The Darkness (2016)

Director Greg McLean takes a step away from Wolf Creek to tell the story of a modern family terrorized by ancient Native American deities. David Mazouz effectively plays a young autistic child who is the portal to these happenings. The cast (Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, Paul Reiser) is strong, but the film suffers from its PG-13 rating. Many frightening set-ups are cut too soon, essentially killing the tension. The pacing is slow as the first half is populated by these castrated scenes. Sadly, dramatic family sub-plots are some of the more interesting story elements. There are a few creative scares throughout the film but lacking any kind of edge, the horror is mild at best. 

2 soft thuds out of 5