10 Horror Movies Monsters That Just DIDN'T Work
7. The Darkness - House On Haunted Hill (1999)
In the House on Haunted Hill remake, eccentric millionaire Stephen Price invites a group of strangers to an abandoned psychiatric hospital, promising a fortune to anyone who survives until morning. However, the group soon realise the residence harbours a paranormal force called the Darkness, which intends to trap their souls in the building forever.
Rather than attacking the guests outright, the Darkness creates hallucinations, warps reality, or possesses people to do its bidding. Not only does this approach make the Darkness more mysterious, but it also builds anticipation for its inevitable reveal.
Sure enough, the Darkness emerges from the shadows during the third act and directly pursues the ensemble. The Darkness resembles a swirling cloud of faces, each representing the mistreated victims of the psychiatric hospital. Despite sounding like a disturbing idea, the Darkness is more akin to an ink blot than a living nightmare. The lighting and compositing don’t blend convincingly with the live-action footage, making the special effects stand out in a distracting way.
Although it's commendable how the visual effects crew tried to give the Darkness a unique design, the end result isn't great.