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With central plot points concerning children, the occult, and the ultimate realization of pure evil, Spanish director Jaume Balagueró's sophomore effort shares a lot in common with his freshman feature, The Nameless. Despite such striking similarities between the two films, with Darkness Balagueró nevertheless crafts an eerie, menacing, and unusually classy hybrid of The Shining and The Amityville Horror that will no doubt provide ample scares for the adventurous fear junkie. Balagueró is a director whose masterful use of creepy imagery has provided his first two features with an effectively overwhelming sense of dread, and there's no question that he and cinematographer Xavi Giménez (who also shot The Nameless) know how to shoot a stylish and aesthetically appealing chiller. They use shadows and light to remarkable effect in Darkness, giving the film an ominous texture, and its muted color scheme provides a staggering sense of spiritual suffocation.

The only elements holding Darkness down are the sometimes muddied plot points and poor performances by some key players. Though the former can be casually forgiven by those willing to overlook such minor plot shortcomings in favor of effective chills, the presence of a talented cast makes the latter somewhat inexplicable, bringing some to question Balagueró's ability to solicit effective performances from his players. Cribbing from The Shining for his unhinged, potentially dangerous father routine, Iain Glen's performance simply recalls that of Jack Nicholson (or Terry O'Quinn from The Stepfather), while mother Lena Olin is given little to do other than sulk and deny the menace that threatens her children.

Thankfully, actors Anna Paquin and Fele Martínez instill the perceptive youngsters with a believable blend of innocence and intuition that is key to the effectiveness of the film. In the end, it's their performances that could have easily made or broken Darkness, and when all is said and done, the film succeeds thanks to their sizable contributions and Balagueró's seductively bleak vision. With a coda that is suitably faithful to that unwavering vision, Balagueró has set himself apart from the pack as one of the few filmmakers brave enough to follow through on such dark concepts, and one of the few true visionaries working in horror today.