The Dark

This loose adaptation of Simon Maginn’s supernatural novel ‘Sheep’ owes as much to ‘The Wicker Man’ as to its literary source. In attempting to tap the rich vein of British rural horror, ‘Ginger Snaps’ director John Fawcett and writer Stephen Massicotte serve up an uneven blend of ancient Celtic mythology, pagan cults and spooky sheep.

Hoping to salvage her ailing marriage, New Yorker Adelle (Maria Bello) takes her young daughter Sarah (Sophie Stuckey) to visit her estranged artist husband, James (Sean Bean), in his remote Welsh cliff-top home. But when Sarah drowns and is seemingly ‘replaced’ by the creepy, similar-looking Ebrill (Abigail Stone), her mother is plunged into a whirlpool of confusion and pain. Encouraged by local yokel Dafydd’s talk of a netherworld between the living and the dead, Adelle becomes convinced that Ebrill is the key to resurrecting her lost daughter. Despite an eerie atmosphere and some grisly scenes of trepanning, this disappointing and frustrating ghost story is a cruel waste of ‘A History of Violence’ star Maria Bello’s talent. Sean Bean, too, seems curiously ill at ease.