convince but shows promise and endures what might not have been an easy shoot for a tender age child making her debut.

Word of warning – if you don’t like seeing children in peril this isn’t the flick for you. It touches on the themes of pre-teen trauma and child abuse and there is an undercurrent of things not said that clearly should have been.

Despite the health warning if you’re not expecting too much and you fancy a somewhat ‘Traditional ghost story’ you’ll probably find a one- off viewing of DARK TOUCH time reasonably well spent.

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