Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Down a Dark Hall
October 14, 2018
Down a Dark Hall - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Down a Dark Hall opened in limited release and VOD in August. Its early reviews were good, but its current Tomatometer Score is exactly 50% positive. Is it worth a rental? Is there enough replay value to be worth picking up?
We first meet Kit when she’s having a dream about the night her father died. We then see her at school where she’s been in a lot of trouble recently, including being accused of arson. Besides Kit and her mother, there’s an extra participant in this meeting, Dr. Heather Sinclair. At first Kit thinks she’s yet another therapist, but she is in fact a doctor of literature and a teacher at the Blackwood Boarding School. They specialize in working with troubled girls, troubled girls like Kit. Kit hates the idea, but her mother and her step-father send her there anyway.
When Kit and her mother get to Blackwood Manor, she’s the first girl to arrive. They meet Madame Duret, the headmistress, who immediately gives off a creepy vibe. The other girls won’t arrive till tomorrow, so Madame Duret gives Kit a tour of the school, pointing out one hall is off limits, because it isn’t safe for students.
The next day, the other students arrive: Izzy, Victoria, Ashley, and Seirra. They are then introduced to the teachers, including the previously introduced Dr. Heather Sinclair, who will be teaching literature. Professor Farley will be teaching math. Madame Duret will be teaching art herself, while her son, Jules, will be teaching music.
While none of these girls were academically or artistically gifted, they thrive at this new school and in a staggeringly fast time, they are all excellent. ... mostly. Izzy barely passed algebra before, but is now a natural at math, solving complex problems. Seirra is an artist that could be one of the American masters. Ashley’s writing poetry so good that even she doesn’t know where the words are coming from. Kit took piano lessons, but stopped when her dad died, after one lesson with Jules, it all comes back and it is like she never stopped. And Victoria is ... also a student at the school.
While at first Kit enjoys this new skill, she quickly begins to suspect something isn’t right at the school and the more she looks into it, the more she’s convinced something supernatural is afoot.
As I mentioned above, Down a Dark Hall earned exactly a 50% positive Tomatometer Score and that is incredibly accurate, as for everything that works for this movie, there’s something else that doesn’t. For example, AnnaSophia Robb is excellent in the lead role, but the script doesn’t give her enough to do. In fact, the slow pace is the weakest part of the movie. The movie is obviously trying to build tension during these parts, but there’s not enough atmosphere in the movie to overcome the slow pace. It is also too predictable to really work as a horror movie. For example, there are five students, but only four teachers. Each student excels in exactly one subject, leaving Victoria as the odd one out. Gee, I wonder which student is going to be the first to fall victim to the supernatural threat behind Blackwood Manor?
Probably the biggest misstep in the movie are the parts between Kit and Jules. Because Jules is Madame Duret’s son, there’s a question whether or not he’s evil like his mother, or he can be redeemed. This part works. However, the relationship between Kit and Jules becomes romantic. I don’t care that he just graduated and is therefor only a few years older than Kit is, he’s still her teacher and any romantic relationship is creepy, at best. On a side note, the actor who plays Jules, Noah Silver, is actually a year younger than AnnaSophia Robb.
Overall, it isn’t a bad movie and I think it could entertain teen girls, those who are a couple of years younger than Kit is in the movie. However, I don’t think enough works to really please adult fans of horror.
There are only two extras on the DVD / Blu-ray, a 21-minute long making of featurette and a single deleted scene. That’s not a lot of extras, but it also isn’t bad for a limited release.
I’m glad I got a chance to watch Down a Dark Hall, but I don’t have any real desire to watch it again, now that the review is done. There are enough extras on the DVD / Blu-ray that if you really liked the film it is worth picking up. However, I think for most a Video on Demand rental will be enough.
Video on Demand
The Movie
The Extras
The Verdict
Filed under: Video Review, Down a Dark Hall, Uma Thurman, Jodhi May, AnnaSophia Robb, Pip Torrens, Noah Silver, Isabelle Fuhrman, Rosie Day, Kirsty Mitchell, Taylor Russell, Jim Sturgeon, Victoria Moroles