Dark Touch (2013) Reviews

• Chilling & Tingling

  gdangeldth2014-05-11

  The tale of Niamh (in the move it sounds as though they are saying Neve) and the sexual molestation and child abuse she deals with is chilling. This movie grips you from the very beginning. The actress who plays the abused child is well remembered and captures your attention completely. To see the physical abuse manifest into a psychic ability of self-defense is astounding. As Niamh flees from the death of her parents and baby brother, into the arms of another family, you see her protectiveness take shape. Albeit in an extremely violent fashion. As she learns what it is, and how to control it, Niamh faces what will be the biggest challenge of her life. Herself I highly recommend watching this movie. Beware, however, the director does not play to those who are sensitive.

• My take on this film...

  shreeree2015-08-15

  Contains *spoilers* I think Niamh was telekinetic and also an empath and both abilities manifested by her own childhood of abuse. She could have even been considered a messenger of God. I think she had the ability to sense the true intent in people regardless of the face they showed the rest of the world. Most abusers are able to hide it well and live normal lives with it only being a dark secret in the families. I think when she buried the children in the building, it was because she knew which children would grow up to become abusive adults and that was her way of preventing the vicious cycle that also usually occurs in families of abuse. I think her parents were abusive. You could tell their true nature by their initial actions. When her father woke up and seen her with the baby on the stairs, he didn't ask her in a gentle manner why she was up or if she had a nightmare or did the baby wake her up crying as most caring parents would have. his first instinct was to yell at her and moved towards her aggressively before the furniture stopped him. The same for her foster family they appeared to be good caring parents but if you notice their behavior over minor offenses was one of abuse and not understanding that come from truly good nature parents. Such as when she refuse to bathe she physically forced her to and when she didn't want to be touched they both would do it any way even holding her by her wrist tightly until she submit. The foster mother slapping her just because she wouldn't go to bed quietly is not the normal behavior of a good parent. The same for the foster father when she wasn't behaving the way he though a child should he would grab her roughly by the shoulders and shake her. I think in her way she was trying to give the foster parents the opportunity to become better parents, with warnings such as the loud ringing in the ears as means to getting them to calm down and think before they act. I think when she and the twins gave her foster family the bath she was reenacting their hurtful words and action that they had taken against Mary and their children in the past. I think their daughter that had cancer tired them out and they abused her when they got angry and it was all blamed on the side effects of her cancer. However Niamh knowing what is inside people knew what they took their frustration out on Mary anxious for her to go ahead and die because she was an unwanted stress on them and their marriage. I think the point of the story and the plot is Niamh wasn't just a child with unrealistic gifts or curse. She was more of a reincarnated version of the archangel "Michael" sent to exact God's vengeance on seemingly mean spirited people, adults and children with no saving grace. She knew good when she sensed it. Look how she was very gentle and demonstrative with the pregnant teacher and again with the teachers boyfriend and baby's father. She knew they were good inside and out and they would be good parents. She basically gives them her blessings with her touch. I think they wanted to leave the lingering thought in your mind that He's watching even if no one else is and your child could be a Niamh sent with a message and a mission.

• It peaked right at the beginning, then it was a steep ride downhill...

  paul_haakonsen2013-10-05

  Well the movie does have an alluring poster / cover, but as the saying goes; don't judge a book by its cover. As was the truth with this movie as well. The movie started out at a tremendous pace, and promised to be really interesting, especially if it could manage to uphold that level of intensity and interest. Unfortunately, it couldn't. The movie got winded and lost breath half way through, slowing down in pace tremendously, but still, it had potential. Perhaps the middle part of the movie was just building up to another intense part towards the end. That was not to be, sadly. And the movie shattered into fragments of ridiculous storytelling once the story took the audience to Maud's house, from thereon the movie just spiraled and got worse. I will say that the mood in "Dark Touch" is really good, it is dark, brooding and gloomy, and have all the right ingredients for a true horror movie. And it was well on the way, if it wasn't because of the storyline that lost breath halfway through and ran on an fumes towards the end. The acting in "Dark Touch" was quite good, and the lead role played by Missy Keating was quite well-played. A rather good performance by such a young actress. Perhaps she is one that will carve a name for herself in the movie business in the years to come? It was a shame that the movie failed to uphold the intensity and spooky atmosphere that it started out with. "Dark Touch" really had potential, it just went in a very wrong direction.

• Well acted, atmospheric, and more than a little unsettling.

  anonymim2014-01-22

  **Spoilers ahead** It's clear from many of the other reviews, as well as the film's unfairly low rating, that a good percentage of today's audiences remain uncomfortable with ambiguity and lack of closure. I for one think these qualities are sorely lacking in modern film, and desperately needed in greater abundance in the horror genre in particular. Yes, it might have been nice to get some "origin event" or background on/explanation of her powers (and what's the deal with that whistling trick?), but this is not a film concerned with plot. Instead it is much more focused on capturing the horror inherent in its primary POV--the paranoid, emotionally detached, and deeply disturbed perspective of an abused girl. Leaving the audience in the dark, so to speak, with regards to exactly what is going on and why is in perfect keeping with that aim. With that said, I did think it went overboard in the final scenes, and that the addition of her two sidekicks was unnecessary. Nevertheless, I still rate it a worthy addition to the sub-genre of horror ("Carrie", "May", "Alice, Sweet Alice", etc.) that successfully evokes extreme unease from the fragile and volatile psyche of a damaged little girl.

• indie horror

  SnoopyStyle2016-07-29

  In a remote Irish community, eleven-year-old Niamh is haunted by invisible forces. She and her family are attacked during the night and she's the sole survivor of the ensuing fire. She is taken in by her neighbors. Nobody believes her about the mysterious powers of the house. She finds strange occurrences continue to follow her and thinks that they are the results of her own tears. It's a reasonable indie horror. There is only one truly compelling scene with the group of girls and the dolls. The movie basically follows Niamh but it doesn't make it particularly scary. It starts with the original family dealing with a haunted house and ultimately dying in a violent night. That's not that scary either. The last act devolves into messy story telling. Missy Keating does a good job in the lead. This indie horror is trying something interest but it doesn't all work and it's not that scary.